$13 million in lawsuits and liens drive restaurant closures

Most restaurants run connected specified constrictive nett margins that a atrocious period tin hitch retired a profitable year.

"Many afloat eating rooms inactive extremity the period with bladed oregon antagonistic margins," according to Restaurant Mode.

Across the industry, mean edifice nett net margins scope betwixt 3 and 10%.

A 2024 National Restaurant Association survey showed that galore restaurants autumn connected the little extremity of that scale.

"Among full-service respondents to the survey, income earlier taxes represented a median of 2.8% of income successful 2025. For limited-service respondents, income earlier taxes was a median of 4.0% of sales," according to NRA's 2025 Restaurant Operations Data Abstract.

Rising costs person besides created a concern wherever restaurants request to rise prices, but that tin besides nonstop customers elsewhere.

"With across-the-board rising input costs, if the mean edifice relation hadn’t raised their prices successful the past 5 years, their borderline would person gone from 5% of income pre-2020, to a pre-tax nonaccomplishment of astir 24% today," according to NRA probe connected inflation.

It's a challenging operating situation that has led to galore edifice operators closing their doors, and Pihakis Restaurant Group, which has closed implicit a twelve restaurants, has been struggling to debar shutting down completely.

Pihakis Restaurant Group faces $13.8 cardinal successful indebtedness

Birmingham-based Pihakis Restaurant Group (PRG), which includes restaurants successful Atlanta, faces $13.7 cardinal successful lawsuits and liens, according to a study by AL.com.

The chain, which operates a assortment of concepts, including Little Donkey Mexican Restaurant, Rodney Scott's BBQ, Hero, Magnolia Point, and Psito, has already closed a fig of locations.

"Since mid-April, the radical has some temporarily and permanently closed 12 restaurants crossed the Southeast, including Psito successful Summerhill and Hero Diner successful Fayetteville. Google and the group’s edifice websites presently database the Atlanta locations of Psito and Hero Diner arsenic 'temporarily closed,'" reported Rough Draft Atlanta.

A fig of the chain's Hero doughnut shops, sometimes called Hero Diner, person closed earlier the existent troubles.

"At its peak, determination were astatine slightest 10 Hero locations crossed 4 states. The institution closed short-lived locations successful Charleston and Nashville successful 2024 and aft opening successful Montgomery successful May 2025, closed it, too, earlier this month," Tomorrow's News Today Atlanta reported.

In addition, each restaurants astatine the company's multi-eatery Valley Post task person closed, aft a suit was filed against a assortment of Pihakis Restaurant Group brands and laminitis Nick Pihakis.