Treasure Coast Tijuana Flats remain open after 11 locations close, 10 in Florida

Tijuana Flats' two restaurants on the Treasure Coast remained open this week in the wake of an announcement by the Tex-Mex chain it had closed 11 stores and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The bankruptcy decision was made following a strategic review that started in November, according to a news release.

“Our company is excited by the new ownership group’s plan to reinvest, focus and emphasize the things that originally brought so many people to love Tijuana Flats," said CEO Joe Christina. "We understand the immediate financial actions taken by them to ensure the long-term health of this great and iconic brand.”

Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a debtor to propose plan to keep its business and pay creditors over time.

Tijuana Flats: What is Chapter 11 Bankruptcy?

Flatheads LLC had purchased the company, changing its ownership from TJF USA, LLC.

Flatheads has said it aims to renew the restaurant's focus on quality controls, speed of service, consistency of food, serving size and improving the in-store experience.

Where is Tijuana Flats on the Treasure Coast?

Tijuana Flats has two locations on the Treasure Coast — in Port St. Lucie and in Stuart.

Port St. Lucie

1359 NW St. Lucie West Blvd.

Stuart

1990 S.E. Federal Highway

What Tijuana Flats stores closed?

While the Central-Florida-based restaurant has not released a list of stores closed, one location in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and 10 throughout Florida closed, a Tijuana Flats spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY. The Florida restaurants were in Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville and Boynton Beach.

Tijuana Flats did not respond to TCPalm's request for comment.

Tijuana Flats was founded in 1995 by University of Central Florida student Brian Wheeler, opening the first location in Winter Park.

Gianna Montesano is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at gianna.montesano@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1429, or follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @gonthescene.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Is Tijuana Flats closed on the Treasure Coast? Restaurant files for bankruptcy