Yardbird Files Chapter 11 With $25 Million in Debts

Yardbird Southern Bar and Table filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, carrying roughly $25 million in debts, according to court records.

The casual dining fried chicken chain operates three company-run locations and holds two licenses. It shuttered three restaurants — in Denver, Los Angeles and Miami — in the runup to the filing, according to a declaration filed by Yardbird Group Chief Restructuring Officer Albert Altro.

Altro attributed the collapse to expansion-related costs, a difficult capital structure, "location specific operating challenges" and structural changes to the restaurant industry after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yardbird's troubles trace back to its growth strategy. The brand launched in 2011 in Miami Beach and opened its second unit in Las Vegas in 2015, per the declaration. In 2017, private equity group TriSpan secured a minority investment. Yardbird then pursued significant expansion, primarily in major U.S. cities.

"That expansion required substantial capital investment, and, over time, the Company incurred additional indebtedness," Altro wrote. TriSpan eventually took 100% control of the chain, per the filing.

The pandemic complicated that development strategy and exposed a sharp divergence in performance across the portfolio. Some locations remained profitable. Others suffered from "changes in neighborhood traffic patterns, tourism, convention activity, consumer behavior, and the development of surrounding trade areas." Altro wrote that some of those changes were attributable to the pandemic.

The chain entered bankruptcy with a deal already in hand. Yardbird ran a pre-petition marketing process that "culminated in the negotiation of and entry into an asset purchase agreement" with a stalking horse bidder covering the brand's assets. That agreement "will be subject to higher and/or otherwise better offers through the continued sale process," meaning rival bidders could still take control in court.

"Yardbird has filed for Chapter 11 protection to address legacy debt and strengthen its balance sheet," a brand spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement. "Restaurants currently operating remain open and continue to serve guests."

The filing lands amid a broader wave of corporate distress. U.S. business bankruptcies have increased in recent years, including in the restaurant sector, as consumer price-sensitivity, macroeconomic uncertainty and rising borrowing costs have strained operators. In 2026, those pressures produced bankruptcies across a range of restaurant sectors.

Yardbird's case follows a now-familiar private equity pattern: leveraged expansion into major metros, debt accumulation when returns lagged, and a court-supervised sale as the exit. The auction outcome will determine whether the brand survives under new ownership or its remaining locations join the three already closed.