Mexican chain closes restaurants after Chapter 11 bankruptcy
The chain has $25 million in debt, but a court filing might offer some hope for the well-liked eatery's fans.
Sometimes customers have no idea that a restaurant they like has financial problems. The signs may have been there if you looked closely, however.
Was staffing lower than normal and cleanliness not up to usual standards? Were certain menu items often out of stock or maybe of slightly lower quality than they used to be?
Related: Chipotle responds to bankruptcy, store closure reports
Struggling restaurants tend to cut corners. That's almost never a good idea because degrading the customer experience causes people to stay away.
This becomes a vicious cycle. If people have a worse experience, they are less likely to come back. They may write off a one-time bad experience, but when it becomes a pattern, the end approaches.
Fans of On the Border likely missed signs that the chain was in financial trouble.
As a regular visitor to the chain, however, in retrospect the signs were there. The chain never really recovered from the Covid pandemic, and wait times were extended.
In addition, the chain downgraded some of its menu items and often appeared to have insufficient staffing to operate its restaurants. At the very busy On the Border in Kissimmee, FL, whole sections of the restaurant were often not staffed.
