BurgerFi quality complaints mount as bankruptcy cuts chain to 60 locations
BurgerFi's bankruptcy, 19 store closures and a $3.5 million rescue loan followed franchisee complaints that ingredient quality started slipping in 2022.
BurgerFi filed Chapter 11 in Delaware on Sept. 11, 2024, after a year of closures, emergency financing and asset sales had cut the once-premium burger chain from 125 locations to 93 restaurants nationwide, including 76 franchised and 17 corporate. It listed between $50 million and $100 million in assets and $100 million to $500 million in debt. Franchisees had been warning since 2022 that ingredient quality was slipping even as the company chased growth and discounting.
The chain went public in late 2020 through a SPAC merger that brought in $100 million in cash and stock and put BurgerFi on Nasdaq. Customers and operators later complained about smaller portions and weaker food standards, and franchisees said the quality problems had become obvious by 2022.
The case covered only its 67 corporate-owned units, not franchisee locations. BurgerFi reported a 4% drop in restaurant sales in the second quarter of 2024, an $18.4 million net loss and just $4.4 million in cash and cash equivalents as of July 1. BurgerFi was also booted from Nasdaq for failing to comply with financial disclosure requirements, and most of its board resigned. Former franchisees pointed to geographic overreach, discounting that hurt profitability and what one former franchisee called “corporate greed.”
TREW Capital Management Private Credit 2 LLC provided $3.5 million in financing to keep the business operating during bankruptcy and then won the assets in a credit-bid sale, with Anthony’s sold for $44 million and BurgerFi for $10 million. The BurgerFi asset sale closed on Nov. 27, 2024. Carl Bachmann, who had served as BurgerFi CEO since July 2023, departed on Nov. 15, 2024.
On Dec. 13, 2024, BurgerFi was sold to the parent of Savvy Sliders, Happy’s Pizza and Fat Boy’s Pizza. The buyer said the brand had lost its identity but still had “a ton of legs” for future growth. By then, BurgerFi had 85 locations. The bankruptcy case moved to liquidation in 2025, when a chapter 11 liquidating plan was confirmed on March 12 and became effective March 17.
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