The majority of Chiquito restaurants are set to close permanently as the owners have announced the chain has fallen into administration.
It comes amid struggles to cope with the downturn from coronavirus after the prime minister ordered restaurants to shut as part of tightened social distancing measures.
The Restaurant Group, which also owns Wagamama and Frankie & Benny’s, said it would also permanently close its Food and Fuel chain of pubs in London.
As a result, a total of 60 Chiquito sites will remain shut, with some 1,500 jobs likely to be affected.
The move comes less than a week after the company said sales plummeted 12.5 per cent over two weeks and a few days after they announced temporary closures.
On March 24, the chain said in a tweet: "We are absolutely heartbroken to announce that all our restaurants are closed until further notice - including those offering home delivery.
"We want to thank all our incredible teams and guests that made Chiquito such a fun and happy place to spend time at."
A spokesman said: “Covid-19 has had an immediate and significant impact on trading across the Group.
“We have conducted a review of the performance of our business divisions, with a particular focus on the expected future cash generation profile of each of our business units.”
He added that both groups are expected to hit losses this year, “as a result, the Group has taken the very difficult decision to appoint administrators for Food & Fuel Limited and filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator for Chiquito Limited.
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“The decisions have been incredibly difficult and we recognise the significant impact on all of our colleagues that are affected.
"We thank them for their hard work and commitment during these very testing times.”
Meanwhile, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has tonight unveiled a scheme to help self-employed people affected by the pandemic and claimed it was one of the most generous being offered anywhere in the world.
Speaking at the daily government press conference, he said: “To support those who work for themselves, today I am announcing a new self-employed income support scheme.
“The Government will pay self-employed people who have been adversely affected by the coronavirus a taxable grant worth 80% of their average monthly profits over the last three years, up to £2,500 a month.”
However the scheme has seen huge backlash online as workers are not able to access the support until June 2020.
