The 68-unit Daphne's Greek Cafe chain has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Several Daphne's in Southern California have closed in recent weeks, but it is unclear if more units will close there as part of the bankruptcy. The company also has closed its locations in Arizona and Oregon.
Daphne's founder George Katakalidis said the filing was intended to help the company refocus on its core market of California.
"As a brand, the right thing to do is slow down," he said. "We've got a great brand and a great company, and we really know what we're doing. For a year and a half we've been trying to restructure our debt and things were going nowhere. We've planned properly and did what we needed to do before we filed."
Katakalidis said the company plans to emerge from Chapter 11 quickly. According to the filing, the company had more than $17 million in debt as of Nov. 30, 2009.
San Diego-based Daphne's is owned by Fili Enterprises and the first location opened in 1991.
