Central Florida Tex-Mex Chain Tijuana Flats to close 11 locations, files for bankruptcy and is sold to new owners

Tijuana Flats to shutter restaurants, while filing for bankruptcy with a deal to sell the business to new owners.

Central Florida based Tex-Mex restaurant chain, Tijuana Flats with company owned locations across Florida, and franchised location in North Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee has declared bankruptcy, closed 11 restaurants and sold to an unknown new ownership group, California based Flatheads LLC.

The fast-casual chain has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of the deal to sell to Flatheads LLC, declaring $1 million to $10 million in assets and from $10 million to $50 million in liabilities. It has nearly $19 million in secured debt.

“Our company is excited by the new ownership group’s plan to reinvest, focus, and emphasize the things that originally brought so many people to love Tijuana Flats,” said Joe Christina, Tijuana Flats CEO, in a statement. “We understand the immediate financial actions taken by them to ensure the long-term health of this great and iconic brand.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, with Christina, who was appointed CEO in 2022, remaining in the position of CEO as the company move forward.

“Since joining the brand, I have been committed to leading with a vision to serve every guest the most flavorful Tex-Mex food and provide the best guest experience in the country.”

Tijuana Flats is a fast-casual Tex-Mex restaurant founded back in 1995 by Brian Wheeler in Winter Park, (thanks to a loan from his father.)

In 1999, Brian’s success caught the eye of restaurant industry hotshot Camp Fitch, who left retirement to become partner & chairman of Tijuana Flats. Brian’s dad, Chester Wheeler, soon followed suit, leaving a 30-year career at a Fortune 500 company to join Tijuana Flats. Since then, Tijuana Flats expanded to over 120 restaurants in four states.

Recently, the high flying company has stalled, closing over 20 company owned stores this year, and that amount was before the announcement that 11 more restaurants are to close, with Tijuana Flats saying that the restaurant closures were “a result of a unit-by-unit analysis of financial performance, occupancy costs, and market conditions.”

Tijuana Flats also state that the restaurant closures, sale of the business, and chapter 11 bankruptcy filing are the outcome of a strategic review that began in November 2023, with the company exploring various options that included a potential sale.

New owners, Flatheads LLC said in a statement that it recognized where Tijuana Flats stood and felt immediate action was needed to preserve the organization.

Flatheads LLC say that it is aiming to renew the brand’s focus on quality controls, speed of service, consistency of food, serving size, and improvement of the in-store experience, focusing on the things that originally brought so many people to love Tijuana Flats.

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