UFood Restaurant Group files for Ch. 11 bankruptcyUFood Restaurant Group files for Ch. 11 bankruptcy

UFood Restaurant Group, the parent of UFood Grill, said the prolonged economic downturn aggravated by a pair of underperforming company stores prompted it to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Richard Golden, the recently appointed chief executive of the Newton, Mass.-based fast-casual chain, said in a legal filing in Boston Bankruptcy Court that the company hopes to restructure “the balance sheet and return to a point of positive cash flow.”

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UFood Grill, a health-oriented concept, said two of its four corporate locations in Watertown and Landmark Center in Massachusetts were struggling and were not profitable. As a result, Golden said in the filing that UFood “will evaluate and modify the operations at the underperforming locations in order to allow the companies to succeed as a whole once more.”

The publicly held company owns and operates two other units in Downtown Crossing in Boston and Logan International Airport, both of which are profitable, it said.

UFood also has six franchise-owned outlets in Boston, Cleveland, Salt Lake City and Dallas-Fort Worth. The company also has signed several area development agreements for future openings.

Court documents show that UFood has estimated assets of between $100,001 and $500,000, and estimated liabilities of between $1,000,001 and $10 million.

Last month, company founder, chairman and chief executive George Naddaff and chief operating officer Charlie Cocotas left the company. Golden, who took over the top posts, called Naddaff “an outstanding visionary and dedicated chief executive officer.”

Naddaff also is responsible for helping to expand the original Boston Chicken concept into the Boston Market chain.

Contact Paul Frumkin at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @NRNPaul