On the heels of closing scores of locations in recent weeks, Buca Di Beppo has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, court documents filed Monday show.
The company blamed its financial woes on things including rising costs and hiring difficulty, according to information from the restaurant and court papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas.
In its 21-page petition obtained by USA TODAY, the Orlando-based casual restaurant chain named 30 creditors it owes close to $50 million.
The chain of Italian-American restaurants has been slowly shuttering its doors since COVID hit in 2020 and last month closed nearly 20% of its locations, according to Restaurant Business Magazine.
On July 30, the magazine reported Buca’s parent company Earl Enterprises said several of its locations “had been unable to recover from the pandemic and other market pressures.”
In a statement released by the eatery Monday, leaders wrote Buca is restructuring 44 core locations and is in the process of opening one new location.
