Ray Ray’s Hog Pit, a popular Ohio-based barbecue chain, has filed for bankruptcy after closing multiple locations last month.
The restaurant’s parent company, Smoke Rings LLC, filed for Chapter 11 on Friday to facilitate debt restructuring. The company reported $264,349 in assets and $1.26 million in liabilities, according to court documents obtained by Inforupty.com and QSR Magazine.
In November, three Ray Ray’s restaurants closed in central Ohio, including its Johnstown and Marion locations and the Linworth food truck. Anderson shared the news in a social media post, stating how the move would allow the company to focus on serving food to its communities.
“This change allows us to refocus on what we do best—serving award-winning BBQ quickly to the people who love it most. We want to put our full energy into the locations you know and love, continuing to create the flavors, experiences, and memories that make our BBQ special,” he said in a Nov. 13 post via Facebook.
Ray Ray’s Hog Pit’s remaining locations
The recent closures were a sudden shift after the Johnstown location opened in April and the Marion location opened in August. The company operated those eateries under the name Ray Ray’s Ohio Style, a concept that featured an expanded menu and full-service dining, NBC4i reported.
Ray Ray’s was founded in 2009 by chef James Anderson and has since become a legendary barbecue eatery across Ohio, according to its website.
“What makes us different is our love for American barbecue traditions and how we combine that old-school smoke with new-school magic. From the beginning our approach has attracted dedicated barbecue fans because they trust three things about Ray Ray’s,” the company shared via its website.
Ray Ray’s other locations will remain open, including the Clintonville (dine-in & carryout), Franklinton (at Land-Grant Brewing), Westerville (drive-thru and walk-up), as well as Granville (dine-in, drive-thru, and walk-up), according to its website.
Higher beef prices fuel restaurant closures and affordability issues
According to The Street, Ray Ray’s bankruptcy filing stems from a larger issue: rising meat prices. Many restaurants that rely on meat like beef are seeing an uptick in demand, which could be too much for both customers and companies to afford.
“We are headed for what I’m calling … the $10-a-pound reality. By [the] third quarter of ’26, families are gonna see $10 a pound [for] ground beef in the grocery store. So we’re in for a bit of a haul here,” Omaha Steaks’ CEO Nate Rempe told Fox Business. “I don’t believe we’ll see price[s] come down in any meaningful way until sometime in 2027.”
One reason this is happening is due to the increase in beef imports: “U.S. beef imports have climbed after drought led to a decline in the domestic cattle herd. China shipped in record amounts of beef last year amid growing popularity of the meat, though an official probe into imported beef has raised uncertainty about Chinese demand,” Reuters reported.
