TGI Friday's Closes Dozens Of Restaurants; See Impact On PA Locations

PENNSYLVANIA — TGI Friday's has abruptly closed dozens of restaurants in the past week, including at least one in Pennsylvania, as the popular chain reportedly intends to soon declare bankruptcy.

The casual dining chain had 164 restaurants open as of Monday, according to CNN. That's nearly 50 fewer from the 213 that were operating last week. TGI Friday's began the year with 270 restaurants, but shuttered 36 underperforming ones in January.

By comparison, in pre-pandemic 2019, TGI Fridays had 384 locations, according to Nation's Restaurant News.

Dallas-based TGI Friday's has yet to comment on the closures or release a list of the affected locations. But Patch reported on Tuesday that the chain has permanently shuttered its location near the Oxford Valley Mall in Bucks County.

TGI Friday's is meeting with lenders as it seeks money to continue operating through an impending Chapter 11 bankruptcy declaration, Bloomberg recently reported. It's unclear when such a declaration might occur.

Nation's Restaurant News reported Monday that data from Creditsafe, an online provider of company credit reports, indicates the chain has had difficulty paying its bills on time for the past 12 months.

According to the TGI Friday's website, the chain has 13 remaining locations in Pennsylvania:

• Scranton (1)
• Philadelphia (1)
• Greensburg (1)
• Monroeville (1)
• Williamsport (1)
• Bethel Park (1)
• Wilkes Barre (1)
• Gettysburg (1)
• Erie (1)
• Bethlehem (1)
• Bensalem (1)
• Pgh International Airport (1)
• Quakertown (1)