The Florida-Based Burger Chain That Filed For Bankruptcy In 2024

While burgers are seen as a money pit in most restaurants, there are some eateries that choose to celebrate the beef patty by making it their sole focus. One such restaurant chain, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea-based BurgerFi, chose this noble route, creating a group of over 100 locations. But in September 2024, BurgerFi International Inc. (BFI), which also owned Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza & Wings, declared bankruptcy after just 13 years in business (2024 was a huge year for well-known chains seeking bankruptcy protections).

Chief Restructuring Officer Jeremy Rosenthal reported in a press release that inherited challenges, which had plagued the chain, as well as a "drastic decline in post-pandemic consumer spending amidst sustained inflation and increasing food and labor costs" was the cause of BurgerFi's September 11 motion filing. And like some restaurant chains in the same position, all locations of both brands would remain open during proceedings, including all 67 corporate-owned spots, which were the only restaurants that would be affected by the bankruptcy filing.

Then, a little over a month later in late October, both BurgerFi and Anthony's were purchased out of bankruptcy auction by TREW Capital Management for $44 million. This seemed a natural next step, since the investment company had already taken on BFI's debt, which amounted to up to $500 million.

BurgerFi staked its claim in the restaurant biz by offering customers chef-driven, high-quality burgers made from all-natural beef that was sourced from humanely raised cows. Thanks to its tasty specialty burgers, BurgerFi quickly grew, starting in its home state of Florida in 2011 before spreading along the eastern seaboard, mid-Atlantic states, and a few Midwest states, and even opening locations in Puerto Rico and Saudi Arabia.

However, troubles for the company started in 2020, when BurgerFi merged with a special purpose acquisition company (or SPAC) and went public. A year later, it purchased Anthony's Coal Fired PIzza & Wings with the intention of franchising that chain. But when it came time to meet NASDAQ requirements, including disclosures about its financials, the company kept delaying until it was delisted in August 2024.

Aside from its struggles as a public company, matters at corporate headquarters were also getting messy. A new CEO on the scene in 2023, Carl Bachmann, failed to make marked improvements despite his best efforts in expanding the menu to include chicken sandwiches and updating technology, among other investments. BurgerFi began closing restaurants as a result, while sales began dropping rapidly. Then, in April of 2024, the company revealed that it had defaulted on its loan, while the aforementioned TREW Capital Management swept in a month later and bought out the debt. And so the stage was set for both bankruptcy and the eventual sale of BurgerFi, many of whose locations, despite its recent chaos, remain operational.