---
title: "From Nearly 250 Restaurants to an Overnight Shutdown"
canonical: "https://www.metaintro.com/blog/ocharleys-closes-all-restaurants-warn-notice-workers"
language: "en"
author: "drashtigarach"
published: "2026-09-14T17:31:14.000Z"
modified: "2026-09-14T17:31:14.000Z"
---

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# From Nearly 250 Restaurants to an Overnight Shutdown, What O'Charley's Workers Should Do Now

O'Charley's shut its corporate restaurants at 8 p.m. Wednesday and Tennessee officials say no WARN notice was filed. What laid off staff should do first.

[![Drashti Garach](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:40:40/q:72/plain/images/5719d740-e510-42bc-8017-e040d145f35f_1766029465094.png)Drashti Garach @DrashtiGarach](/blog/author/drashtigarach)

[September 14, 2026](/blog/archive/2026/09)13 min read

![Stacks of clean white plates on a stainless steel restaurant kitchen pass after the last service](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:1200:675/q:78/plain/images/ocharleys-closes-all-restaurants-warn-notice-workers-hero.jpg)

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A 55 year old restaurant chain closed its corporate locations with almost no warning, and the staff who ran them are now working out final pay, health cover and their next job at the same time. [WSMV](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/09/09/ocharleys-suddenly-closing-all-middle-tennessee-locations/) reports that [O'Charley's Restaurant and Bar told employees on Tuesday evening that all Middle Tennessee locations would close at 8 p.m. Wednesday](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/09/09/ocharleys-suddenly-closing-all-middle-tennessee-locations/). At [Metaintro](https://www.metaintro.com) we cover closures like this from the worker's side, because the practical questions start immediately and the company has stopped answering them. If you worked there, the most useful detail in this story is a government filing that Tennessee officials say never arrived.

## What happened

The shutdown was fast and it reached beyond Tennessee. [Nation's Restaurant News](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations) reports that the [Cannae Holdings owned, Nashville based casual dining chain abruptly closed all corporate owned locations on Wednesday](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations), while [franchised locations are hanging on](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations). [Fox Business](https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/55-year-old-restaurant-chain-abruptly-shutters-locations-nationwide) reports the closure ended [a 55 year operational run](https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/55-year-old-restaurant-chain-abruptly-shutters-locations-nationwide), and that [Cannae Holdings owns a 65.4% equity interest in O'Charley's](https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/55-year-old-restaurant-chain-abruptly-shutters-locations-nationwide).

The Nashville station [WKRN](https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/ocharleys-closing-middle-tn/) spoke with [restaurant managers at six of the eight Middle Tennessee locations who confirmed staff at all locations were notified the restaurants would close Wednesday at 8 p.m.](https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/ocharleys-closing-middle-tn/), and reports that [corporate confirmed the closings Thursday morning after O'Charley's disabled its social media accounts](https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/ocharleys-closing-middle-tn/).

The scale of the decline is the backdrop. [Nation's Restaurant News](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations) reports that [at its peak in the 2000s O'Charley's operated nearly 250 restaurants](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations), that in [2023 the company shuttered around 17% of its portfolio to preserve cashflow and move to a more asset light model](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations), and that [by 2026 same store sales were down by double digits with multiple stores closing in July, bringing the portfolio down to just 47 locations](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations). The same [Nation's Restaurant News report cites Technomic data showing that in 2025 the O'Charley's portfolio shrank by 11% and sales dropped by 19%](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations).

The parent company's own numbers point the same way. In its [second quarter 2026 update filed with the SEC](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1704720/000170472026000151/exhibit992-2026q2cannaesha.htm), Cannae said the O'Charley's concept [has continued to experience challenges in maintaining its traffic and resulting in a 13% decline in same store sales in the quarter](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1704720/000170472026000151/exhibit992-2026q2cannaesha.htm), that [four O'Charley's stores have been closed in 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1704720/000170472026000151/exhibit992-2026q2cannaesha.htm), and that it is [continuing to explore strategic alternatives related to our restaurant group](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1704720/000170472026000151/exhibit992-2026q2cannaesha.htm). [Fox Business, citing Cannae](https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/55-year-old-restaurant-chain-abruptly-shutters-locations-nationwide), adds that [guest counts at the chain fell 23.8% during the second quarter of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier](https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/55-year-old-restaurant-chain-abruptly-shutters-locations-nationwide).

