Buca di Beppo files for bankruptcy as Ohio location set for demolition

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Buca di Beppo, whose Worthington restaurant is set to be demolished after the site was bought for $2.5 million by Chick-fil-A, has filed for bankruptcy.

The Orlando-based Italian eatery filed for Chapter 11 on Sunday as the company said it owes at least $15 million to $50 million to at least 30 creditors, court documents show. The move comes after the chain abruptly closed more than a dozen locations last week, including eateries in Arizona, Michigan, Colorado, Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

"This is a strategic step towards a strong future for Buca di Beppo. While the restaurant industry has faced significant challenges, this move is the best next step for our brand. said Rich Saultz, Buca di Beppo president, in a statement. "By restructuring with the continued support of our lenders, we are paving the way toward a reinvigorated future."

Buca di Beppo is now home to 44 restaurants across 14 states and two international locations. The bankruptcy filing, which said the company has been hit by a significant drop in sales alongside rising food and labor costs, did not say whether any other eateries will be closing, like the downtown Columbus location at 343 N. Front St.

However, plans were finalized earlier this year to bulldoze the chain's Worthington restaurant at 60 E. Wilson Bridge after the site was purchased by Chick-fil-A in April, Franklin County auditor’s office records show. While the restaurant remains open with a shuttering date yet to be announced, the location's closing will dwindle Buca di Beppo to three Ohio eateries: the downtown location, another in Strongsville and a third near Cincinnati.

Buca di Beppo, who has called the Worthington property home since 2001, is not immediately closing at the site and previously said in a statement to NBC4 the restaurant plans to continue operating through at least April of 2026, when the eatery's lease expires. Chick-fil-A did not respond to request for comment.

Plans call for the Buca di Beppo to be bulldozed later in 2026 to clear the site for construction of a 5,000 square-foot Chick-fil-A restaurant with a 2027 opening, a proposal approved by the city of Worthington states. Once finished, the building will sport an aesthetic matching the neighborhood with a dual-lane drive-thru covered by two canopies.

The location is one of several central Ohio restaurants facing demolition to make way for a new Chick-fil-A, like Mackenzie River in Polaris. A shuttered restaurant that replaced Max and Erma's, the eatery auctioned off its furniture in March ahead of the building's demolition. The restaurant launched in 2016 when Montana-based Glacier Restaurant Group purchased all Max and Erma's locations and transformed several into Mackenzie River eateries.

Tee Jaye's Country Place at 4910 N. High St. closed in 2021 to make way for a Chick-fil-A, which opened in April. Construction at this property included preserving the site's 20th-century sign that has received a facelift with Chick-fil-A branding.

Buca di Beppo is joining a sea of other stores and restaurants that have filed for bankruptcy since the COVID-19 pandemic. Red Lobster is closing a chunk of Ohio locations after filing for bankruptcy in May, citing $1 billion in debt. Bed, Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy last year, shuttering a number of central Ohio stores.

Big Lots, the discount retail chain headquartered in central Ohio, is closing nearly 150 stores this year amid speculation the company will file for bankruptcy. The chain previously shared plans in June to shutter 35 to 40 stores by the end of 2024, a filing the company submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealed. The closings are coming as Big Lots' sales dropped 10.2% between the first quarters of 2023 and 2024, equating to a loss of about $114 million.

Since the SEC filing, the number of planned closures has expanded with 149 locations posting banners on their websites that read “closing this location,” while alerting customers they could “save up to 20% off.”