{"id":142979,"date":"2026-02-04T05:28:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T05:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/142979\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T05:28:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T05:28:22","slug":"bahama-breeze-restaurants-in-florida-are-closing-permanently-company-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/142979\/","title":{"rendered":"Bahama Breeze restaurants in Florida are closing permanently, company says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Fans of Bahama Breeze restaurants are being met with unwanted news this week, as the company behind the chain announced that all locations will soon be shut down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/investor.darden.com\/news\/news-details\/2026\/Darden-Restaurants-Completes-Exploration-of-Strategic-Alternatives-for-Bahama-Breeze\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/investor.darden.com\/news\/news-details\/2026\/Darden-Restaurants-Completes-Exploration-of-Strategic-Alternatives-for-Bahama-Breeze\/default.aspx\">In a release<\/a>, company officials said that the chain, which is made up of 28 locations, is \u201cno longer a strategic priority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">As such, half of those locations will be permanently closed, and the other half will be converted into another Darden brand, officials explained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Per the release, the 14 locations that are set to close are expected to keep operating through April 5. Meanwhile, the remaining locations will be converted over the next 12-18 months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">[BELOW: Publix is no longer Florida\u2019s top grocer]<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThey are expected to continue to operate until any temporary closures are needed for the conversion,\u201d the release reads. \u201cAt this time, the company is not disclosing the specific Darden brands into which these locations will be converted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The list of locations set to be closed or converted is as follows:<\/p>\n<p>CLOSING LOCATIONSCONVERSION LOCATIONS500 Center Blvd., Newark, DE499 E. Altamonte Drive, Altamonte Springs, FL3590 Breckenridge Blvd., Duluth, GA805 Brandon Town Center Drive, Brandon, FL12395 SW 88th Street, Miami, FL14701 S. Tamiami Trail, Ft. Myers, FL10205 Rivercoast Drive, Jacksonville, FL8160 Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy., Kissimmee, FL1251 West Osceola Pkwy., Kissimmee, FL25830 Sierra Center Blvd., Lutz, FL11000 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines, FL5620 W. Oak Ridge Road, Orlando, FL1540 Rinehart Road, Sanford, FL8849 International Drive, Orlando, FL19600 Haggerty Road, Livonia, MI8735 Vineland Ave., Orlando, FL2000 Route 38, Cherry Hill, NJ1200 N. Alafaya Drive, Orlando, FL3309 Wake Forest Drive, Raleigh, NC3045 N. Rocky Point Drive East, Tampa, FL320 Goddard Blvd., King of Prussia, PA755 Earnest W Barrett Pkwy. NW, Kennesaw, GA6100 Robinson Center Drive, Pittsburgh, PA570 Cross Creek Mall, Fayetteville, NC2714 Potomac Mills Circle, Woodbridge, VA7811 Rivers Ave., Charleston, SC15700 Southcenter Pkwy., Tukwila, WA4554 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach, VA<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThe company believes the conversion locations are great sites that will benefit several of the brands in its portfolio,\u201d the release concludes. \u201cGoing forward, the primary focus will continue to be on supporting team members, including placing as many as possible in roles within the Darden portfolio.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Darden\u2019s portfolio of brands includes many popular chains nationwide, including Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House, Ruth\u2019s Chris Steak House, Cheddar\u2019s Scratch Kitchen, The Capital Grille, Chuy\u2019s, Seasons 52, and Eddie V\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>Breaking News Alerts<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 kiwhtN\">Get breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Fans of Bahama Breeze restaurants are being met with unwanted news this week, as the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142980,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[4131,558,28,575,116,1975,123,1335,139,141,140,1976,2647,1014,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-142979","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-altamonte-springs","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-food","12":"tag-jacksonville","13":"tag-kissimmee","14":"tag-miami","15":"tag-orange-county","16":"tag-orlando","17":"tag-orlando-headlines","18":"tag-orlando-news","19":"tag-osceola-county","20":"tag-sanford","21":"tag-seminole-county","22":"tag-tampa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}