The owners of the Viking, a longtime and popular tavern here, and Season Ticket Sports, Spirits & Grub, a sports bar and restaurant near Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, have filed personally for protection from creditors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court here.


In the Chapter 11 filing, Chuck Randazzo and his wife, Kathy, list total assets of about $342,000 and liabilities of about $707,500. They operate the Season Ticket, at 1221 N. Howard, and the Viking, at 1221 N. Stevens, through Spokane-based Randazzo LLC.


The Randazzos couldnt be reached for comment. Their attorney, Stephen Backman, of Spokane, declined to comment, except to say that the Viking and the Season Ticket would remain open.


In the bankruptcy filing, the main assets listed by the Randazzos are their personal residence in Nine Mile Falls, with a market value of $110,000, and a rental property in Nine Mile Falls with a value of $102,000. Lenders hold secured claims on both properties, and those claims account for about $654,000 of the couples liabilities, the filing says.


The documents also show a Viking-related Internal Revenue Service bill of $48,000.


The Randazzos bought the Viking in 1996. The tavern operates more than 20 beer taps. Its one of Spokanes oldest and largest purveyors of draft microbrew and imported beers.


The Vikings previous owner, John Edwards, had operated the tavern for 20 years.


Season Ticket opened about five years ago. In addition to food, beer, and liquor, the sports bar offers pull tabs, dartboards, and shuffleboard games.


Randazzo recently said the Season Ticket would have about $750,000 in revenues this year. As the Journal reported last month, he has asked the Washington state Gambling Commission for permission to open a 12-table card room inside the Season Ticket, which is a 10,000-square-foot establishment. The application was approved this week, says Susan Arland, a spokeswoman with the gambling commission.


As of roughly a month ago, Season Ticket employed about 20 people. Previously, Randazzo had said that he expected he would hire between 50 and 75 people to staff the proposed card room.