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From retail to restaurants, prices are rising, and it’s hard for customers to keep up. People are going out to eat less, or they’re choosing cheaper restaurants when they do.
That’s taken a toll on many sit-down restaurant chains, some of which have had to close. The latest casualty is the Bravo Brio Restaurants group, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this week. Here’s what we know, including whether any restaurants will be closing.
Bravo Brio Restaurants filed for bankruptcy protection on August 18, 2025. It’s a restaurant group that includes two Italian chains: Bravo! Italian Kitchen and Brio Italian Grille. Both serve similar Italian-inspired menus with pastas, salads, and entrees like chicken parmesan and steak with marsala sauce.
The company is hoping to spur new investment, restructure debt, and reduce operating expenses during the bankruptcy process, according to Restaurant Dive. Bravo Brio Restaurants cited weak demand, in part due to locations in shopping centers that have had less traffic, as well as rising costs of food and labor as reasons for the bankruptcy.
Court filings show that the company owes almost $2 million to Sysco, a commercial food service supplier.
This is the second time that Bravo Brio Restaurants has filed for bankruptcy. The first time was in 2020.
At least some Bravo and Brio locations will close during the bankruptcy process. There are about 50 locations total between the two restaurants, so any closures would be a relatively large percentage of the chains.
There’s no word on how many will be closing or where, however, so your guess is as good as ours. Some locations have already closed this year in a few states, according to local reports.
It’s impossible to say at this point. Bravo Brio Restaurants is hoping to attract investors through the filing, perhaps to continue operating the chains, or perhaps to sell the company entirely. If no one is interested, there’s a good possibility that the chains could go out of business and close completely.
There’s been a number of other restaurant bankruptcies and closures over the last year. Bar Louie filed for bankruptcy in March, while Hooters, the controversial sports bar chain, filed for bankruptcy right after. Other chain restaurants including TGI Friday’s, Boston Market, and Red Lobster have all had serious money woes or closed completely.