US Italian Restaurant Chains Facing Bankruptcy in 2025: What We Know So Far

The casual dining business in the U.S. has been through a lot of bad luck financially, and 2025 has brought more trouble for a few well-known Italian restaurant chains. Several types of restaurants, ranging from well-known sit-down restaurants to hybrid dining concepts, have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy or said they will be closing many locations this year. These changes show not only how hard it is for individual companies, but also how consumer habits are changing, prices are going up, and the dining scene is changing.

Bravo Brio Restaurants

Bravo Brio Restaurants LLC, which owns Bravo! Italian Restaurant Kitchen and Brio Italian Grille, said it was going bankrupt in August 2025. This is the second time in five years that the chain has changed its structure.

About 56 restaurants are run by the company in 20 states, but many of them could be closed as officials look at which ones aren’t doing well. In its bankruptcy papers, Bravo Brio listed its assets and debts as $50 million to $100 million. Its biggest debt was nearly $1.9 million owed to Sysco, which was its biggest unsecured creditor.

Management pointed to a number of problems, including fewer people going to the mall, less spending on extras, and the fact that food and labor costs keep going up. People are choosing faster, cheaper options instead of sit-down places because of inflation. Bravo Brio wants to reorganize and come out better, but they have to make tough cuts right now.

Bertucci’s

It was April 2025 when Bertucci’s, another well-known Italian name, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The fact that this is the chain’s third bankruptcy filing in seven years shows how hard it has had it in the casual eating market for a long time.

Bertucci’s has been slowly shrinking. It used to be famous for its brick oven pizzas and family-style atmosphere. Six places in Maryland, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts had to close because of the April filing. By the middle of August, the company had closed its last restaurant in Connecticut, in Glastonbury. There were now only 13 restaurants left, with 10 in Massachusetts and one each in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia.

Bertucci’s problems include traditional sit-down chains are losing ground to fast-casual ideas that focus on speed, ease of use, and low prices. Rents and supplies are going up, which makes things even worse for older restaurant types.

Pinstripes

It’s not just traditional Italian restaurants that are going bankrupt. Pinstripes, a company that serves Italian-American food and has fun things to do like bowling and bocce, said in June 2025 that it would also file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. With 18 stores across the country, Pinstripes claimed a $8 million loss and an 8% drop in sales earlier this year.

The idea of a “experience-driven” brand was appealing, but the company’s financial results show that it has had a hard time staying profitable as consumers’ budgets have shrunk. If attempts to restructure fail, the company hasn’t said for sure that it won’t close all of its locations.

Fiorella

This year, the small but well-known Fiorella business in San Francisco filed for Chapter 11. Two of its four neighborhood restaurants, in the Richmond and Sunset areas, filed for bankruptcy. Each site is run by a separate LLC. This was a legal move that let the restaurants stay open while they restructured their debt.

The owners said they wanted to keep the jobs and keep serving locals, but the filing shows that even small, community-driven Italian businesses can be hurt by higher prices and slower traffic.

Noodles & Company

Noodles & Company, a fast-casual pasta company based in Colorado that isn’t just Italian, has also been changing how it does business in 2025. The business said it would shut down between 28 and 32 locations by the end of the year. In 2026, they plan to close even more sites.

It’s interesting that Noodles & Company recently announced a 5% increase in comparable sales. This was mostly due to the launch of a new menu. But executives said that even with this small growth, some sites could not stay open with the way costs were now.

Why Are Italian Chains Struggling?

A lot of Italian restaurants in the U.S. are going out of business or closing down, which is a sign of a few bigger problems:

Changing how they eat: People are eating out less often at sit-down restaurants and more at fast-casual or takeaway places, which are easier and cheaper.

High costs of doing business—Rising prices for food, a lack of workers, and higher pay have all cut into profit margins across the board.

Real estate pressure: A lot of Italian chains depend on being in malls or neighborhood shopping centers, but foot traffic has dropped a lot there.

Changing tastes: Younger diners don’t usually want traditional pasta-heavy menus. Instead, they want variety, foreign flavors, or meals that are good for them.

The Outlook

Not every Italian business is having a hard time. Chains like Olive Garden have been able to stay in business by using reward programs, deals that offer good value, and a strong take-out business. What Bravo Brio, Bertucci’s, Pinstripes, and Fiorella went through, though, should teach us a lesson.

Many of these brands will need to streamline their operations, change their menus, and get back in touch with customers who want cheaper food without losing quality in order to stay in business.

It’s possible that 2025 will be remembered as a turning point for Italian food in the U.S., with the end of old chains and the rise of smaller, more flexible models.

Why are Italian chains having a hard time?

A lot of Italian restaurants in the U.S. are going out of business or closing down, which is a sign of a few bigger problems:

• Changing how they eat: People are eating out less often at sit-down restaurants and more at fast-casual or takeaway places, which are easier and cheaper.
• High costs of doing business: Rising prices for food, a lack of workers, and higher pay have all cut into profit margins across the board.
• Real estate pressure: A lot of Italian chains depend on being in malls or neighborhood shopping centers, but foot traffic has dropped a lot there.
• Changing tastes: Younger diners don’t usually want traditional pasta-heavy menus. Instead, they want variety, foreign flavors, or meals that are good for them.

The Look Ahead

Not every Italian business is having a hard time. Chains like Olive Garden have been able to stay in business by using reward programs, deals that offer good value, and a strong take-out business. What Bravo Brio, Bertucci’s, Pinstripes, and Fiorella went through, though, should teach us a lesson.

Many of these brands will need to streamline their operations, change their menus, and get back in touch with customers in order to stay in business.

It’s possible that 2025 will be remembered as a turning point for Italian food in the U.S., with the end of old chains and the rise of smaller models.