TGI Friday's Bankruptcy: Fate Of VA Locations Murky

VIRGINIA — The future of several TGI Friday's Virginia restaurants is uncertain after the casual dining chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last weekend.

The bankruptcy affects the parent company of TGI Friday's, which operates 39 restaurant chains, and not the franchisees that control the remaining locations. The company said in a statement that it has secured financing so that all restaurants will operate as usual during the bankruptcy proceedings.

"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, TGI Fridays’ executive chairman, said in a statement.

TGI Friday's had 270 restaurants as recently as last year, but that number shrunk to 163 after 36 locations were shuttered in January and dozens more closed last month.

Four locations in Virginia — restaurants in Springfield, Woodbridge, Fredericksburg and Manassas — were among the closed restaurants, according to a USA Today report.

While the chain did not indicate if additional closures were planned, the statement said Friday's plans to "explore strategic alternatives in order to ensure the long-term viability of the brand."

According to the TGI Friday's website, the chain has four remaining locations in Virginia:

• 6640 Richmond Hwy., Alexandria
• 7855E Tysons Corner Ctr., McLean
• 13071 Worldgate Dr., Herndon
• 110 Volvo Pkwy., Chesapeake

While the long-term future of the franchise remains uncertain, finance experts said diners may want to take advantage of those unused gift cards sooner rather than later.

"Go use it, otherwise, you could end up in line for repayment behind a bunch of other creditors … (and) you'll be lucky, frankly to get pennies on the dollar for it," John Bringardner, head of analytics and debt tracking firm Debtwire, told USA Today.

Founded in 1965 in Manhattan as a cocktail bar and restaurant, TGI Fridays expanded over the following decades to become a ubiquitous suburban gathering spot known for its ribs, potato skins topped with cheese and bacon, and a decor bedecked with red stripes and Tiffany-style lamps.

Its empire peaked in 2008 with 601 restaurants in the U.S. and a $2 billion business, according to Kevin Schimpf, director of industry research at Technomic. Its sales in the U.S. were $728 million in 2023, down 15% from the prior year, according to Technomic.

The Associated Press and Patch editor Eric Heyl contributed to this report.