Chevys LA-Based Parent Company Files for Bankruptcy

Chevys, Acapulco Restaurant y Cantina, and El Torito’s parent company filed for chapter 11 on Tuesday. The Cypress-based Real Mex Restaurants started the court hearing process, which will ultimately decide the future of the restaurant. Though the company is in the midst of filing for bankruptcy, the company says the aforementioned restaurants will remain open during the company’s acquisition.

Real Mex Restaurants experienced a number of changes in recent years. After initially filing bankruptcy in 2012, the company went through three CEOs, tried rebranding while closing half its 135 restaurants, sold Pink Taco to its private equity firm Z Capital Group LLC, and put the company on the market in May this year. As part of Tuesday’s filing, Real Mex Restaurants will sell its assets to Z Capital Group, and assume Real Mex’s liabilities which range between $100 million to $500 million, according to the Orange County Register.

Real Mex’s restaurants are a longstanding presence in Southern California. Acapulco, Chevys, and El Torito are undeniably a part of early LA food culture, and were instrumental in establishing sit-down Mexican dining. Companies like Real Mex are going through a frightening trend for aging large chains that struggle to maintain customers in the era of fast casual and food halls. While many of Real Mex’s businesses remain open, the Sunset Boulevard Acapulco closed in September 2017, and the Northridge location followed suit in late July.

Though the company states that eleven franchisees are unaffected by the bankruptcy filing, it is unclear which will remain standing.

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