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A good name wasn’t enough to keep Boston Blackie’s from filing bankruptcy.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the 20-year-old hamburger restaurant chain with eight locations in and around Chicago is reorganizing under Chapter 11. The restaurants should stay open under the filing.

The company, which takes its name from the popular reformed jewel thief of film and fiction, says it has a “sound core business” built around fresh ingredients, homemade coleslaw and great burgers.

Boston Blackie’s got its start in the heart of Chicago’s loop, but recently expanded to include franchises in various locations in the suburbs. Now there are three locations in the city and others in surrounding Arlington Heights, Deerfield, Glencoe, Streeterville and Skokie.

Legal representatives of Boston Blackie’s largest creditor, General Electric Capital Corp., told the Sun-Times the restaurant chain is a good thing that expanded more quickly than was sustainable. Ron Peterson, a partner at the law firm representing the company, said “they over-expanded and ran out of money.”

According to the bankruptcy records, Boston Blackie’s has more than $6 million in liabilities against only $17,000 in assets. The filing lists the Internal Revenue Service, Charter One, Peerless Building Partnership and General Electric Capital Corp. among the creditors. General Electrical Capital Corp. is the largest creditor, and is owed about $5.9 million.

One Boston Blackie’s store opened in Tinley Park, Illinois, took a huge loss and disappeared, according to Peterson. Another store had to open at a third of the original size than originally planned.

The bankruptcy filing will not affect the day-to-day operations of the existing Boston Blackie’s locations. Some employee paychecks recently bounced, but representatives confirmed that the chain’s 250 to 300 employees would be paid, as well as briefed on the bankruptcy situation.

General Manager Hector Perez cited the poor economy as one of the reasons for the financial difficulties of the hamburger chain and the subsequent bankruptcy filing.

Creditor representative Peterson reaffirmed his confidence in the core business, however. “They still have the best burgers,” he said. “We think the strongest asset it has is its good name.”