After 60 Years A Major Illinois Restaurant Chain Files Bankruptcy

Casual dining restaurants are not hard to find. Local-owned one-off places or large chains that span the globe.  You can find a place for a burger and beer on an Illinois street corner near you.

With all that competition businesses have to do things right to stand out and stay profitable.  The latest bankruptcy filing shouldn't come as a surprise with how many locations they have been closing recently.

Nine Other Illinois Restaurants Closing

Large chain restaurants are closing down locations that aren't performing well.  That just makes sense.  Location, location, location.

These include other casual dining hot spots like Applebee's, Outback Steakhouse, Cracker Barrel, and more.  Plus fast food and once trendy places just aren't surviving in this day and age of choices and financial situations for consumers.

READ MORE:  NINE ILLINOIS RESTAURANTS THAT COULD BE CLOSING SOON. 

Get our free mobile app

TGI Fridays attempted to save its locations by selling all its corporately owned stores.  That was just reported in September of 2024.  Sometimes, plans can change quickly.

TGI Fridays Files For Bankruptcy

TGI Fridays filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 2 saying it "still has not fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic."

The company said 39 of its corporate-owned locations would remain open.  There are other TGI Fridays across the globe owned by 56 franchisees.  They will not be affected by the bankruptcy filing and will continue to operate normally for now.

"The primary driver of our financial challenges resulted from COVID-19 and our capital structure. This restructuring will allow our go-forward restaurants to proceed with an optimized corporate infrastructure that enables them to reach their full potential." TGI Fridays Inc. executive chairman Rohit Manocha said in a statement. 

We've seen the closings of TGI Fridays over the last year.  In January, the company closed 36 locations across the country and another 12 in recent weeks.

The bankruptcy filing should help protect the other 461 restaurants across 41 countries currently open...for now.

TGI Fridays has been in business for nearly 60 years.  While it originally started with the slogan "Thank God It's Friday" commercials now proclaim "Thank Goodness It's Friday".  With these recent financial struggles, they need to be thanking you every time you dine with them.