Landry’s Inc. takes over Beso restaurant at CityCenter

Landry's Inc., whose Las Vegas properties include the Golden Nugget and the Rainforest Cafe, has taken over management of the Beso restaurant in CityCenter's Crystals mall as a prelude to buying it for $1 million.

According to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, where Beso is in the midst of a Chapter 11 case, Landry's was handed control of operations on Monday in order to keep it alive. In addition, Landry's must float loans to the operation until the court rules on the sale.

"Without the ability to borrow money for operations, (Beso) is unable to continue its business operations and would ask the court to convert the case" to a Chapter 7 liquidation, Beso attorney Lenard Schwartzer wrote.

Just last month, when the adjacent Eve Nightclub was closed, Beso issued a statement saying that the restaurant "continues to thrive." But Schwartzer noted that Beso has racked up $669,000 in losses since the start of the year, driving the cash balance down to $107,000. That is well short of the $276,000 in rent it owes to Crystal's, owned by MGM Resorts International, and Beso would soon come up short on the payroll.