UPDATE: Marie Callender's Closes Abruptly; Corporation Files for Bankruptcy

Although on Monday the company website was still touting a Father's Day brunch special, Marie Callender's restaurants abruptly closed their doors Sunday afternoon and the corporate parents filed for bankruptcy Monday.

Marie Callender's restaurants on Diamond Boulevard in Concord, and in Walnut Creek and San Ramon and other Bay Area locations, closed their doors Sunday afternoon — without informing staff that the closure was coming, the blog Claycord reported.

Close on the heels came news that the corporate parent of Marie Callender’s and the Perkins chain has filed for bankruptcy in a Delaware court, citing weak sales in a poor economy, according to Reuter's.

Claycord quotes a reader whose friend was eating at the restaurant: 

"A friend of mine was just at Marie Callender’s and mid-lunch the restaurant shut down. Didn’t even let them finish eating or pay. Apparently they got a fax from HQ that said they had to close immediately."

A waitress told Claycord that staff received no warning, that signs were placed on the doors announcing the closure and that other locations closed are in Napa, Capitola, Elk Grove, Daly City, Salinas, Simi Valley, Los Angeles, Merced and Hayward.