Smokey Bones is closing stores: See a list of shuttered locations as another restaurant chain faces a bleak fate

Smokey Bones Bar and Fire Grill, the once-popular barbecue casual-dining restaurant chain, has reportedly abruptly closed all of its remaining locations. The closures suggest a bleak fate for the nearly 30-year-old BBQ brand and come just months after both its direct owner, Twin Hospitality Group, and that company’s parent, FAT Brands, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happened? Numerous local media outlets across the country have reported that their Smokey Bones restaurants abruptly and permanently closed yesterday, April 28. Those reports include ones from Indiana’s WANE 15, Pennsylvania’s TribLive, and Rhode Island’s 10 WJAR. Most of the reports cite similar scenes of customers or employees showing up at their local Smokey Bones only to find it locked and a notice of closure posted on the door. A photo of one such closure notice on a store in Indiana, posted by WANE 15, reads: “We regret to announce that this location has permanently closed its doors as of Tuesday, April 28th. We thank our loyal Guests for many wonderful years.” A Fast Company review of the Smokey Bones’s website store locator tool also shows that the business hours for every listed location are now marked as “closed” for every day of the week. The store locator lists restaurants in 15 states. It is not clear if all these closures are permanent. Fast Company has reached out to FAT Brands for comment. Beyond the altered store hours on the chain’s website and the fliers posted in the locations’ windows, it does not appear that Smokey Bones, its owner, Twin Hospitality Group, or its parent company, FAT Brands, have made a public statement about the closures. Smokey Bones owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January While the abrupt store closures may come as a surprise to patrons still showing up at their locations, it is less of a surprise to those familiar with the financial situations of Smokey Bones’s owners. The BBQ restaurant is directly owned by Twin H