Between the Brio Italian Grille and Bravo! Italian Kitchen brands, the company has 59 locations across the U.S.
WASHINGTON — The company behind a popular Italian restaurant chain has filed for bankruptcy for the second time in five years.
Bravo Brio Restaurants, the company behind Brio Italian Grille and Bravo! Italian Kitchen, a pair of upscale Italian chain restaurants, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday.
The company, based in Orlando, said in court filings that it had assets and liabilities between $50 and $100 million, and owed $1.9 million to Sysco, a restaurant food distributor.
This is the second time the company has declared bankruptcy. In 2020, the company filed for bankruptcy protection and was subsequently sold to its current owner, Earl Enterprises.
Bravo Brio plans to shutter underperforming locations as it tries to stabilize its financial positions.
Between the Brio Italian Grille and Bravo! Italian Kitchen brands, the company has 59 locations across the U.S.
It’s unclear how many of these locations would shutter under the bankruptcy plan.
In a statement to Restaurant Business Online, Bravo Brio blamed inflation, rising costs and a decline in the casual restaurant industry overall for the bankruptcy.
“Outgoing inflationary pressure, rising food and labor costs and a softening in discretionary consumer spending have contributed to underperformance, especially in shopping centers with high vacancies and declining foot traffic,” the company said in a statement to the restaurant news-focused outlet. “These pressures have proved insurmountable to numerous other legacy casual-dining restaurant brands, many of whom have also turned to bankruptcy as a tool for restructuring.”
It’s the latest restaurant bankruptcy in recent months, as economic pressures continue to drive consumers to eat out less.
In March, Hooters of America, the iconic wing restaurant chain known for its scantily-clad all-female waitstaff, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of a plan to sell its company-owned locations to a group of franchisees.
By June, at least 30 Hooters locations across the country had been closed, sometimes with little warning.
And in November 2024, TGI Fridays filed for bankruptcy, citing years of unstable sales.
TGI Fridays Executive Chairman Rohit Manocha in a statement said the “primary driver of our financial challenges resulted from COVID-19 and our capital structure.”
Dining and Cooking