The fast-casual dining sector has battled a series of economic challenges over the last five years that have led to hundreds of restaurant closings and Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings.
The Covid-19 pandemic forced restaurants to close for extended periods, then restaurants transitioned to take-out and delivery models before allowing a limited amount of diners in their restaurants until the pandemic subsided.
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Once the pandemic faded away, more problems developed as inflation ramped up, leading to higher labor and food costs for restaurants. Rising interest rates also led to increased costs of debt.
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Several fast-casual pizza restaurant owners faced financial distress that forced them to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
EYM Pizza, which operated 142 Pizza Hut locations in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, South Carolina, and Wisconsin, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 22, 2024, in the Eastern District of Texas, seeking to sell its assets.
The franchisee sold 77 of its restaurants to six different bidders and closed the 65 other locations it was not able to sell.
The franchisee of Marco’s Pizza locations in Austin and Round Rock, Texas on Feb. 3 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize its businesses.
That filing came about three months after Tampa Bay Marco’s Pizza franchise owners Terry Burkholder and Ben Finley, who owned 19 locations, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2024 to reorganize and sell underperforming restaurants.
Another fast-casual pizza chain Fired Pie on Nov. 13, 2024, filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona to restructure its business.
Fast-casual chains filed for bankruptcy
Fast-casual Tex-Mex chain Tijuana Flats Restaurants on April 19, 2024, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, sold the company to a new ownership group, and closed 11 of its locations.
Rubio’s Coastal Grill, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain, on June 5, 2024, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington seeking to restructure its debt.
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The Biscuit Bar files for bankruptcyÂ
And now popular fast-casual chain The Biscuit Bar filed for Chapter 11 protection to reorganize its business, facing financial distress.
The Plano, Texas-based restaurant chain filed its petition on Feb. 6 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas to restructure the debts of its chain of six biscuit sandwich restaurants.
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The Biscuit Bar, which operates restaurants in Abilene, Coppell, Dallas, Fort Worth, North Arlington, and Plano, Texas, listed $50,000 to $100,000 in assets and $1 million to $10 million in debts in its petition.Â
The debtor, TBB Boardwalk LLC, said in its petition that no funds would be available for distribution to unsecured creditors after administrative expenses.
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The Biscuit Bar offers a menu full of sandwiches featuring its freshly baked buttermilk biscuits, including bacon, egg, and cheese sauce; sausage gravy and biscuit; sausage, egg, and cheese; French toast biscuit; steak, egg, and cheese, and The Hoss with Southern fried chicken, bacon, jack cheese, sausage gravy, and honey butter.
The menu also features about a dozen other biscuit sandwiches to tempt diners.
The restaurant chain’s owners Jake and Janie Burkett started the restaurant chain in spring 2018 with its first location in Plano, after developing every recipe in the family’s home kitchen, according to its website.
The Biscuit Bar has plans to expand with more locations, the website asserted, though expansion plans are not certain following the bankruptcy filing.
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