Update: This story has been updated to include a statement from restaurant owner Scott Slater, who says he’s selling his six restaurants.

Slater’s 50/50, whose bacon-infused burgers made it one of the most popular gourmet burger restaurants when it first opened, has been sold.

The sale of the six restaurants, including two in Orange County, was announced Tuesday by company founder Scott Slater after the Register inquired about three restaurants listed on a state WARN notice. The Dec. 7 notice states restaurants in Anaheim Hills, Huntington Beach and San Diego would be closed permanently, impacting 334 employees, according to a filing with the state’s Employment Development Department.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers to give notice of plant closures or mass layoffs.

In a phone interview, Slater insisted he is not laying off any employees, and the restaurants are not closing. He said the filing was made as a courtesy as he is selling the six restaurants to a new buyer.

“We’re going through a recapitalization process,” he said. “We terminate, and we rehire with a new organization.”

In a follow-up statement, he said he is stepping down as president of Slater’s 50/50 to allow a new group of dynamic restaurateurs from Elite Restaurant Group “to take my baby to the next level.”

“By bringing in new capital for remodels, fresh ideas and plans to rapidly expand my brand not only in Southern California but also march across the country, I am confident we are walking into the next chapter of Slater’s 50/50 ready to bring our gospel of Burger Bacon & Beer across the country,” Slater said in a statement.

Slater did not disclose the terms of the deal. He said he still has a financial stake in the company. He said he would still play an integral part in the improvements, expansion and vision of the company in his “Baron of Bacon” job position.

Slater founded the first Slater’s 50/50 in Anaheim Hills in the summer of 2009.

Signs of trouble have been brewing at the Orange County-born burger chain since last year when Slater’s closed a restaurant in Lake Forest.

“It was a poor location,” Slater told the Register in 2015. “Our other locations are still going great.”

Last month, S&M Sausage & Meat in San Diego, which Slater co-owned, also closed, according to the restaurant’s Facebook page. The company’s public relations firm, hired for temporary work in August, no longer works with the burger chain, a representative told the Register on Tuesday.

Recently, Slater’s also reformulated its signature bacon and beef burger patty to make it juicier. “In the past we have heard comments that the 50/50 was too dense or like a ham steak,” the chef explained.

In a recent interview several weeks ago, Slater indicated the Huntington Beach location was doing well. “I think our brand fits the community very well,” he said.

Slater was inspired to create a patty made of ground bacon and ground beef while attending San Diego State University. During football tailgating parties, he would barbecue gourmet fare such as pork belly. During one game, he convinced a skeptical butcher to grind several pounds of bacon so he could grill an all-bacon patty.

Years later he tweaked the all-bacon formula to a half ground-bacon, half ground-beef patty when he opened the first Slater’s 50/50 in Anaheim Hills. In the early days, Slater relied on social media to spread the word about his 50/50 burgers.

The pent-up curiosity over the bacon-packed patties worked. Top consumer review sites such as Yelp and Urbanspoon consistently gave the restaurant high marks for its inventive gourmet burger menu.

Fans raved about a peanut butter and jelly burger topped with bacon slices. But the turning point for the restaurant came when its bacon-packed patties were featured on a Travel Channel show dubbed “Bacon Paradise.” After the show aired in November 2010, Slater’s 50/50 went from being a local burger haven to a destination hot spot frequented by burger aficionados and tourists.

“It was like winning the lottery,” Slater told Register in 2012.

The chain’s other locations are in Rancho Cucamonga, Pasadena and San Marcos.

Brad “Paco” Miller, a local restaurant consultant who previously did some work for Slater’s 50/50, said Slater’s has fallen victim to changing tastes.

“Indulgent foods are no longer in fashion,” said Miller of Synergy Restaurant Consulting in Newport Beach.

He said Slater’s should be able to regroup as the Rancho Cucamonga and Pasadena locations do very well financially. “They still have a great product. They were the first to the party with the over the top hamburger.”

Contact the writer: nluna@scng.com