A Washington state wood-fired pizza chain has sought federal bankruptcy protection as the broader pizza sector continues to grapple with rising costs, high lease rates and fierce competition that have pushed dozens of operators into restructuring or closure.
Smoking Monkey Pizza’s parent company, TB Enterprises LLC, filed its Chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle on May 12, listing up to $50,000 in assets and between $100,000 and $500,000 in liabilities, according to court filings cited by Bankruptcy Observer.
Among the largest unsecured creditors listed in court schedules are the Washington Department of Revenue, food distributor Sysco, Chase Card Services, payment processor Gravity Payments, restaurant supplier Greco and Puget Sound Energy.
TB Enterprises previously operated three locations in Renton, Seattle and Spokane, Wash., but closed its Spokane restaurant at 816 W. Sprague Ave. roughly two months before the bankruptcy filing. The chain’s two remaining locations — 613 South 3rd St. in Renton and 3111 W. McGraw St. in Seattle — remain open.
Smoking Monkey Pizza, which opened in Renton in 2012, was honored by Quality Business Awards in 2025 with a quality rating above 95% and was named Best Pizza in Renton. Its menu spans 35 pizza varieties, along with build-your-own options, 11 pastas, 8 sandwiches, 5 calzones, 3 strombolis, 9 salads and 5 desserts.
The filing reflects turbulence across the pizza industry. Papa John’s disclosed in its fourth-quarter earnings call that it plans to close 300 underperforming North American locations — 200 by the end of this year — and has cut 7% of its corporate workforce as part of an ongoing transformation plan.
Yum! Brands said in February it would shutter approximately 250 underperforming Pizza Hut locations in the first half of 2026 under its Hut Forward restructuring program, representing about 3 to 4 percent of Pizza Hut’s U.S. store system.
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, the chain’s largest global franchisee, announced in early 2025 that it would close 205 low-performing locations — the majority in Japan — to sharpen market focus and improve profitability.
San Francisco wood-fired chain Fiorella has had an even more turbulent run. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the fourth time on March 6, 2026, this time for its Noe Valley location, following separate filings by three other Fiorella restaurant entities throughout 2025.
Restaurant chains have broadly attributed their difficulties to fierce competition, rising labor and food costs and unmanageable lease obligations — pressures that have forced numerous operators to seek court protection to restructure debt and renegotiate terms.
This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times’ AI News Desk team. The contents of this report are based solely on The Washington Times’ original reporting, wire services, and/or other sources cited within the report. For more information, please read our AI policy or contact Steve Fink, Director of Artificial Intelligence, at sfink@washingtontimes.com
The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at aispotlight@washingtontimes.com.
