Once popular Lexington fast-casual restaurant changes hands. Again
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Fazoli’s, founded as Gratzi’s in Lexington in 1988, was sold again.
- FAT Brands filed for bankruptcy in January and has been selling off assets.
- FBG Bid Co. will acquire Fazoli’s and several chains in a $595 million deal.
A fast-casual restaurant chain that got its start in Lexington has been sold again.
Fazoli’s, which began as Gratzi’s in 1988, was purchased in 2021 by California-based FAT Brands for $130 million. FAT Brands filed for bankruptcy in January and has been selling off assets.
Several Fazoli’s locations have closed, including one in Lexington and one in Nicholasville on Tuesday. Two other locations in Lexington closed earlier in the year.
According to documents filed in federal court last week, Fazoli’s will be acquired, along with Round Table Pizza, Johnny Rockets, Great American Cookies, Marble Slab Creamery, Pretzelmaker, Hurricane Grill and Wings, Buffalo’s Cafe, Native Grill and Wings, Yalla Mediterranean and Ponderosa & Bonanza by a group known as FBG Bid Co. in a transaction worth $595 million.
Other FAT Brands properties are being sold off in different deals that appear to total nearly $1 billion, which is still less than the $1.4 billion in debt that the company reported in January.
The individuals involved in the bids were not identified. It is unclear if troubled CEO Andy Wiederhorn is involved in any the bids; he had been accused by creditors of improper dealings and agreed to a leave of absence during the bankruptcy process but was still authorized to bid.
Fazoli’s was launched as a sister brand of Long John Silver’s by parent company Jerrico. In 1990 Kunihide Toyoda’s Seed Restaurant Group purchased the chain of then five locations and expanded it rapidly, introducing free unlimited breadsticks along the way. By 2004, Fazoli’s hit a peak of 400 locations, many owned by franchisees. The business was sold in 2006 to Sun Capital Partners.
As franchisees began struggling, many locations closed or were sold off.
Only two Lexington locations remain open, one on Alysheba Way in Hamburg and one on Saron Drive off Tates Creek Road.
Locations in Georgetown, Richmond, Winchester and Frankfort also appear to still be open.
