26 restaurant franchisee bankruptcy filings in 2026

26 restaurant franchisee bankruptcy filings in 2026

The brands are not the ones filing. In 2026 the filings are coming from the operators who run the restaurants under license: 26 filings by 21 operators so far, covering Popeyes, Applebee's, Subway, Denny's, Firehouse Subs, Farmer Boys, Hardee's, Carl's Jr., Wendy's, Domino's, Moe's, Checkers, Golden Corral, Long John Silver's, Woody's Bar-B-Q, Mountain Mike's Pizza, Island Wing Co., Village Inn and Dave's Hot Chicken. No filing is new this week; the last three joined the count on October 19, once we matched each to a court docket. The cases also show more of why: lenders pushing operators into court, and the largest filer, Meritage Hospitality, closing Wendy's in weekly rounds. Nation's Restaurant News reported that Meritage is in "a round of up to 60 closures expected to take place in groups through mid-November."

What the filings blame

Debt taken on at the restaurant level, not the brand's. Merchant cash advances run through case after case. MTF Enterprises, which ran 43 Subway stores from Maine to Virginia, filed in January citing financial problems resulting from merchant cash advances. Geddo Corp., which runs 12 Farmer Boys restaurants in California and Arizona, filed in March after merchant cash advance lenders' withdrawals from its accounts left it unable to pay vendors, TheStreet reported. The clearest account of the mechanism comes from a 2025 filing, Matador Restaurant Group's Del Taco case, which listed $2.7 million across ten separate advances with nine different lenders. CN Holdings, a Firehouse Subs operator in Utah, attributes its filing to debt taken on for two new restaurants whose construction ran late. TIG Reaper, the Dave's Hot Chicken operator, also took merchant cash advance money, including roughly $105,000 from Parafin in January 2026, QSR reported. This is the pattern under much of the year: an operator borrowing expensively against daily sales, then running out of room.

A lender calling in a loan. The Integritty Group runs Dave's Hot Chicken restaurants in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, and 41 Qdoba restaurants across Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida. Bank Midwest said the group defaulted on a $20 million loan, and a Delaware federal court's August 24 order put a receiver over the Qdoba business. The Dave's Hot Chicken company, TIG Reaper LLC, filed for Chapter 11 with three affiliates on September 21.

TIG Reaper disputes that it was in default. It says Bank Midwest tried to hold it responsible for loans made to a separate group of Qdoba companies, which it says it never guaranteed. When it refused, the bank accelerated the loans and moved to appoint a receiver. TIG Reaper argues that this disrupted a sale of the business valued at about $30 million, enough, it says, to have repaid the lender in full. It plans to keep its restaurants open through the case.

The Qdoba receivership is not a bankruptcy, and it is not in the count.

Sailormen, the year's first filing, faced its lender too. The Popeyes operator ran 136 restaurants in Florida and Georgia when it filed in January. Fast Company reported that it cited diminished foot traffic and high inflation, along with mounting liabilities from a failed deal to sell 16 restaurants. In December 2025 its lender, BMO Bank, had sued it seeking a federal receiver, PennLive reported. Sailormen's law firm said the filing sought to address about $129 million in debt owed to BMO, Patch reported. Most of the chain was then sold. In June, a bankruptcy filing showed buyers for 97 of its restaurants, Nation's Restaurant News reported, while as many as 52 drew no bidder at auction, Fast Company reported. A sale to a new operator is not a closure. Popeyes told Fast Company that 22 locations were expected to close.

The brand's own sales. Meritage Hospitality filed on September 17 with 314 Wendy's. Meritage told Nation's Restaurant News that its store-level EBITDA fell 48% in 2025, to $36.2 million, that its beverage contract was short $11 million, and that beef costs keep rising; it owes $150 million to City National Bank, which declared that debt in default last year before the company obtained a forbearance. The same report points at the franchisor's performance: Wendy's same-store sales have declined for six straight quarters. Morning Belle breakfast restaurants in Michigan that Meritage also operates are part of the same filing.

Since then the case has turned into a fight with the brand. Wendy's told the court in a September 21 filing that Meritage owed it $27.4 million in royalties, advertising and past-due fees dating to 2025, and that it had terminated the franchise agreements before Meritage filed. Meritage asked the court on September 29 to rule the termination ineffective. The Oklahoman reported on October 13 that Meritage is "closing 41 of its 314 Wendy's restaurants across 15 states," locations that "collectively generated $4.2 million in negative EBITDA." Wendy's objected to part of the closure list and proposed closing seven different restaurants instead. Meritage answered that the swap "would require the Debtors to keep open stores that are losing more money and to close stores that are losing less." Two of the restaurants Wendy's wanted kept open, in Hudsonville, MI and Grosse Pointe Farms, MI, were slated to close October 9, and Crain's Grand Rapids Business reported that Wendy's failed to block those closures.

