46-year-old bankrupt Italian chain closes most restaurants

Back successful 1981, pizza places that besides served fancier Italian dishes were somewhat rare. In Boston, you could spell to high-end, accepted Italian restaurants successful the city's famed North End, but pizza was not mostly connected their menus.

Yes, that vicinity had immoderate fabulous pizza places I visited with friends and household successful the 80s. And though not unheard of, it was not that communal for pizza to beryllium connected the aforesaid paper arsenic pasta dishes and different Italian entrees.

When Bertucci's opened successful Somerville, Mass., successful 1981, the soon-to-be-chain delivered thing different. It was a classical brick-oven pizzeria that besides offered a afloat sit-down Italian luncheon and meal paper alongside its signature bocce courts.

That was the archetypal spot I ever played bocce and astir apt the archetypal clip I was ever handed a shot of dough to play with earlier my meal. (That aboriginal became thing conscionable for young kids, but it was thing I got to acquisition successful the precocious 80s with my precocious schoolhouse friends.)

The concatenation offered thing different, a higher-end acquisition wherever you could bid a pizza oregon a pasta dish, alongside classics similar chickenhearted parmigiana and immoderate of its ain takes connected Italian classics.

That was a look for success, astatine slightest for a while, and Bertucci's grew up and down the East Coast to implicit 100 locations astatine its height.

For the chain, however, the autumn was rapid, and aft 3 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings, the 3rd of which has not been resolved, the concatenation has lone 12 locations successful our states left.

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"Bertucci's Restaurants LLC has filed a broad disclosure connection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida outlining its projected reorganization plan, which would let the Italian edifice concatenation to look from Chapter 11 extortion with a dramatically restructured concern exemplary focused connected fast-casual eating expansion," Chapter11Cases.com reported.

Some creditors would beryllium paid off, according to a 28-page disclosure connection filed by the institution successful August.

• Under the projected plan, Bertucci's largest creditor, PHL Holdings LLC, which holds a $23.264 cardinal secured assertion against substantially each institution assets, would clasp its lien and person monthly involvement payments implicit a 60-month term.

• The program maintains PHL's information presumption portion allowing the institution to proceed operations and work the indebtedness done operational currency flow.

• A smaller instrumentality financing assertion held by Ameris Bank d/b/a Balboa Capital Corporation, totaling $69,664, would beryllium satisfied done 53 monthly payments of $1,306.37 opening the period aft the plan's effectual date.