Garden Fresh Restaurants permanently closes, files Chapter 7 cases

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, June 15 – Garden Fresh Restaurants, LLC, which operates as Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes, filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California, saying it was not able to survive the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and permanently closed all 97 restaurants and three distribution centers in early May, according to a news release from TAGeX Brands.

TAGeX operates RestaurantEquipment.bid, which will conduct online auctions on behalf of Garden Fresh.

The auctions of restaurants, distribution centers, equipment and related contents will run through June 30.

“It is our first and foremost mission with this liquidation to get some return for the creditors of this chain,” Chapter 7 trustee Leslie Gladstone said in the release.

“We also intend to provide a sustainable re-use of the equipment that will make a difference for other restaurants who have been incredibly challenged as a result of the pandemic."

According to court documents, Garden Fresh has $50 million to $100 million in both assets and debt.

As previously reported, Garden Fresh filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in October 2016. That case was dismissed a year later.

The company is represented in its Chapter 7 cases by Sullivan Hill Rez & Engel, APLC.

Based in San Diego, Garden Fresh operates restaurants under two brand names: Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes. The Chapter 7 case number is 20-02477.

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