[WSMV](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/09/09/ocharleys-suddenly-closing-all-middle-tennessee-locations/) lists the [affected restaurants as Bellevue, Hermitage, Franklin, Lebanon, Manchester, Gallatin, Springfield and Clarksville in Tennessee, plus Hopkinsville, Kentucky](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/09/09/ocharleys-suddenly-closing-all-middle-tennessee-locations/), and notes the chain [was founded 55 years ago in Nashville, starting with one restaurant near Vanderbilt's campus, and grew to have stores across 13 states](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/09/09/ocharleys-suddenly-closing-all-middle-tennessee-locations/). [WKRN](https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/ocharleys-closing-middle-tn/) adds that [the chain grew to 45 locations by 1993](https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/ocharleys-closing-middle-tn/).

Then there is the part that turns a business story into a labor one.

> Tennessee state officials said the company did not file a WARN notice for the layoffs, according to [WSMV](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/09/09/ocharleys-suddenly-closing-all-middle-tennessee-locations/).

That missing filing matters because of what a notice is designed to start. Under the federal WARN Act, a covered employer [shall not order a plant closing or mass layoff until the end of a 60-day period after it serves written notice](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/2102), and that notice goes to employees, state dislocated worker units and local governments. The [U.S. Department of Labor](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/workers) explains that [many companies will contact the Rapid Response team to notify them of a layoff and invite them to come on-site to help the workers who will be laid off](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/workers). When no notice arrives, that on-site step never happens before the layoff, and the same guidance points workers to Rapid Response directly.

The human version came from workers across Tennessee. [WATE](https://www.wate.com/news/hamblen-county-news/ocharleys-employees-devastated-by-closures/) spoke to Regina Arwood, who [spent four years working at the O'Charley's in Morristown](https://www.wate.com/news/hamblen-county-news/ocharleys-employees-devastated-by-closures/) and said [it has devastated my world](https://www.wate.com/news/hamblen-county-news/ocharleys-employees-devastated-by-closures/). She told the station that [staff were notified Wednesday that it would be the final day in business](https://www.wate.com/news/hamblen-county-news/ocharleys-employees-devastated-by-closures/), and that [they weren't supposed to tell nobody until last night at 8 o'clock](https://www.wate.com/news/hamblen-county-news/ocharleys-employees-devastated-by-closures/). WATE also reports that she [does not yet know if she'll receive any sort of severance payment](https://www.wate.com/news/hamblen-county-news/ocharleys-employees-devastated-by-closures/). In Clarksville and Dickson, former employees and customers shared memories with [WKRN](https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/ocharleys-closing-middle-tn/). Former employee Leslie Bolin told the station that [it was my first serving job, and I learned so much valuable information](https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/ocharleys-closing-middle-tn/), and Austin Jenkins described being [very sad for my friends who were still working there](https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/ocharleys-closing-middle-tn/), mostly because [there was no notice given to them](https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/ocharleys-closing-middle-tn/).

The company itself went quiet. [Fox Business](https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/55-year-old-restaurant-chain-abruptly-shutters-locations-nationwide) reports the company [disabled its primary social media accounts, while its website was inaccessible Thursday morning](https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/55-year-old-restaurant-chain-abruptly-shutters-locations-nationwide). [Inc.](https://www.inc.com/michael-tasner/ocharleys-survived-more-than-50-years-brand-awareness-couldnt-save-it/91404304) describes the same collapse of contact, noting that [its website stopped functioning and most of its social presence disappeared](https://www.inc.com/michael-tasner/ocharleys-survived-more-than-50-years-brand-awareness-couldnt-save-it/91404304) after [its remaining corporate restaurants abruptly closed on Wednesday, September 9](https://www.inc.com/michael-tasner/ocharleys-survived-more-than-50-years-brand-awareness-couldnt-save-it/91404304). For a former employee that is not a branding detail, it is the disappearance of the channel you would normally use to ask about a final paycheck, a work reference or benefits. Write down your dates, your role, your hourly rate and your last shifts now, while you still remember them.

## Where the coverage agrees, and where it splits

The closing time is where the reports line up. [Nation's Restaurant News](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations) reports that [all corporate owned restaurants were scheduled to shutter permanently at 8 p.m. on Wednesday](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations), which matches what employees told [WSMV](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/09/09/ocharleys-suddenly-closing-all-middle-tennessee-locations/) and what managers told [WKRN](https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/ocharleys-closing-middle-tn/).

How much warning staff got is less consistent. [WSMV](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/09/09/ocharleys-suddenly-closing-all-middle-tennessee-locations/) says [employees were told on Tuesday evening](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/09/09/ocharleys-suddenly-closing-all-middle-tennessee-locations/) about the Middle Tennessee closures. In Morristown, the worker who spoke to [WATE](https://www.wate.com/news/hamblen-county-news/ocharleys-employees-devastated-by-closures/) said [staff were notified Wednesday that it would be the final day in business](https://www.wate.com/news/hamblen-county-news/ocharleys-employees-devastated-by-closures/). Depending on the restaurant, that is the difference between one evening of notice and a few hours.

