A TGI Fridays is pictured in 2020 in Queens in New York City, when the streets were empty due to the coronavirus.

A TGI Fridays is pictured in 2020 in Queens in New York City, when the streets were empty due to the coronavirus. / Getty Images

The parent company of TGI Fridays, the casual dining chain, has filed for bankruptcy, the company said, as it explores a long-term survival plan for the troubled business.
 
The company said the COVID-19 pandemic was the “primary driver of our financial challenges” and that the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process will allow it to “explore strategic alternatives.”

“The next steps announced today are difficult but necessary actions to protect the best interests of our stakeholders, including our domestic and international franchisees and our valued team members around the world,” Rohit Manocha, the executive chairman of TGI Fridays Inc., said in a statement on Saturday.

The pandemic forced in-person dining establishments to close or pivot their business models, and many struggled to recover. Meanwhile, fresher, faster and cheaper options, like Shake Shack, came for casual dining chains’ lunch.

TGI Fridays joins several big-name chains in filing for bankruptcy this year, including Red Lobster, Big Lots, Tupperware, Express and Joann.

There are 163 TGI Fridays in the U.S., down from 237 restaurants in January, after the chain announced the closure of 36 locations that month. Since then, the company has quietly shut down dozens more.

The bankruptcy affects TGI Fridays’ parent company, which operates 39 restaurants, and not its other locations which are run by franchisees. The company has secured financing to keep all of its locations open and running as usual during the bankruptcy process.