Iconic American rapper Snoop Dogg may save the famous West Coast restaurant Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles from bankruptcy by changing its name to Snoop’s House of Chicken & Waffles.
The hip-hop-turned-TV star was devastated once he was told by TMZ that the restaurant is having financial troubles. The Los Angles Times reports that the Long Beach, California soul food chain’s parent company, East Coast Foods, Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last Friday.
The company filed bankruptcy months after it was ordered to pay a $3.2 million termination and discrimination lawsuit that was issued against the chain by a former employee. Since filling with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in California, East Coast Foods estimated that it has debts between $10 million to $50 million. The company’s assets are stated to be less than $50,000. According to the Times, in court filings, the company did not say whether bankruptcy would affect the day-to-day operations of its seven Southland Roscoe’s restaurants.
Roscoes House of Chicken & Waffles was founded by Harlem native Herb Hudson. It has been the home of chicken-and-waffle combos and Southern staples such as grits, biscuits and cornbread since 1975.
Roscoe’s has also been referenced in numerous films, television and music. The late rapper Notorious B.I.G. shouts-out the restaurant in his song “Going Back to Cali.” Samuel L. Jackson’s character tempts an underling with a Roscoe’s meal in Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 crime drama “Jackie Brown.” Also, Snoop Dogg took both Larry King and David Beckham to the chicken mecca on his reality TV show in 2007.
It isn’t certain if Snoop Dogg will stand behind his words, but he and The New York Times both refer to the restaurant as a “beloved soul food chain.”
