Darden Restaurants closed 18 restaurants this month, including 15 units of its Bahama Breeze Island Grille concept.
Darden, which owns Olive Garden and nine other full-service brands, said it closed the underperforming locations as part of a continued evaluation of all of its restaurants.
The Bahama Breeze closures were in eight states, and five of the shuttered restaurants were in Darden’s home state of Florida. They leave Bahama Breeze with about 30 locations.
“Closing a restaurant is a difficult choice because it impacts our team members and guests,” a Darden spokesperson said in an email. “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.”
Bahama Breeze was created by Darden in 1996 and specializes in Caribbean-style seafood. It struggled last year, with systemwide sales down 7.7% according to Technomic data.
Also this month, Darden closed two Seasons 52 locations, in Kansas City and Sacramento, and an Eddie V’s in Boston.
The company said it would work to relocate as many employees as possible to other Darden locations.
Orlando-based Darden has been one of the most consistently successful restaurant companies for years, and it rarely closes locations in bulk. But it has been a difficult period for full-service operators as inflation saps consumers’ restaurant spending. Sales at Olive Garden, the second-largest casual-dining chain in the U.S., rose just 0.8% last year.
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