Italian casual-dining chain Buca di Beppo closed 13 restaurants across the country this week, shrinking its footprint by more than 20%.
In a statement, parent company Earl Enterprises said the locations had been unable to recover from the pandemic and other market pressures.
The closures included restaurants in Sacramento, California; Salt Lake City and Midvale, Utah; Livonia and Utica, Michigan; Springs Township, Pennsylvania; and Colonie, New York. They leave Buca di Beppo with 44 units nationwide.
The Orlando-based chain known for family-style Italian-American fare has been closing restaurants for years since peaking at 95 locations in 2013. Systemwide sales declined 4.7% last year, according to data from Technomic.
It is one of several casual-dining chains to close locations recently as the full-service segment grapples with rising costs and falling traffic. Others include Hooters, TGI Fridays, O’Charley’s and Red Lobster.
During the pandemic, many of Buca di Beppo’s outlets became hubs for delivery-only virtual brands from Virtual Dining Concepts, an affiliate of Earl Enterprises that owns MrBeast Burger, Pardon My Cheesesteak and other digital concepts.
The chain was founded in 1993 in Minneapolis as a stereotypical “red sauce joint” decorated with framed family photos and other Italian-themed kitsch. It grew quickly and went public in 1999 but in 2005 was derailed by an SEC investigation into fraud by three executives. Its CEO, CFO and controller later pled guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the company.
Robert Earl’s Planet Hollywood International acquired the chain in 2008 for $28.5 million.
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