Cincinnati-based Taste of Belgium, the restaurant group built around authentic Belgian waffles, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to reporting by the Cincinnati Business Courier. The filing seeks court-supervised reorganization, not a shutdown, and the company’s restaurants remain open.
Founder Jean-François Fleury responded to the news in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. “After thoughtful consideration, I have decided to refocus Taste of Belgium’s efforts on its most successful and profitable restaurants,” Fleury said, as quoted by the Enquirer. “To facilitate this transition, I have voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.”
Fleury founded the company in 2007, selling waffles from a stand at Cincinnati’s Findlay Market after adapting his father’s cast-iron waffle irons, the Enquirer reported. The stand grew into a full restaurant group with locations across the Cincinnati area, including an Over-the-Rhine flagship that opened in 2011 and later moved to The Banks, plus a full-service location at Liberty Center in Liberty Township.
Chapter 11 allows a business to keep operating while it restructures its debts and obligations under court supervision. Fleury’s stated plan, as reported by the Enquirer, is to concentrate the company on its strongest and most profitable restaurants rather than carry its full footprint.
The filing continues a difficult stretch for Cincinnati-area restaurant groups working through higher costs and shifting dining traffic. For customers, nothing changes immediately: the restaurants continue serving, and any closures or sales that come out of the court process would be announced as the case proceeds.
Taste of Belgium’s waffles — made from a family recipe Fleury has described as unchanged — remain the centerpiece of the menu at the locations that stay open. The bankruptcy case will now move through federal court, where the company’s restructuring plan will need creditor and court approval.