Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant in Newark abruptly closed its doors for good on Sept. 10, 2025. It also closed two other locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Signs suggest visits to still-operating sites in Wilmington and West Chester, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 11, 2025.

The Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant chain, which closed its 16 locations in recent weeks, has filed for bankruptcy.

The brewery, founded in November 1996 in Newark, Delaware, filed for Chapter 7 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey to begin liquidation of the nearly-three-decade-old East Coast chain, which until recently had 10 locations in Pennsylvania, two each in Delaware and South Carolina, and individual sites in Georgia and New Jersey.

A month ago, Iron Hill closed its flagship location in Newark, Delaware, as well as two restaurants in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Two weeks later, on Sept. 25, the remaining Iron Hill restaurant employees learned they had lost their jobs.

Iron Hill Brewery revealed its intention to file for bankruptcy in an email to employees, reported The Delaware News Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network.

In its bankruptcy filing, Iron Hill Brewery estimated assets of $164,581, while its liabilities totalled $20 million, most of which is a $17.3 million lien against property held by BankUnited of Miami Lakes, Florida.

Possible class action lawsuit in Iron Hill Brewery bankruptcy

At least one law firm is considering a potential class action lawsuit over Iron Hill's bankruptcy, citing a possible violation of the possible violation of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988, The Delaware News Journal reported. The WARN Act requires most employers with 100 or more employees to notify its workers 60 calendar days ahead of planned closings and mass layoffs.

The Berwyn, Pennsylvania-based law firm Sauder Schelkopf has set up a website seeking input from former Iron Hill employees who believe their "rights under the WARN Act have been violated."

Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund and Ryan Cormier, Patricia Talorico and Xerxes Wilson. USA TODAY Network

Mike Snider is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iron Hill Brewery files for bankruptcy after abruptly closing all locations

Reporting by Mike Snider, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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