A legal notice posted on the door of Tampa's recently closed TGI Fridays restaurant reveals that the establishment allegedly owed nearly $50,000 in unpaid rent before shuttering.
The notice, dated April 7, 2025, was delivered to Central Florida Restaurants, Inc., which operated the TGI Fridays location at 11705 West Hillsborough Avenue. The document, a "Three Day Notice to Pay or Quit," claims the tenant was indebted to the landlord for $48,296.44 through April 7, 2025.
The legal notice was issued by the law firm Burr Forman LLP, representing the property owners. According to the document taped to the restaurant's glass door, the tenant was given three days to pay the outstanding amount or vacate the 9,000-square-foot premises.
This development follows the permanent closure of Tampa's last TGI Fridays location, which was part of a nationwide contraction of the once-popular casual dining chain. TGI Fridays Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November 2, 2024, citing pandemic-related financial challenges.
The Hillsborough Avenue location was the final TGI Fridays restaurant in the Tampa Bay area, with the nearest remaining locations now in Orlando. At the beginning of 2024, the chain operated approximately 270 U.S. locations, but that number has steadily declined throughout the year as the company has worked to restructure its debt and operations.
The posted notice indicates that Central Florida Restaurants, Inc. was operating as an assignee of TGI Friday's, Inc., which was described as the "Original Tenant" on the property lease dated June 8, 2014. The document also lists multiple business entities involved in the property ownership structure.
Neither representatives from Central Florida Restaurants, Inc. nor TGI Fridays corporate offices responded to requests for comment on the alleged unpaid rent or the circumstances surrounding the restaurant's closure.
For Tampa residents who frequented the establishment, the eviction notice represents the final chapter in the story of a once-thriving restaurant chain that had maintained a presence in the Tampa Bay area for decades. The combination of pandemic pressures, changing consumer preferences, and increasing competition in the casual dining sector have all been cited as factors in TGI Fridays' broader financial troubles.
