Lost Cajun files for bankruptcy

FRISCO — The parent company of the Lost Cajun restaurants, which has locations in Fort Collins, Westminster and the Denver area, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In filings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Colorado this week, the Frisco-based Lost Cajun Enterprises LLC reported assets between $100,000 and $500,000 against liabilities ranging between $1 million and $10 million.

The chain reported $173,340 in two separate Paycheck Protection Program loans.

The company has nine locations in Colorado, including at 331 S. Meldrum St. in Fort Collins and 3013 W. 104th Ave. in Westminster. It has 25 locations across the country, with most of its out-of-state restaurants in Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Businesses file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an attempt to reorganize their debts and emerge as a financially healthy company. It differs from Chapter 7 bankruptcies, where businesses are liquidated and the proceeds are split among creditors.

In its filing documents, the company said the pandemic was the main driver of its bankruptcy, as the shutdowns of last spring and continued capacity restrictions deeply cut into revenues for all restaurants. It also waived licensing fees for some of its franchisees but has gotten word that several locations intend to shut down.

“Given that the restaurant count has shrunk and is anticipated to continue to shrink as a result of COVID and its aftermath, the debtors filed the instant cases to reorganize their debts and obligations so that debtors are not, going forward, insolvent,” the company’s filings said.

Founder Raymond Griffin told BizWest in an interview that the bankruptcy is solely meant for the corporate holding company to restructure its debt, and he said the independently-owned restaurants in Colorado are not closing imminently. 

The corporate company’s strategy was of having several new franchises in the works at any given time, but the pandemic halted all but one opening across the country in the past several months.

“We’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with our owners through all of this, and we feel like we’ve done a good job. But it’s just unfortunate, something we have to do,” he said.

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