Darden Restaurants has completed its comprehensive evaluation of strategic alternatives for its Bahama Breeze brand, concluding that the 28-unit Caribbean-themed chain no longer aligns with its long-term growth priorities. The review, which began in late 2025, considered options including a full sale of the brand and targeted conversions of select locations into other Darden concepts.

The company will permanently close 14 underperforming Bahama Breeze restaurants, representing 50% of the brand’s footprint. The remaining 14 locations will be converted into other Darden portfolio brands over the next 12 to 18 months. While Darden has not disclosed the specific concepts for conversion, management emphasized that these sites represent attractive real estate opportunities for high-performing concepts such as Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and Yard House.

All 14 closing restaurants will continue operating through April 5, 2026, to minimize guest disruption. Temporary closures for conversion work will be staggered to maintain overall capacity. Darden plans to retain as many affected team members as possible by placing them into roles across its nine national brands, leveraging its standardized training programs and centralized recruiting infrastructure.

Darden projects that these actions will not materially affect its overall financial performance, as the company expects comparable restaurant sales growth and margin expansion from the redeployed sites. The chain has reaffirmed its target of opening 65 to 70 net new restaurants in fiscal 2026, signaling confidence in its core concepts’ unit economics and site selection strategy.