The count also diverges. [Nation's Restaurant News](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations) puts the footprint at [just 47 locations](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations) after the July closures, while [WATE](https://www.wate.com/news/hamblen-county-news/ocharleys-employees-devastated-by-closures/) and [WKRN](https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/ocharleys-closing-middle-tn/) both report the company [operated 52 locations across the country as of earlier this year](https://www.wate.com/news/hamblen-county-news/ocharleys-employees-devastated-by-closures/). Cannae's own [second quarter filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1704720/000170472026000151/exhibit992-2026q2cannaesha.htm) contains both kinds of figure, with a location table showing [47 O'Charley's restaurants at June 30, 2026, against 57 a year earlier](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1704720/000170472026000151/exhibit992-2026q2cannaesha.htm), alongside a brand description of 49 company-owned and three franchise locations. The figures describe different dates and definitions, so neither outlet is necessarily wrong, but the exact number of affected restaurants is not settled in public reporting.

The framing splits harder than the facts do. [Inc.](https://www.inc.com/michael-tasner/ocharleys-survived-more-than-50-years-brand-awareness-couldnt-save-it/91404304) reads the collapse as a marketing failure, arguing that the chain had [decades of name recognition and still ran out of customers](https://www.inc.com/michael-tasner/ocharleys-survived-more-than-50-years-brand-awareness-couldnt-save-it/91404304). The trade and financial coverage reads it as a balance sheet decision, with [Fox Business](https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/55-year-old-restaurant-chain-abruptly-shutters-locations-nationwide) pointing to the [23.8% fall in guest counts in the second quarter](https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/55-year-old-restaurant-chain-abruptly-shutters-locations-nationwide). Both readings explain why the business closed. Neither explains why the people inside got so little notice. The WARN detail comes from [WSMV](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/09/09/ocharleys-suddenly-closing-all-middle-tennessee-locations/), reporting what [Tennessee state officials said](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/09/09/ocharleys-suddenly-closing-all-middle-tennessee-locations/), and it does not appear in the Fox Business, Inc. or Nation's Restaurant News pieces.

There is one more split worth knowing if you worked there. [Fox Business](https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/55-year-old-restaurant-chain-abruptly-shutters-locations-nationwide) describes the chain as [reportedly closing its remaining locations nationwide](https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/55-year-old-restaurant-chain-abruptly-shutters-locations-nationwide), while [Nation's Restaurant News](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations) is explicit that [franchised locations are hanging on](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations). That franchise lifeline is small. [Cannae's second quarter filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1704720/000170472026000151/exhibit992-2026q2cannaesha.htm) describes the brand as [49 company-owned and three franchise locations in thirteen Southern and Midwestern states](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1704720/000170472026000151/exhibit992-2026q2cannaesha.htm).

> Cannae's second quarter update describes O'Charley's as 49 company-owned and three franchise locations, according to [the company's SEC filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1704720/000170472026000151/exhibit992-2026q2cannaesha.htm).

## What this means for your job search

Start with the missing WARN notice, because it may be worth money. According to [WSMV](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/09/09/ocharleys-suddenly-closing-all-middle-tennessee-locations/), Tennessee state officials said [the company did not file a WARN notice](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/09/09/ocharleys-suddenly-closing-all-middle-tennessee-locations/). That does not settle whether one was legally required at every restaurant. Federal WARN covers an employer with [100 or more employees](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/2101), and a plant closing counts when it causes job losses at a single site for [50 or more employees excluding any part-time employees](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/2101). The [Department of Labor's guide for workers](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/workers) calls [the criteria complex](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/workers) and gives basic levels of [layoffs of 50 or more workers at a single site, where 50 is at least one-third of the total full-time workforce at that site, or any layoffs of 500 or more workers at a single site](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/workers).

If notice was owed and not given, the statute makes the employer [liable to each aggrieved employee](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/2104) for back pay, calculated [for the period of the violation, up to a maximum of 60 days, but in no event for more than one-half the number of days the employee was employed](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/2104). There are exceptions. Federal rules allow shorter notice for a [faltering company](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/639.9) that was actively seeking capital, and for [unforeseeable business circumstances](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/639.9). The same regulation says the faltering company exception [should be narrowly construed](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/639.9) and that [a company with access to capital markets or with cash reserves may not avail itself of this exception by looking solely at the financial condition of the facility](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/639.9). Whether any of that applies here is a legal question, so take it to your state Rapid Response team or an employment lawyer rather than assuming the answer either way.

