Restaurant with 67 years of history files for bankruptcy protection in Novo Hamburgo.

A culinary icon of the Vale do Sinos region is going through a period of instability.

The traditional family restaurant Bifão, from Novo Hamburgo, filed this Monday (20) a request for judicial recovery in the specialized court in the municipality.

Founded in 1953, the restaurant became known for serving high-quality meat in unusual portions, which earned it its famous name.

Since 2019, the business has been managed by the founder's heirs - Manoel Corrêa da Silva - who initiated a restructuring process to ensure the continuity of the business. They joined the company in 2005.

With the emergence of the pandemic and the closure of businesses due to the state government's color-coded alert system, the restaurant had to resort to judicial reorganization to gain some breathing room. In total, the liabilities amount to R$ 6 million — of which R$ 4.5 million are taxes.

“We are confident and committed to finding solutions to keep alive what has been, for generations, a symbol of enjoyable family meals,” said Janice Correa da Silva, daughter of the founder.

"Under normal conditions, the restaurant served up to seven thousand people monthly, but today it is restricted to delivery only, which unfortunately forced the company to lay off eight of its 19 employees," reports Robson Lima, a consultant who is part of the restructuring team.

The restaurant is operating normally with delivery service for lunch and dinner. Commercial initiatives are also planned to compensate for the temporary inability to open the dining area to the public.

FOUNDER

The merchant Manoel Corrêa da Silva was born in 1915 in Porto Alegre and died in August 2005 at the age of 90.

He moved to Novo Hamburgo in 1944, working at the Restaurante Comercial for nine years.
On November 20, 1953, he founded the São Jacó Restaurant and Bar, which gave rise to the "O Bifão" Restaurant. It has been at the same address since its founding: on São Jacó Street, in the city center.

Alongside his wife, Jures Corrêa da Silva, and his brother, Adão Corrêa da Silva, who has passed away, Manoel is remembered as the founder of Bifão and lends his name to a street in the São Lourenço Residential Subdivision, in the Boa Saúde neighborhood.

Source: Martin Behrend Portal