The closings now come every week. Meritage's lawyers told the bankruptcy court that 13 more Wendy's would close as of Friday, October 16, "marking the fourth weekend in a row" of closings, Fast Company reported. Those 13 followed 20 closed on earlier Fridays since September 25. Michigan radio station 97.9 WGRD reported on October 20 that "Meritage had closed 33 restaurants since filing for bankruptcy." Nation's Restaurant News reported on October 21 that the company "is in the midst of a round of up to 60 closures expected to take place in groups through mid-November." The Winston-Salem Journal, citing media reports, said the closings would run "through at least Nov. 13." The October 16 round closed restaurants in Lawrenceville, GA, Lilburn, GA and Sandy Springs, GA, and in Flier Township near Manistee, MI. Durham, NC was "scheduled to lose a Wendy's location" that day, the News & Observer reported. In Clemmons, NC and Winston-Salem, NC, the Winston-Salem Journal reported Wendy's closings over that weekend. The court list Fast Company published also includes Feeding Hills, MA, Oklahoma City, OK and Shawnee, OK.

Quality Fresca I LLC, once one of Moe's Southwest Grill's largest franchisees with 69 restaurants, filed on August 4 after years of declining sales, rising food and shipping costs, labor shortages and inflation, The Independent reported. It had already shrunk to 38 restaurants in Florida, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington, DC, and is seeking to close 16 more, most of them in Florida.

Storms, then rising costs. One Village Inn operator in the Tampa Bay area has filed five times since June. Three companies run by the same managing member, Lloyd D. Lehan IV, filed on June 10 for restaurants in Land O' Lakes, Brandon and Zephyrhills, FL, followed by Bay Pines Group, which runs the restaurant in Seminole, FL, on August 14 with more than $8 million in liabilities, and VI Oldsmar on September 18. The June filings blame Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which hit Florida in the fall of 2024; the Oldsmar filing cites rising costs and weak sales. The restaurants were still operating when each case was filed, according to the coverage.

Labor costs, in one state. The Carl's Jr. operator behind the April filings, reported as Friendly Franchisees Corporation, blamed California's $20 fast-food minimum wage along with the brand's own problems. Forty-nine of its 65 restaurants have since been put up for sale.

A franchisor's lawsuit. ARC Burger went straight to Chapter 7 liquidation in April. Its franchisor, Hardee's Restaurants LLC, had sued it in November 2025 to recover more than $6.5 million in unpaid franchise fees and other obligations, TheStreet reported. Its Hardee's restaurants had closed by the end of 2025, before the filing. Court documents list eight states; other coverage says nine.

No stated cause. Two filings give no reason. DBJ US Corp., which runs seven Denny's restaurants in South Florida, filed in January without saying why, PennLive reported. Rogue Fare LLC filed in July without a reason in its petition; its largest creditors are two banks, owed more than $2.9 million and more than $1.5 million. Coverage says Rogue Fare runs five Mountain Mike's Pizza restaurants in Oregon. Mountain Mike's said the filing covers a single restaurant in Medford, OR, which remains open.

Every 2026 filing, in order

Twenty-six filings, twenty-one operators. Island Wing Co. appears twice because two companies under the same owner filed five weeks apart, one for the Southside Boulevard restaurant in Jacksonville, FL and one for the Bartram Park business. Village Inn appears five times for the same reason: five companies under one managing member filed separately between June 10 and September 18. Carl's Jr. appears once, not twice. Six related companies filed in the Central District of California on April 2, and the court ordered them jointly administered on April 7 under the lead case, Sun Gir Incorporated. The member cases are Harshad & Nasir Incorporated, Senior Classic Leasing, DFG Restaurants, Second Star Holdings and Third Star Investments. Trade coverage describes the same event as a filing by Friendly Franchisees Corporation, which is not one of the six captions, and attributes the group to the founder Harshad Dharod. We count jointly administered cases once, so coverage that presents Friendly Franchisees and Sun Gir as two separate bankruptcies is describing one proceeding. Meritage and its 14 affiliated companies, and TIG Reaper and its three affiliates, are each counted once for the same reason.

Still being confirmed

Restaurant Business reported on October 19, in a story on Crumbl: "A six-store franchisee in New England filed for bankruptcy last month and is selling its locations." The report does not name the franchisee, and we have not matched a docket to it, so it is not in the count.

2025 filings still closing restaurants this year

Not counted above, because the filing is not from this year, but they are behind several 2026 closings: EYM Cafe of Texas (Panera Bread), Matador Restaurant Group (Del Taco), M&M Custard LLC (Freddy's Frozen Custard), Apple Central KC LLC (Applebee's), De'nsite Inc. (Harold's Chicken), and two Rita's Italian Ice franchisees in Florida and Alabama.

Churn or trend?

