Bertucci's closes multiple Mass, NH restaurants amid bankruptcy filing

By Courtney Cole, WBZ-TV

NORTHBORO - A well-known restaurant chain has closed seven of its locations in New England - five of those are in the Boston area.

If you plugged 95 Washington St., Canton, into your phone over the last couple of days, your map might have warned you: Bertucci's is closed.

If you called, you may have heard this on their voicemail: "We are very sorry that your favorite location is closed. We want to thank you for the years of loyalty to Bertucci's."

Or if you showed up in person, hoping it was some kind of mistake, you were met by a sign on the door.

"It's sad to see them close," said local resident Mary Lyons.

"I was a little surprised, although you never see a lot of people at this one," said Kitty Zimmerman, another local resident.

On Monday, Bertucci's Restaurant, LLC, voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. According to the case document from U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the prior Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizza & Pasta went into bankruptcy in April of 2018.

The document continues by explaining that Bertucci's, LLC, filed "due to COVID and the impact of inflation, sales declined, and expenses increased."

According to the case management summary, sales for the 2021 fiscal year were $97.9 million dollars, but there was an operating loss of $14 million dollars and a net loss of $7.2 million dollars.

"The 99 just closed, also in Canton. So there's a bunch of people [that] just lost their jobs. Now these here in Canton just lost their jobs, which is sad, especially this time of year, to lose your job," Zimmerman told Cole.

In Massachusetts, Bertucci's locations in Beverly, Brockton, Canton, Marlboro and North Attleboro closed Monday, a spokesperson for the regional Italian chain confirmed. 

In New Hampshire, a Nashua Bertucci's is the only one left in the state after restaurants in Manchester and Salem closed.

There are still 20 locations open in Massachusetts, and 31 overall. Employees at the now-closed Bertucci's restaurants are being transferred to other locations "whenever possible," the spokesperson said.  

Lyons said she still plans to visit a different location to support Bertucci's.

"The Rustico Pizza was good, and I liked their rolls. So, those were probably my two favorites," Lyons told Cole.

The first Bertucci's opened in Somerville in 1981. The company first filed for bankruptcy in 2018 and closed 15 restaurants. 

Another regional restaurant favorite, the Ninety Nine, recently closed four locations in New England.