Bravo, Brio tout outdoor dining as they claw their way back from bankruptcy
New owner working to reopen Fairfield Commons location.
The company that purchased BRAVO! Italian Kitchen and BRIO Italian Grille out of bankruptcy two months ago is touting the chains’ patio dining during the coronavirus pandemic and is working to reopen a Dayton-area location that has been shut down for several months.
Earl Enterprises — the Orlando, Florida-based company that also owns Buca di Beppo, Planet Hollywood and a handful of other restaurant chains — is promoting its outdoor amenities as consumers weigh whether to dine-in at restaurants that have reduced seating capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Bravo operates a restaurant in front of the Dayton Mall in Miami Twp., and Brio operates a location at The Greene Town Center in Beavercreek. Both of those restaurants have opened their dining rooms and patios with social distancing precautions in place, are also offering carryout and delivery.
In a release, Earl Enterprises officials said, “Plans for a relaxing Italian getaway may be on hold during this summer of social distancing, but the flavors of Italy are as vibrant and accessible as ever in Earl Enterprises’ ‘The Best of Italy’ family of restaurants.”
Bravo and Brio locations are “offering al fresco dining on their expanded patios across the nation . ... With plenty of spacious and shaded outdoor seating on scenic terraces, these are the perfect places for guests to safely quench their thirst for an Aperol spritz or cold Peroni during the dog days of summer,” company officials said.
While the patios at both the Dayton Mall Bravo and at Brio at The Greene are open and operating, the patio of the Bravo restaurant adjacent to the front entrance of the
Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek hasn’t served up a single Aperol spritz or Peroni this summer. It hasn’t seated any customers since sometime before the March 15 state-mandated closure of all dine-in services, and it is no longer listed on the Bravo web site as an open location in Ohio.
But there is still a chance that the Fairfield Commons restaurant could reopen as a Bravo.
A spokeswoman for Earl Enterprises said in mid-June that Bravo’s new corporate parent was “in talks with the landlord to reopen the restaurant.” And reached this week, on Wednesday Aug. 19, the spokeswoman said reopening the Beavercreek restaurant remains a possibility.
Management at the Mall at Fairfield Commons has said it does not comment on active lease negotiations.
Earl Enterprises announced June 11, that it had acquired the assets of Brio and Bravo from FoodFirst Global Restaurants, which had filed for reorganization bankruptcy in April. As part of the bankruptcy court documents, the former owner of Brio said any restaurants that weren’t open for carryout at the time of the bankruptcy filing were likely shut down for good, but the Brio restaurant in Beavercreek defied the odds and did reopen fully.
“We’re very excited about adding these restaurants to our group and look forward to not only investing in the future of BRIO and BRAVO!, but also the employees who are the backbone of these two restaurants,” Robert Earl, chairman of Earl Enterprises, said in a release in June. “As a bright light in this challenging time, once all locations are fully operational, we look forward to welcoming back more than 4,000 employees who have been in limbo since (previous owner) FoodFirst filed for bankruptcy.”