IO THE PIZZA DINING SECTOR / There were economic troubles in the pizza dining industry more than a year leading to 100s of closures and bankruptcies and project pizza noe llc chapter 11.
Weak restaurant sales and surge in labor and food costs, along with elevated lease rates that have forced a number of companies to undertake restructurings.
Pizza Chains Shutter 100s of Stores
That helped Papa John’s report this afternoon that it would be shuttering 300 losing restaurants, including 200 through the end of 2026 according to its fourth-quarter earnings call. It did not provide a deadline by which it would hold the remaining 100.
Papa John’s Said it Would Cut its Workforce by 7%.
Pizza Hut‘s parent Yum! The Page Two performance improvement plan includes Hut ForwardFor its impact on brands, in February called for the closure of 250 underperforming stores by half-year 2026 as part of substantially growing naturally ahead.
In 2025, the Australian franchisee of the giant pizza chain Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, which owns and operates more than 900 stores across Australia – announced that it would close 205 poorly-performing locations. In a related development, the global chain’s Oceanside franchisee North County Pizza Inc. February 5 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to reorganize its business.
Later, another pizza chain has filed for bankruptcy to fix its debt. This results in significant debt for restaurants which will often need to declare bankruptcy to fix what may be an unserviceable lease.
New Smoker Monkey Pizza goes Bankrupt
Smoking Monkey Pizza, a chain of wood-fired pizza dining restaurants, entered Chapter 11 to reorganize its business.
TB Enterprises LLC, the parent of a Renton, Wash., pizza restaurant, filed its petition in Seattle May 12 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Washington, reporting assets up to $50,000 and liabilities between $100,000 and $500,000.
Court papers show the lender’s heftiest unsecured creditors include Washington Department of Revenue, owed more than $52,000; Sysco, owed more than $42,000; Chase Card Services Inc., owed over $39,000; Gravity Payments LLC, owed over $37,000; Greco Foods LLC, owed about 35 million; Puget Sound Energy Inc.
Chain Closes Spokane Location
TB Enterprises ran the chain until around two months ago when it closed the Spokane Smoking Monkey Pizza at 816 W. Sprague Ave., according to a person manning the restaurant’s phone who spoke with TheStreet.Mixed-Use Retail SpaceHome1 of 3Smoking Monkey pizzaSitting area (Seating)Jun, 28, 2015Logan R.
The chain, which has been a pizza player for 14 years, continues to operate its locations at 613 South 3rd St. in Renton and the location at 3111 W. McGraw Street, Unit 103, Seattle.
Best Pizza Award Winner
In 2025, Quality Business Awards bestows an award with a quality rating of above 95% to the pizza chain and names “”Best Pizza in Renton, Wash.”
There are 35 varieties of pizza on the menu at Smoking Monkey Pizza, as well as make-your-own choices, along with 11 pastas, 8 sandwiches, and 5 calzones and by-the-slice offerings (three strombolis). There are also 9 varieties of salad and 5 desserts.
Yet Another Small Pizza Brand Bites the Dust
PacerMonitor reported CEO Jay Murdock as submitting that Fiorella, a four-unit wood-fired pizza restaurant chain based in San Francisco, was to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection March 6 to restructure and keep open its Noe Valley unit at 4042 24th St its fourth such filing.
Specifically, the Noe Valley filing comes on the heels of three Chapter 11 filings for Fiorella’s Project Pizza restaurants in 2025, including Project Pizza Polk LLC, at 2238 Polk Street, on July 2, 2025; Fiorella Clement, at 2339 Clement Street, on May 20, and Project Pizza Sunset LLC — which is located at1240 9th Avenue — which filed April. Full Service also didn’t disclose the reasons for filing the bankruptcy petitions.
theurbanmatter.com
