Overview
- True Food Kitchen, which filed Chapter 11 on Sunday, Oct. 4, closed 12 restaurants that day and is operating 34 locations across 14 states while it runs the restructuring process.
- The company secured a conditional roughly $20 million DIP loan from HumanCo TFK IV, entered the case with about $1.6 million in unrestricted cash, and reported roughly $42 million in funded debt in court filings.
- Company court papers and its restructuring officer say repeated leadership turnover, unsuccessful expansion outside core markets, and pandemic‑era pivots such as using restaurants as ghost kitchens weakened service and traffic.
- True Food Kitchen has filed customary first‑day motions to keep payroll, benefits, customer programs and vendor relationships running, named Nathan Cook as chief restructuring officer, and retained advisers including Reed Smith, Teneo, SOLIC Capital and Gordon Brothers.
- The chain is conducting a court‑supervised sale and seeking lease exits in several markets, a process that will decide whether buyers recapitalize the brand or force further closures and layoffs for affected staff.