True Food Kitchen files for Chapter 11, closes 12 locations
The health-focused restaurant chain, backed by Oprah Winfrey, entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy, shuttering 12 sites and seeking a buyer while keeping 34 restaurants open.
True Food Kitchen, the restaurant chain known for its health-forward menu and partially backed by Oprah Winfrey, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday. The filing includes the closure of 12 locations, leaving 34 restaurants operating in 14 states as the company looks for a buyer.
The closed sites include three in California (Century City, El Segundo and San Diego UTC), as well locations in Miami, Chicago, New Orleans, Bethesda, Maryland, Edison and Hackensack, New Jersey, Garden City, New York, Columbus, Ohio and Reston, Virginia. Court documents show the company entered bankruptcy with about $1.6 million in unrestricted cash, enough to fund operations and bankruptcy costs for roughly two weeks without additional financing.
Chief Restructuring Officer Nathan Cook attributed the distress to frequent management turnover, shifting expansion strategies, and experiments launched during the pandemic, such as ghost-kitchen concepts, that strained staffing and service. He noted the chain carried roughly $42.1 million in funded debt at the time of filing.
"The Company experienced significant management turnover, which resulted in frequent changes to expansion strategy, brand direction, and menu offerings," Cook said in a court declaration.
"This process is the best path forward to simplify the business and focus on what we do best: delivering craveable, health-forward food and genuine hospitality," CEO Jeff Chandler said in a Monday statement.
"We know these decisions are especially hard on the team members affected, and we are deeply grateful for their contributions to True Food Kitchen and their communities," Chandler added.
Winfrey made a substantial equity investment in 2018, but she remains a minority shareholder without a board seat and is not involved in daily management. The company has secured a tentative $20 million financing commitment from HumanCo TFK IV, pending court approval, and has asked the court to allow continued payment of employee wages, benefits, and vendor obligations while it seeks a long-term partner.
Founded in Phoenix in 2008, True Food Kitchen continues to serve customers at its remaining locations while the bankruptcy process proceeds.