This Popular Burger Joint Has Been Forced to Close More Locations—Here's What's Happening

It's a well known fact that the restaurant business is notoriously difficult, especially for smaller mom and pop chains and startups. From an operational standpoint, costs can often fluctuate based on the suppliers and vendors you source from and when you factor in building and labor costs, it's a rarity to walk away with a substantial profit—if any at all. 

Sure, everyone needs to eat and as long as that's true, the restaurant industry will always exist. Our habits around the way we eat, however, are changing and the service industry is starting to feel the heat. Larger chains like Red Lobster and TGI Fridays have made headlines in recent months due to dismal financial results leading to bankruptcy filings and mass restaurant closures.

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Even smaller regional chains have shuttered their doors, some of them for good. The latest eatery to succumb to the mounting challenges of an industry struggling to find stable footing is the Cincinnati, Ohio-based chain, Frisch's Big Boy . 

If you're not familiar, the quick service brand is a classic diner-style burger joint, similar to Steak 'n Shake or Johnny Rockets. Think: hand dipped milkshakes , juicy burgers with a side of fries and even a few midwestern staples like chili spaghetti (more formally known as Cincinnati chili ). Sounds delicious enough, right? And a quick browse of Google reviews reveals relatively decent ratings, so what could be causing the chain to begin closing stores?

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The culprit, according to the Cinicinatti Enquirier , is none other than a lack of funds as more than 20 of the brand's 80 locations are facing eviction notices after failing to pay more than $4.5 million in rent. To put that number in perspective, that's a whopping 25-percent of their entire real estate footprint. The most recent round of closings comes after a number of other Frisch's locations were abruptly shut down this past spring due to similar financial issues related to lower foot traffic in restaurants in general. 

While it remains to be seen what will come of midwestern burger slingin' eatery, one thing we know for certain is that we'll likely hear about more cases like this one soon enough. With that being said, we're off to support one of our favorite local restaurants— NFA Burger . Is anybody else suddenly craving a really good burger ?

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