The San Francisco Business Times reported yesterday that Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Dave McLean, founder and owner of Magnolia (a Hoodline advertiser) and the family of restaurants that now includes Smokestack and Alembic, confirmed today that things are expected to stay as-is, as far as customers are concerned.

"We don't foresee any changes to our daily operations," he said, "or anything different with the experiences we provide for our guests. We aren't going anywhere, and we will continue to operate as usual in every way."

The filing may have its roots in Magnolia's long, costly expansion into Magnolia Dogpatch & Smokestack, McLean's Third Street barbecue restaurant that also offers a larger-scale brewing facility for beer production and distribution.

As the Business Times notes, Chapter 11 isn't a disaster for Magnolia, but a chance to restructure the business, to cope with an unsustainable cash-to-debt balance.

McLean emphasized that the bankruptcy only affects the Magnolia restaurants, and not Alembic, which also just completed a lengthy, extensive expansion.