Popular Italian eatery Buca di Beppo closed its doors at 15350 S. 94th Avenue in Orland Park earlier this month just before the chain announced it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week.
The closing was one of at least a dozen locations closed by the restaurant chain in recent weeks.
There is still a location open in Lombard.
The company cited rising food and labor costs as well as staffing challenges as reasons for the bankruptcy filing. It has $10 million to $50 million in assets and $50 million to $100 million in liabilities, according to its Chapter 11 petition filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas.
Buca di Beppo said it had plans to restructure 44 “core” locations, with a new restaurant location also in the pipeline.
“This is a strategic step towards a strong future for Buca di Beppo,” Rich Saultz, the chain’s president, said in a statement. “While the restaurant industry has faced significant challenges, this move is the best next step for our brand. By restructuring with the continued support of our lenders, we are paving the way toward a reinvigorated future.”
Buca di Beppo will keep serving guests the family-style Italian meals that the chain is known for at its existing restaurants “as usual” while undergoing the Chapter 11 process, it said.
Buca was founded in Minneapolis in 1993 but is now headquartered in Orlando.
If you see a new business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bobbong@hotmail.com.
I think they went a little overboard I’m raising their prices during covert and maybe corporate was growing a little too big a little too fast and making too much money don’t know for sure just my thoughts have a family of four we would go in there and we are paying $100 for spaghetti appetizer and a couple drinks got a little too expensive for us and I think a lot of other people for just spaghetti too bad not their meat sauce and it was a nice place to take the family if you can’t make it in Orland Park it’s hard to make it anywhere people here are willing to pay for good food but the prices I think but way too high hopefully they’ll come out of this after bankruptcy And learn something And open it back up A little bit more family-friendly on price
Michael, we stopped going there years ago. We saw an Italain restaurant in Frankfort, which is really not that far from Orland. We actually saw it, and decided to try it. THAT was the BEST thing we ever did. YEARS later we’re still going there. Tryb it, if you haven’t tried it yet. The name is La Dolce Vita. Great place, great people. I hope this helped.
Baracco’s opened last year in the old Traverso’s building, and its loads better anyway.