The choppy seas of the restaurant industry have swamped another eatery in Joe's Crab Shack, whose Houston-based parent company owes nearly $220,000 to a pair of high-powered, Atlanta-based labor and employment firms.

Ignite Restaurant Group Inc., owner of the popular seafood establishment and casual dining chain Brick House Tavern + Tap, filed for bankruptcy in Houston on June 6. The company lists about $153 million in assets against $197.3 million in liabilities in its Chapter 11 petition.

New Canaan, Connecticut-based venture capital firm J.H. Whitney & Co. owns Ignite, which is seeking bankruptcy court approval for a roughly $50 million sale of itself to KRG Acquisitions Co., an affiliate of San Diego-based private equity firm the Kelly Cos. Lawyers from Chicago's Goldberg Kohn and Houston's Okin Adams are representing the proposed buyers.