Quality Fresca, which operates 38 Moe’s restaurants across Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., filed for bankruptcy.
The company intends to reorganize by shedding unprofitable restaurants, reducing costs, and preserving the strongest parts of its portfolio. A sale could potentially happen as well.
The filing marks the latest chapter for a franchisee that once operated 69 Moe’s restaurants after acquiring 67 locations in March 2020 and adding two more the following year. Since then, the company has steadily reduced its footprint, closing 31 underperforming restaurants. Nineteen locations closed between May 2021 and the end of 2025, followed by 12 additional closures this year, leaving 38 operating restaurants at the time of the bankruptcy filing.
Even after those reductions, Quality Fresca remains one of the largest Moe’s franchisees in the country. Its restaurants are organized across six operating regions—Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia; Fort Myers/Naples; Tallahassee; Jacksonville/Gainesville; Tampa; and Charleston.
Chief restructuring officer G. Michael Verdisco said the business encountered mounting financial pressure over several years.
According to the filing, customer traffic declined following the COVID pandemic, leaving revenue under pressure even as rent, debt obligations, and other fixed costs persisted. Higher food and shipping expenses, labor shortages, and inflation compounded those challenges.
The business partially recovered after the pandemic, but conditions deteriorated again in 2025. Ongoing inflation, increased costs, and competitive pressures reduced customer traffic and caused EBITDA to decline, Verdisco wrote in the filing.
Quality Fresca reported nearly $58.9 million in net sales during fiscal 2025 but posted negative consolidated EBITDA of roughly $111,000. As of December 31, 2025, the company listed approximately $44 million in assets against roughly $52 million in liabilities.
Through June 15, the company reported year-to-date revenue of $26.4 million and EBITDA of approximately $315,000.
The franchisee also carries significant debt. Court filings show approximately $15.2 million remained outstanding under its primary credit agreement, along with additional loans totaling roughly $800,000. The company also owes about $2.1 million to landlords, vendors, suppliers, and taxing authorities.
Quality Fresca’s financial challenges also affected its relationship with franchisor GoTo Foods.
According to the filing, Moe’s franchisor notified the company in August 2025 that it was in default under all of its franchise agreements. A month later, the two sides negotiated an agreement that deferred certain royalty and advertising obligations to provide additional time for payment and support continued restaurant operations. The company said it fulfilled those obligations before the agreement expired and continued negotiating with GoTo Foods during 2026 over liquidity, restaurant closures, and additional royalty and advertising relief. Those discussions were still ongoing when the bankruptcy case was filed.
Overall, Moe’s finished 2025 with 568 U.S. units, down 28 year-over-year. Also, U.S. systemwide sales fell from $721 million to $658 million in 2024.
