Bar Louie closes more than a dozen restaurants, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Restaurant chain Bar Louie is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy – again.
The Addison, Texas-headquartered gastrobar chain filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, citing "various financial and operational challenges," according to court documents.
The bankruptcy filing comes after several Bar Louie restaurants across the U.S. were closed recently including locations in Detroit, Nashville and East Brunswick, New Jersey.
In a press release announcing the bankruptcy, Bar Louie said the bankruptcy process "is not expected to impact the company's day-to-day operations. Prior to the filing, Bar Louie closed underperforming locations to enhance its financial stability."
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Bar Louie filed for bankruptcy previously
Founded in 1991 in Chicago, Illinois, Bar Louie operates 31 company-owned locations and has an additional 17 franchised locations across 19 states, according to its court filing.
As part of the bankruptcy process, Bar Louie planned to close at least 13 corporate-owned locations. It lists 48 locations currently on its website.
"Inflationary pressures have caused consumers, generally, to cut back on dining out. At the same time, menu prices have risen to keep pace with increased food, utility and labor costs," the company's chief administrative officer Leslie Crook wrote in the bankruptcy filing. "As a result, many of (Bar Louie's) restaurants have underperformed, causing a drag on (Bar Louie's) financial performance and management attention."
Bar Louie had previously filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and was purchased by the current owners, BLH TopCo, as part of that process. There were more than 130 Bar Louie locations in 2018, prior to that bankruptcy filing, according to Nation's Restaurant News.
In its bankruptcy filing, Bar Louie listed estimated assets of $1 million to $10 million, with estimated liabilities of $50 million to $100 million. Its largest creditor is US Foods, which is owed more than $1.8 million.
Bar Louie is latest in string of recent restaurant bankruptcies
Bar Louie is just the latest restaurant chain to file for bankruptcy, amid what it described in its filing as an environment of "increased costs of operation and mounting macroeconomic pressures."
Earlier this month, On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after closing dozens of restaurants in February. In recent months, there's also been bankruptcy filings from TGI Fridays and Red Lobster.
Follow Mike Snider on Threads, Bluesky and X: mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider.
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