Darden concept Bahama Breeze has closed 15 restaurants, cutting more than one-third of its footprint.
The chain finished its recent fiscal quarter with 43 company-owned units and one franchised outlet. With the shutdowns, it’s now below 30 locations. The closures are spread across Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Tennessee.
“We continually evaluate the performance of all our restaurants. After thorough analysis and careful consideration, we made the decision to close 15 Bahama Breeze locations,” spokesperson Kiara Bucker said in a statement. “Closing a restaurant is a difficult choice because it impacts our team members and guests. However, we believe this is the right decision because it will allow Bahama Breeze to focus on its highest performing restaurants and strengthen the brand’s overall performance. We are committed to supporting our team members who have been impacted by these closures. We are doing everything we can to place as many impacted team members at nearby Darden brands and all others will be provided with severance.”
Here’s a look at Bahama Breeze’s unit count over the past five fiscal years:
2024: 44
2023: 43
2022: 43
2021: 43
2020: 42
Bahama Breeze, founded by Darden in 1996, is known for its Caribbean-inspired cuisine. Out of Darden’s 11 concepts, it ranks 10th in unit count. The only one smaller is The Capital Burger, which has four restaurants.
Darden groups Bahama Breeze in its “Other Business” segment, along with Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, Chuy’s, Seasons 52, and The Capital Burger. In Q3, these concepts saw same-store sales dropped 0.4 percent. Total sales increased from $561 million to $674.3 million and operating profit lifted from $83.7 million to $104 million year-over-year.
