Casual dining chains across the U.S. are still cutting locations as higher costs and softer traffic pressure legacy brands. Bravo Italian Kitchen and its sister chain Brio Italian Grille are the latest examples, with more closures reported after parent company Bravo Brio Restaurants LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Aug. 18, 2025. The filings and subsequent closures have kept the Olive Garden rival in focus as the chain shrinks its national footprint.
More restaurants have gone dark
Bravo Brio Restaurants LLC filed for Chapter 11 protection on Aug. 18, 2025, marking the company’s second bankruptcy, according to court filings and company statements reported at the time. When it filed, the company operated 23 Bravo Italian Kitchen locations and 25 Brio Italian Grille restaurants across 12 states each. The company said the process would let it close underperforming units, restructure debt, and reduce costs.
Since that filing, the company has continued trimming both brands. Bravo Italian Kitchen has closed 9 locations over the last year and now operates 14 restaurants, while Brio Italian Grille has also closed 9 locations and now operates 16, according to the reported operating totals.
The latest reported closures include Bravo Italian Kitchen at the Dayton Mall in Miami Township, Ohio, which WDTN-TV reported had abruptly closed on Sept. 8, and the Jordan Creek Town Center location in Des Moines, Iowa, which the Des Moines Register reported had closed on Sept. 4.
What is confirmed in Ohio and beyond
In Ohio, the confirmed closure is the Bravo Italian Kitchen at the Dayton Mall in Miami Township. That restaurant was reported closed on Sept. 8, adding Ohio to the list of states where the company’s post-bankruptcy footprint has tightened. The company has not released a comprehensive public list of every affected Ohio location since the Chapter 11 filing.
Other confirmed closures tied to the sister brand Brio Italian Grille show the broader scale of the retrenchment. Reported 2026 closures include Cherry Hill, New Jersey, in June, Marlton, New Jersey, in May, and Freehold Raceway Mall in Freehold, New Jersey, in February.
Outside New Jersey, Brio also shuttered its Mall at Millenia location in Orlando, Florida, in February 2026. Those reported closures show the downsizing is spread across several markets, but the company has not publicly outlined a full state-by-state schedule for additional shutdowns.
Why the company says this is happening
In its bankruptcy case, Bravo Brio said the filing was intended to reorganize the business and restructure debt. The company stated that it was dealing with economic distress that hurt restaurant performance across its portfolio. That explanation lines up with broader pressure on casual dining brands that have been cutting stores in 2025 and 2026.
The company specifically pointed to ongoing inflationary pressure, rising food costs, and higher labor expenses in statements reported after the filing. It also said discretionary consumer spending had softened, which weighed more heavily on restaurants in shopping centers with high vacancies and declining foot traffic.
That combination has affected other chains as well. Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. said it plans to close 20 restaurants in 2026 after closing 23 in 2025, while Ruby Tuesday has fallen from 945 locations in 2007 to about 174 today. For customers, that means more location-level changes may continue as operators focus on profitable stores during restructuring.