A repeating pattern, not a measured trend. Twenty-six filings in under ten months is a pattern worth watching, and many of those that gave a cause point at the same pressures: expensive debt, lenders losing patience, and higher food and labor costs. But we have not counted franchisee filings for earlier years on the same rules, so we cannot say whether 2026 is running above a normal year. What we can say is where the pressure sits: on the operator's balance sheet. In the Qdoba and Dave's Hot Chicken cases, the brands themselves are still growing.

What we counted, and what we left out

Every filing in the table carries a court case number. We count filings, not restaurants and not brands, and where a court orders related cases jointly administered we count the proceeding once. Receiverships are not bankruptcies and are not counted, even when, as with the Qdoba restaurants above, they sit alongside one.

Our file links 174 restaurant locations to these filings. Those are locations named in coverage or court papers, not all closings: 81 are recorded as closed or closing, and 93 only as part of a bankruptcy. Before counting, we removed locations our file had attached to the wrong case, cases filed in 2025, company headquarters, non-restaurant businesses and the On the Border chain's own case.

Brand-level filings are a different story and are not here: Hooters, On the Border, FAT Brands and Franchise Group all filed as the brand or its parent. On the Border shows the difference. Its case was filed by OTB Hospitality, the chain's own operator, not by a franchisee, so it is a chain bankruptcy and sits outside this count. Nor are franchisee filings outside restaurants, which the same search catches: an F45 Training operator, a Pet Supplies Plus franchisee, a Tuffy auto service operator, Painted Tree Boutiques and a tire distributor.

Each case is anchored to a bankruptcy court docket rather than to a news mention. Location-level closings come from lease rejection schedules as they are filed, which is why a brand's store count and the number of closings are rarely the same number on the day of a filing.

Updated: October 26, 2026

Changelog:

• October 26, 2026: still 26 filings by 21 operators; no new franchisee filing with a court docket this week. Added Meritage's weekly closing rounds: 13 more Wendy's on October 16, the fourth weekend in a row (Fast Company); 33 closed since the filing (97.9 WGRD); and a round of up to 60 through mid-November (Nation's Restaurant News). The 41-of-314 figure is now attributed to The Oklahoman. Removed the report of Qdoba closings on Staten Island, NY and in Michigan, and the report that The Integritty Group filed for 10 entities: we have not read either original source. Added a reported Crumbl franchisee filing in New England to "Still being confirmed"; no docket is matched, so it is not counted.
• October 19, 2026: 26 filings by 21 operators. Added three filings now matched to a court docket and tied to their brands: DBJ US Corp. (Denny's, January 27, 26-11015), Geddo Corporation (Farmer Boys, March 31, 8:26-bk-11022) and Rogue Fare LLC (Mountain Mike's Pizza, July 1, 26-61830). Added the causes now on the record: Geddo's merchant cash advances; TIG Reaper's dispute with Bank Midwest and the Qdoba closings reported since; Sailormen's lender suit and the sale of most of its restaurants; Meritage's closing of 41 of 314 Wendy's, which Wendy's has contested in court; and Quality Fresca's stated causes. Added a churn-or-trend verdict and a count of linked restaurant locations. Corrections: De'nsite Inc. filed in 2025, not 2026, and moves to the 2025 list; Cotti Foods Pizza Hawaii did not file for bankruptcy and is removed; ARC Burger's court documents list eight states, not nine, and its restaurants closed before the filing, not with it; the Village Inn June filings blame Hurricanes Helene and Milton, not "several storms"; and the report that The Integritty Group filed Chapter 11 for 10 entities is the Kansas City Business Journal's, not a docket we have matched. Added states to Jacksonville, FL and Seminole, FL. Corrected Matador's advances to $2.7 million.
• September 28, 2026: 23 filings by 18 operators. Added five Village Inn filings by companies under one managing member (VI Land O Lakes, VI Brandon and VI Zephyrhills on June 10, Bay Pines Group on August 14, VI Oldsmar on September 18) and TIG Reaper LLC (Dave's Hot Chicken, September 21), all six matched to a court docket, with the Bank Midwest loan default and Qdoba receivership behind the TIG Reaper filing. Added the docket for G.A.H. Bar-B-Q (6:26-bk-04725). Corrected two case numbers: MTF's lead case is 26-10236 (MTF Holdings, LLC), not 26-10237, and the Neighborhood Restaurant Partners Florida case is 26-53945. Attributed the Meritage figures to Nation's Restaurant News. Updated the states for Superior Star, Quality Fresca and TIG Reaper from the court filings.
• September 20, 2026: first published with 17 filings by 16 operators, 16 of them matched to a docket, from the 2026-09-19 edition.

Street names are from our records; house numbers are held for subscribers.

The Store Closure Watch file for the week of October 24, 2026 holds 351 records. As of October 26, 2026.