West Covina : Red Onion Restaurants Shut

The Red Onion restaurant in West Covina and nine other Red Onions in the greater Los Angeles area closed for good Monday after their parent company, International Onion, shut down because of financial troubles.

International Onion filed for bankruptcy in November, 1992.

“The reason for the closure is, principally, no suitable sale of the restaurant could be arranged,” said Jeff Coyne, a trustee in charge of selling off the restaurants.

“They were in a very difficult position when I got them, they owed money to landlords, to employees . . . and they were getting tremendous attention from the Alcoholic Beverage Control and police and fire departments,” Coyne said.

The Onion closed without tears from the West Covina Police Department, said Lt. Lee Rossman.

“You won’t find too many people crying around here at all,” Rossman said. “We had problems with them overcrowding the bar . . . we had fights in the bar, fights outside, even a murder last year--a shooting over a parking space.”

The closures left about 900 employees out of work.