Days after Al’s Burger Shack announced it would be serving food at Beer Study’s Durham location, the restaurant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for all three of its Chapel Hill locations.
The business referred to as “AJEM Hospitality, LLC” in its filing, has expanded rapidly since winning Trip Advisor’s “Best Burger in America” in 2018. On Jan. 3, the group filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The request was approved today.
This doesn’t necessarily mean the restaurant will be closing. Chapter 11 bankruptcies are often referred to as “reorganization” bankruptcies and require the filer to restructure loans and assets. Through a statement from their attorney, Al’s told Triangle Business Journal it had “absolutely no plans to stop slinging burgers.”
“While sales are strong at our three locations, we overextended during expansion and need protection and relief while we reorganize,” Al’s told Triangle Business Journal. According to the outlet, they had taken out “high-interest” loans to help open their Governor’s Village location in 2019. The restaurant’s three Chapel Hill locations–Franklin Street, Governor’s Street and Southern Village–were all open Monday.
Al is waaaay too big for his britches. He got lucky with a lot of free hype with his first place, and suddenly decided that he was a restaurant expert and went nuts opening places in a completely unsustainable way.