More closures reduce Black-eyed Pea to 1 Texas restaurant

black eyed pea restaurant

The Black-eyed Pea casual-dining chain has been pared within its home state of Texas to a single store through the recent closings of 12 branches, according to local news reports.

Nine units, owned and operated by a different company, remain open in Colorado.

The Texas outlets were the property of Restaurants Acquisition I, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2015. Before seeking protection from creditors, RA I closed 15 of its 30 units, saying the stores’ cash flow was insufficient to support the operations.

It was unclear when the additional Black-eyed Peas shut their doors for good, but at least one was in operation as of Sunday.

Texas’ lone remaining Black-eyed Pea is in Arlington.

The chain was founded in 1975 by the still-active concept creator Gene Street. At the time, casual dining was a novelty, and Tex-Mex food was little known outside of the Sun Belt. The chain would grow to more than 130 restaurants as it passed through a variety of owners.

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