Fort Lauderdale-based BurgerFi International, which has three Jacksonville locations, announced Sept. 11 it has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The bankruptcy also includes the company’s Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings restaurants.
The company has a combined 144 locations in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Saudi Arabia. The Chapter 11 filing only pertains to the 67 corporate-owned locations.
The company said it will continue normal, uninterrupted operations at all locations.
There are 51 Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings restaurants.
BurgerFi is a fast-casual restaurant specializing in hamburgers. Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings is a casual dining chain. There are no locations in the Jacksonville area.
Nation’s Restaurant News reported that BurgerFi and Anthony’s have accumulated between $50 million and $100 million in assets, and up to $500 million in debt.
“BurgerFi and Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings are dynamic and beloved brands, and in the face of a drastic decline in post-pandemic consumer spending amidst sustained inflation and increasing food and labor costs, we need to stabilize the business in a structured process,” said Jeremy Rosenthal, chief restructuring officer of BurgerFi International Inc., in a news release.
“We are confident that this process will allow us to protect and grow our brands and to continue the operational turnaround started less than 12 months ago and secure additional capital.”
The company brought in new upper management in 2023 to restructure the business. It addressed high employee turnover, declining sales and a stale menu. It closed 19 underperforming corporate-owned stores.