FoodFirst Global Restaurants (formerly Bravo Brio Restaurant Group) is the parent company of the Bravo! Cucina Italiana and Brio Tuscan Grille restaurant chains in the United States. It was established in Columbus, Ohio as Bravo Brio Restaurant Group in 1992 by Rick and Chris Doody in collaboration with Executive Chef Phil Yandolino. In 2018, the company was sold to Spice Private Equity Ltd. and rebranded as FoodFirst Global Restaurants, and is now based in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. Steve Layt is the company's chief executive officer. Brio specializes in

Northern Italian cuisine Italian cuisine (, ) is a Mediterranean cuisine David 1988, Introduction, pp.101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes and cooking techniques developed across the Italian Peninsula and later spread around the world together with wav ...

including

bruschetta Bruschetta (, , ) is an antipasto (starter dish) from Italy consisting of grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with olive oil and salt. Variations may include toppings of tomato, vegetables, beans, cured meat, or cheese. In Italy, brusche ...

pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...

, pasta, steaks, seafood, soup and salad. Bravo! restaurants have a Roman ruin style décor and an open, Italian style kitchen focusing primarily on pastas and pizzas.

History

Bravo Brio Restaurant Group (BBRG) was founded in 1992 by Rick Doody, his brother Chris Doody, and Executive Chef Phil Yandolino. Initially, the restaurant group consisted of one brand, Bravo Cucina Italiana. The first restaurant opened in Columbus, Ohio. Eventually, the restaurant group launched a second similar, but more upscale brand, Brio Tuscan Grille. In October 2010, BBRG went public and their IPO raised net proceeds of $62.4 million. On May 24, 2018, BBRG was sold to Spice Private Equity Ltd. and renamed FoodFirst Global Restaurants. BBRG sold for about $100 million and their shareholders received $4.05 per share in cash. At that moment, Bravo and Brio managed 110 stores in 32 states, for an estimated sales volume of around 400 million dollars. On April 10, 2020, FoodFirst Global Holdings Inc. filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Middle District of Florida.

Executive Officers

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

- Steve Layt *

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

- Antonio Bonchristiano *

CFO The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

- Brian Grusi * Chief Culinary Officer - John Imbriolo

Legal

In 2018, BBRG announced it had settled two lawsuits in 2017 for a total of $5.6 million. A class-action lawsuit filed in Missouri involved 8,000+ former and current employees and the Company settled the case for $4 million. A class-action lawsuit filed in New York involved over 500 employees and the Company settled the case for $1.6 million.

References

{{Reflist Restaurant chains in the United States Restaurant groups in the United States Restaurants established in 1992 Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq 1992 establishments in Ohio 2010 initial public offerings 2018 mergers and acquisitions Private equity portfolio companies Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020