Bertucci’s, the casual dining restaurant chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday, April 24, 2025. This marks the company’s third filing in seven years. The company plans to reorganize to ensure a more successful future for the remaining outlets.
The bankruptcy filing cites a decline in demand for casual dining establishments as a reason for the drop in sales. This announcement follows the opening of their new fast-casual restaurant, Bertucci’s Pronto, designed to cater to customers seeking quick dining options.
Highlights
- Bertucci’s filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, for the third time within seven years, citing financial downturns as the cause.
- The chain owes numerous lenders, including landlords, across its many locations nationwide.
- The brand is hopeful that a restructuring in the form of a fast-casual dining chain may help rhelp revitalize its presence.
Challenges That Prompted Bankruptcy Filing
Bertucci’s is looking to undergo an operational restructuring to help combat their financial issues (Source: Bertucci’s official website)
The Italian chain has a history laden with financial downturns. Sales declined by 62% between 2019 and 2024, leading to the closure of 36 out of its 56 locations. As of Thursday, Bertucci’s website listed only 16 remaining outlets, all operational only on the East Coast.
Details of their bankruptcy filing are available through BK Data. The bankruptcy details the chain’s liabilities, which range between $10 and $50 million, with a little less than 300 creditors, including landlords across their many locations. Cost Control Associates, a business management consultant and their largest creditor, is owed a little over $600,000.
Bertucci’s Pronto: A New Way Forward
Bertucci’s is not the first casual dining restaurant chain in the United States to file for bankruptcy. Almost half a dozen restaurants in the category have been facing a less-than-ideal financial crisis. Inflation has contributed to a drop in traffic and sales, rendering it difficult for these chains to operate.
Bertucci hopes to revise and improve its current structure and launch a scaled-down version of its brand. It will be called Bertucci’s Pronto, a smaller dine-in and takeout restaurant chain that will offer brick-oven pizzas, sandwiches, and salads on its menus. The first Bertucci’s Pronto location became operational in the Government Center area of Boston on Wednesday.
Bertucci’s was started in 1981 in Davis Square, Somerville, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. Its current headquarters are located in Northborough, an area west of its original place.
Earl Enterprises, a parent company to Planet Hollywood and Virtual Dining Concepts, is the current owner of Bertucci’s. They acquired the brand in 2018 for $20 million after the chain had filed its first Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Under Earl, the chain underwent a financial restructuring; however, it did not fare too well. Soon, the chain filed for a second time in 2022 under Chapter 11. They cited inflation and the effects of the pandemic as their reasons for filing. In August, Buca di Beppo – another chain owned by Earl Enterprises – also filed for bankruptcy.
