Guzman y Gomez Mexican Kitchen shut down all eight of its U.S. restaurants on May 22, ending its American business after six years in the Chicago area. The company’s U.S. website now says all GYG USA restaurants are permanently closed and notes that the restaurants ceased trading effective May 22.
The closure is drawing attention because the chain had once talked openly about growing far beyond Chicago, and had recently reiterated its U.S. ambitions. Instead, the company has pulled the plug on every American location at once, a sharp reversal for a brand that made its U.S. debut in 2020 and had built its entire presence around Chicagoland.
In an Instagram post, the company thanked customers and employees in the region and said that after six years of burritos and big dreams in Chicagoland, it had made the difficult decision to close its U.S. restaurants. It told guests they chose the brand and were never taken for granted, and thanked the team for building something special.
Steven Marks, who founded the company in Australia with Robert Hazan, said he had always believed in the chain’s food and guest experience, but that it was not translating into better sales momentum. Marks said he spent the last three months in the U.S. before concluding the turnaround would take significantly more time and capital than expected. He said he and the board decided the business was unlikely to deliver performance that would justify continued investment of shareholder capital.
The gap now is what happens to the people who worked there. The company has not said how many employees lost their jobs when the eight restaurants closed, and it has not said whether it will try again in the U.S. market. For now, Guzman y Gomez remains active in Australia, Japan and Singapore, but its U.S. run has ended with no visible return plan on the table.