Go to the state system rather than the company, because the company has switched itself off. The [Department of Labor](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/workers) tells workers that if [your company laid you off without notice, please contact your state's Rapid Response team](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/workers), and says that team [will provide you with information on the means to maintain an income (unemployment insurance), information on health insurance options, access to skills upgrading and training resources](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/workers). Its [guidance for employers](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/employers) describes the [local American Job Center or state Dislocated Worker Unit](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/employers) as the contact point, and says Rapid Response teams [provide information to companies concerning any state or federal requirements or laws for notification, including the WARN Act](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/employers).

File for unemployment as soon as you can rather than waiting until your resume is polished, since state systems set their own timelines and [unemployment filing processes are changing state by state](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/kansas-unemployment-filing-ai-what-laid-off-workers-expect-2026). For your final paycheck, the [Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development](https://lwdsupport.tn.gov/hc/en-us/articles/201354880-When-I-leave-a-place-of-employment-how-long-does-an-employer-have-to-provide-my-last-check) says [state law gives the employer twenty-one (21) calendar days from the termination/separation date to pay an employee a final check](https://lwdsupport.tn.gov/hc/en-us/articles/201354880-When-I-leave-a-place-of-employment-how-long-does-an-employer-have-to-provide-my-last-check). Workers at the Hopkinsville, Kentucky restaurant should check Kentucky's rules instead. If severance comes up at all, it helps to know [what outplacement support and severance terms can include](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/what-is-outplacement-severance-package-negotiate-2026).

Health coverage is the deadline people miss. [HealthCare.gov](https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage-outside-open-enrollment/special-enrollment-period/) says you [may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period if you lose health coverage through your employer](https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage-outside-open-enrollment/special-enrollment-period/), and that the window applies if you [lost qualifying health coverage in the past 60 days](https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage-outside-open-enrollment/special-enrollment-period/). If you had coverage through O'Charley's, check that window this week.

Then look at the remaining franchise stores, while being realistic about how few there are. [Nation's Restaurant News reports franchised O'Charley's locations are hanging on](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations), but [Cannae's filing lists three](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1704720/000170472026000151/exhibit992-2026q2cannaesha.htm), so for most former staff the next job will be at a different brand. Other casual dining and quick service operators are the obvious first calls, and [franchise hiring trends](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/franchising-booming-2026-jobs-hiring) are worth a look if you want to stay close to the work you know. The same logic runs through the wider sector, where [restaurant closures in one place can sit alongside hiring somewhere close by](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/waterpark-hiring-restaurant-closures).

Describe what you did, not just where you did it. Front of house work involves cash handling, upselling, resolving complaints and following food safety rules, and those skills travel into retail, hospitality, logistics and customer support roles. A resume that lists the tasks you handled and the volume you handled them at will do more work than the name of a chain that has closed. [Understanding how service roles map across retail, hospitality and field service](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/service-jobs-explained-retail-hospitality-field-service) is a quick way to make that translation, [the practical routes back after a plant or site closure](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/factory-workers-lose-jobs-plant-closes-what-comes-next-2026) follow a similar pattern in a different industry, and [how WARN notices show up in state layoff data](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/new-jersey-layoffs-12980-2026-warn-notices) shows why the filing matters beyond one company.

One last thing, aimed at anyone who feels they should have seen this coming. The public signals were financial, not personal. Cannae's filing talked about [closing underperforming stores and exploring strategic alternatives](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1704720/000170472026000151/exhibit992-2026q2cannaesha.htm), but nothing in that language told a server or line cook which week their restaurant would close. The practical lesson is to keep your own record of your dates, your role and your pay somewhere outside the employer's systems, because you will need those details for unemployment, for any WARN claim and for the next application.

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## People Also Asked

### Q: Did O'Charley's file a WARN notice before closing?

A: Tennessee state officials said the company did not file a WARN notice for the layoffs, according to [WSMV](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/09/09/ocharleys-suddenly-closing-all-middle-tennessee-locations/). Federal law bars a covered employer from ordering a plant closing or mass layoff [until the end of a 60-day period after it serves written notice](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/2102), but it applies to employers with [100 or more employees](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/2101) and has exceptions, so ask your state Rapid Response team whether notice was owed.

### Q: Are all O'Charley's restaurants closed now?

A: Not all of them. [Nation's Restaurant News](https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/o-charley-s-is-shutting-down-all-corporate-locations) reports that the company closed all corporate owned locations on Wednesday while franchised locations are hanging on. Cannae's [second quarter filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1704720/000170472026000151/exhibit992-2026q2cannaesha.htm) lists only three franchise locations, so the franchise route is narrow.

### Q: Where should a laid off restaurant worker go first?

A: The [Department of Labor](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/workers) tells workers laid off without notice to contact their state's Rapid Response team, which can share information on unemployment insurance, health insurance options and training. Check your final pay deadline and your health coverage window the same week.

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