Restaurant chains Bennigan's and Steak & Ale have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and will shut their doors.

The companies filed for bankruptcy protection in the Eastern District of Texas. Their parent company — privately held Metromedia Restaurant Group — is based in Plano, Texas.

By Jerry Cronin Restaurant critic THE FATHER-SON TEAM of Baxter Simmons Sr. and Jr. has added another eatery to its menu. The twosome opened Sterling's in downtown Norfolk a few years ago. Now they've branched out to Chesapeake. The new Sterling's is in the Town Place Shopping complex off Eden Way North.

By Tammy G. Jaxtheimer Restaurant critic Recounting the past 12 months of restaurant reviews reminds me what a tasteful year it was. Choosing the best of the best is always hard, but here are my Memorable Morsels, my favorite dishes of 2007. They're listed in alphabetical order by restaurant.

By Tammy G. Jaxtheimer Restaurant critic Comfort can conjure many different thoughts. It can be bunny slippers, worn jeans, a throw blanket or a favorite chair. In the late '80s the word "food" was added to the word "comfort," bringing meatloaf, macaroni and cheese and cobblers to some of the finer restaurants.

By Tammy G. Jaxtheimer Restaurant critic Pleasure House Road perfectly suits the Butterfly Garden Tea Room & Itty Bitty Bakery. Tea conjures comfort, relaxation and pleasure. Since July, Kim Gilkerson has been serving lunch and tea in her intimate Virginia Beach eatery. Gilkerson, past president of the Virginia Tea Society, has turned her "passion" into a bustling business.

The Virginian-Pilot
Since the new café, Mosaic, opened recently in the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts, every performer has slipped in for a drink or a meal after the show - and a visit with the audience members who follow them.When Michael Mauldin, star of "An Evening with Mark Twain," tarried after the show and found the café closed, he bartered a signed photo of himself for the crab cheesecake appetizer he simply had to try - and loved.His photo will be placed on the café's wall of fame, along with other performers . . .

By Tammy Jaxtheimer, Restaurant critic
A STORMY morning on the Eastern Shore turned into a beautiful fall day for the first annual Butch Butt Memorial Crab Cake Cookoff at Sunset Beach Resort.Herman L. "Butch" Butt III, an original owner of the Lucky Star in Virginia Beach with Amy Brandt, passed away last year. He was known for pleasing his customers, giving countless hours to fundraising efforts and being one of the founders of the Chesapeake Bay Wine Classic, a charitable event now in its 17th year. In a blind crab cake taste test, . . .