Bertucci's Bankruptcy Filing (Boston, Springfield, Braintree: movie theater, restaurants, shopping center)

[xo_kizzy_xo]

I loved Bertucci's at one point. Then the menu changed and the quality wasn't the same, at least at our local one.

[FCMA]

Maybe millennials killed it. I’m barely one but still hate strip mall chain restaurants as a general rule, as a sign of disconcerting societal mediocrity. However I enjoyed Bertucci’s and it got a pass because of its local HQ and appealing to us 80s kids. Was always a treat as a kid when the parents would bring us to the one by Alewife on way out of the city back to our cave in Central Mass where there was only thick crust pizza, gleaming puddles of grease staining the box and your soul.

Past few years I have occasionally been to the one in Amherst and not as impressive as I remembered it yet still very good for a chain.

[lrfox]

I hate seeing a local company go under, and I have a lot of memories of Bertucci’s. My high school girlfriend worked there and I spent a lot of time there. They did alright with the brick oven pizza even if it was a bit overpriced. But is been years since I’ve been there, and there have been much better options at that price point for a long time. So I won’t miss the restaurant itself and don’t feel like it’s any great loss. Its day has passed. I wouldn’t be surprised if Uno was next, though that’s a chain I don’t hate.

[Urban Peasant]

The tell tale sign I picked up a few years ago was when Bertucci's started offering huge coupon discounts such as $10 off take out order of $30 or more or 20% entire check in the Sunday papers. They didn't used to do that and to me it was a sign that they needed to pick up business. Pizzeria Uno, which closed numerous locations in the area, also started doing the same and they'll probably be the next to go. Too bad.

[turf3]

Originally Posted by robr2

Here in Burlington, one of the first Chili's opened over 20 years ago.

Sorry, but the Chili's that opened "over 20 years ago" in Burlington was by no stretch of the imagination "one of the first". I know, I used to live about 2 miles away from the ACTUAL first Chili's which opened in the space of a fish and chips place, and then a few years later had to be moved and reconstructed when the street was widened. Off the top of my head I would say that was about 1973 or so. When I went to college in Houston in 1980 Chili's was already a large chain. So 1995 (or thereabouts) was definitely not "one of the first".

[Edit]

Took a couple minutes and I found that the first Chili's was actually opened in '75, and the building was rebuilt as a duplicate on the back side of the parking lot, in 1981. (From their website.) The website mentions that in 1983 there were 23 locations.

[semiurbanite]

I only wish I could have tried the original Davis Square location...

[robr2]

Originally Posted by turf3

Sorry, but the Chili's that opened "over 20 years ago" in Burlington was by no stretch of the imagination "one of the first". I know, I used to live about 2 miles away from the ACTUAL first Chili's which opened in the space of a fish and chips place, and then a few years later had to be moved and reconstructed when the street was widened. Off the top of my head I would say that was about 1973 or so. When I went to college in Houston in 1980 Chili's was already a large chain. So 1995 (or thereabouts) was definitely not "one of the first".

Meant to say one of the first in the Boston area.

[tysmith95]

Originally Posted by lrfox

I hate seeing a local company go under, and I have a lot of memories of Bertucci’s. My high school girlfriend worked there and I spent a lot of time there. They did alright with the brick oven pizza even if it was a bit overpriced. But is been years since I’ve been there, and there have been much better options at that price point for a long time. So I won’t miss the restaurant itself and don’t feel like it’s any great loss. Its day has passed. I wouldn’t be surprised if Uno was next, though that’s a chain I don’t hate.

It isn't going under yet though. They are filing for chapter 11, which is reorganization. Many companies come out of chapter 11 and do fine.

[AtkinsonDan]

Originally Posted by tysmith95

It isn't going under yet though. They are filing for chapter 11, which is reorganization. Many companies come out of chapter 11 and do fine.

Very true and they are looking for a buyer so this could turn out to just be a change in control. Nonetheless they have closed many locations, they have had to offer deep discounts to attract customers, the competition in their market segment is increasing and Americans are becoming more calorie/carb conscious. The death of Bertucci's is still far from certain but any new owner faces serious challenges ahead.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by semiurbanite

I only wish I could have tried the original Davis Square location...

I ate there decades ago when it first opened. Pizza upstairs and bocce downstairs. IIRC, it was a BYOB place.

The founder, Joey Crugnale, started with Joey's Ice Cream in Teele Sq., bought out Steve's Ice Cream, and started Bertucci's in 1981 as a defensive move - he wanted to keep an ice cream competitor from moving into a vacant store front a few doors down. It went public in 1991. He's started/owned a number of other restaurants - Naked Fish, Jumbalaya, Peck's, Bailey's of Boston. I think he's mostly into real estate today.