Bravo Italian Kitchen closes four
The Bravo Italian Kitchen casual-dining chain has closed at least four locations in recent days, reducing its total to 14 units.
Bravo Italian Kitchen has closed at least four restaurants in the past week. The casual-dining chain is now down to 14 locations, according to its website, from 20 at the end of last year.
Local media reports confirmed closures in West Chester and Dayton, Ohio; Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania; and West Des Moines, Iowa. Calls to three of the four restaurants were answered by an automated message stating they are closed. The status of the Pennsylvania location could not be independently confirmed by the source, Nation's Restaurant News. A representative for the brands had not responded to a request for comment.
Sister brand Brio also shrinks
These shutdowns follow a series of closures earlier this year at Bravo's sister brand, Brio Italian Grille. Local media outlets reported Brio closures in Cherry Hill, Freehold, and Marlton, New Jersey; Naples and Orlando, Florida; and Allen, Texas. Phone calls confirmed all six of those locations are closed.
Brio’s website now lists 16 locations. This is down from the 22 units tallied by research firm Technomic at the end of 2025.
A history of financial struggles
The closures come after the chains' parent company, Bravo Brio Restaurant Group, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2025. The company blamed macroeconomic factors and declining demand for casual dining. It said it planned to close underperforming locations.
This was the brands' second bankruptcy, following a filing in 2020 by then-owner FoodFirst Corp. Last October, Bravo and Brio received a strategic investment from R&R Brands, a new multibrand restaurant group led by former Walk-On’s President Scott Taylor. R&R also took over management of the brands from Earl Enterprises with plans to revitalize them.
Bravo was founded in 1992 in Columbus, Ohio, by restaurateurs Chris and Rick Doody. They later developed Brio as a more upscale sister concept. The company went public in 2010 and peaked at 115 locations total in 2015, according to Technomic data.
The chains have been shrinking ever since. They were particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Since 2020, systemwide sales have declined 22% at Bravo and 26% at Brio, according to Technomic. Much of this decline was driven by unit closures.
Broader casual-dining challenges
Bravo and Brio are among several full-service chains to close locations this year. Others include On the Border, O’Charley’s, and Red Lobster. The source report notes that Top 500 chain restaurant sales slowed again in 2025 as consumers cut back on dining out.
