The Last NJ Location of a Big Italian Restaurant Chain Abruptly Closes

The final Garden State location of a big Italian restaurant chain has abruptly closed its doors for good.

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So abrupt that, based on social media posts, the employees there apparently got the news that they were out of a job as they walked into work Monday.

Sadly, there has been no shortage of restaurant closing to talk about lately. Case in point, check out these closures in just the past several weeks:

• Popular NJ Restaurant For Burgers and Ribs Closing After Nearly 2 Decades
• 'Sad to say goodbye' - Family-owned NJ Bakery Closing After Half a Century
• Beloved Italian Market and Butcher Shop in NJ Closing After 45 Years
• No More Soul: This Popular Café in NJ is Closing After 17 Years
• One of the Best BBQ Restaurants in NJ is Closing After 7 Years

New addition to the list

Now comes word that the last location of Bertucci's Italian Restaurant in New Jersey is gone for good.

That restaurant, on Nixon Drive in Mount Laurel, seemed to defy the odds as many other Bertucci's around the region closed as the company sought bankruptcy protection.

A check of that location's Facebook page Monday evening showed it as "permanently closed."

Trouble selling enough pizza

Late last year, Restaurant Business reported that Bertucci’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, blaming the pandemic and inflation on its second such filing in four years.

The 41-year-old Massachusetts-based company first filed for bankruptcy in 2018. After working its way through those financial troubles, the chain shrunk from 100 locations down to 56.

A few remain

If you are a fan of their menu, all is not lost as three Bertucci's remain open in the region. Two are in the suburbs of Philadelphia -- Springfield and Huntington Valley, PA -- and there's another in Newark, DE. A handful more can be found in the Baltimore-Washington area and in Connecticut.