Fysh Bar & Grill owner calls it quits. Port Orange eatery was Volusia County's largest.

PORT ORANGE ― After opening with great fanfare a year-and-a-half ago, Volusia County's biggest restaurant went out of business Sunday with a whimper ― save for scattered outbursts of anger and sadness from employees.

The Fysh Bar & Grill's approximately 45 workers only learned earlier that day that the 18,000-square-foot Port Orange restaurant would be closing its doors permanently that evening, said Executive Chef Shawn Spiker Jr.

"I found out for certain this morning," he said, explaining that while he had a suspicision that the restaurant might be going out of business, his fear was confirmed in a text message posted on a private employee-only Facebook chat page by operations manager Mike Burch.

Spiker was the only employee to speak on the record. Other employees could be overheard angrily wondering out loud if they were going to get paid.

With the indoor and outdoor seating areas mostly empty, employees could be seen standing around in groups talking about the restaurant's impending closure.

Owner confirms decision to close

Fysh owner Sidarth "Sid" Sethi confirmed his decision to close his restaurant in a Facebook Messenger text to The Daytona Beach News-Journal on Sunday night.

"We had to file for (Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation) because I wasn't able to keep up with the extensive expenses that building requires," Sethi wrote. "I don't have the financial resources to continue investing into a project that size at this point in my life."

Sethi, who operated Fysh under a business entity called Sideats Inc., is 29 years old.

Restaurant's debts exceeded $6 million

Sethi was granted Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection status for his Sideats Inc. company on March 19, a week after being sued by his landlord for owing $229,737.73 in unpaid back rent for the restaurant at 3633 S. Ridgewood Ave. in Port Orange.

Chapter 11 status allows businesses to continue operating while being granted a stay in having the pay off debts incurred prior to the date of the filing.

Sethi's initial Chapter 11 filing did not indicate the extent of the restaurant's debts.

A subsequent filing on March 21 of a more detailed case summary showed that Fysh Bar & Grill during in its brief existence racked up more than $6.3 million in debts.

Those debts don't count the money owed to landlord Josif Atanasoski.

Those debts include more than a half million dollars in unpaid taxes to the Internal Revenue Service and Florida Department of Revenue, as well as debts to dozens of creditors from across the country for everything from food supplies to the restaurant's equipment, most if not all which was being leased.

Restaurant got off to strong start

Fysh got off to a strong start, according to the case summary filing. It generated $1.25 million in gross revenues in just a little over two months in business in 2022, and nearly $8.2 million in 2023. However, its business fell off dramatically this year, generating just $826,000 through the first part of March.

Chapter 7 forces all Sideats Inc.'s assets to be liquidated

Sethi's decision to file for Chapter 7 means that all of the assets belonging to Sideats Inc./Fysh Bar & Grill will be liquidated in order to pay off debts.

The March 21 case summary filing stated that the restaurant's assets which mainly consist of "inventory, equipment and cash is believed to be worth approximately $562,000 at this time."

Because the Chapter 11 and subsequent conversion of that status to Chapter 7 was for Sideats Inc., and not for himself, Sethi is not personally liable for the debts incurred by his Port Orange restaurant.

Landlord uncertain if the back rent will be paid

Under bankruptcy court law, secured creditors are in line to be paid before creditors whose debts are unsecured. The Chapter 11 case summary filing listed just one secured creditor: a New Hyde Park, New York-based company called Newtek that is owed $2 million on a Small Business Administration loan that Sethi had taken out to purchase kitchen equipment, the restaurant's 1,000 chairs and 300 tables, and its inventory of food and liquor.

Atanasoski had received a $40,000 rent payment on April 1 from Sethi which marked the first time in a year that he had been paid. On Sunday, he said he did not know if he will ever receive the rest of the back rent he is owed, which he said is now up to $300,000, including interest. "We'll see how the Chapter 7 works out," he said.

New tenant could be poised to take over restaurant

Atanasoski said he is in talks with a New York-based company that has expressed a "strong interest" in leasing the now-former Fysh restaurant property.

"The court has to approve the termination of (Sethi's) existing lease first," he said.

The New York company, which Atanasoski was not yet at liberty to name, operates "very successful one-of-a-kind restaurants throughout the country." He added that the company expressed an interest in interviewing Fysh's employees to potentially hire them for the new restaurant.

Atanasoski said the new restaurant "will most certainly" have a new name.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Fysh Bar & Grill owner calls it quits. Port Orange eatery was Volusia County's largest.