Bertucci's closes LI location as part of chain's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing

Bertucci's, a casual Italian restaurant known for its brick oven pizzas, has closed its Hauppauge location as part of the chain's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

The local restaurant posted a message on its Facebook page Monday thanking team members and guests for their support through the years.

The post noted that the Massachusetts-based company's "restructuring" would "significantly impact...restaurants, team members, colleagues and friends in the short term with the closing of 15 locations." 

It said "many employees" would transfer to other Bertucci's restaurants and other employees would be helped to find employment elsewhere. 

The chain's Melville location, the only Long Island restaurant still listed on the company's official website, is open for business. A manager there did not return a call seeking comment Monday. 

A Bertucci's restaurant in Westbury closed in January 2017, after 24 years in business, when it failed to reach an agreement with the landlord over the terms of a new lease. 

The chain intends to sell its assets, it said in a release Monday. In its bankruptcy filing on Sunday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, it listing Right Lane Dough Acquisitions LLC as the "stalking  horse" bidder -- the offer over which future bidders must bid higher or better.  

The deal is valued at roughly $20 million, the Wall Street Journal reported.

There are 59 Bertucci's locations, spread across 11 Northeastern states, currently open for business. 

The bankruptcy filing "is expected to be seamless for Bertucci's guests, trading partners and vendors, and result in minimal disruption to its operations, allowing us to strengthen the company's financial structure," Bertucci's CEO Brian Wright said in the release.