Nearly 30 years after opening its first restaurant in Winter Park, fast-casual Tex-Mex eatery Tijuana Flats is closing 11 locations and filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The measures were part of an April 19 announcement that the company had been acquired by a new ownership group, Flatheads, LLC.
According to a BusinessWire post, former owners TJF USA, LLC began a company-wide strategic review in November of 2023 that included the option of selling the company. Tijuana Flats CEO Joe Christina, appointed in 2022, will retain his position, and the new owners have stated a desire to go “back to basics and original roots by building on customer service, quality food, and fair prices so that the organization can thrive and reach new heights.”
Tijuana Flats was founded in 1995 in Winter Park by UCF alum Brian Wheeler, who later founded Tibby’s New Orleans Kitchen. Wheeler and Tijuana Flats co-owner/chairman Camp Finch sold the company in 2015. Its holdings include 65 company-owned locations throughout Florida with an additional 26 franchised locations in Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
The closings were determined by an analysis of financial performance, occupancy costs, and market conditions. Tijuana Flats has not specified which locations were among the 11 closings, but the Florida Times Union reported that four Jacksonville restaurants were recently shuttered. And the recent closing of the 7608 University Blvd. restaurant leaves only one Winter Park location in operation. A Sarasota location is also listed as “closed” on the company website.
