Bahama Breeze faces uncertain future after closing 15 restaurants in May

The Caribbean inspired restaurant chain closed 15 of their restaurants in May across several key destinations in the US.

Written by Amara Campbell

Published On 2025-06-30 18:28:36

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Bahama Breeze

Bahama Breeze, the US based Caribbean themed restaurant chain, known for providing authentic island atmosphere in its dining is at the crossroads after parent company Darden Restaurants announced that it is exploring strategic alternatives, including the potential sale or rebranding of the franchise.

President and CEO Ricardo Cardenas of Darden said this during a earnings call on June 20, highlighting that the company will no longer prioritize Bahama Breeze in its long-term brand strategy.

“We have made the difficult decision that these remaining locations and the Bahama Breeze brand are not a strategic priority for us,” said Cardenas. “We also believe that this brand and these restaurants have the potential to benefit from a new owner.”

This was also confirmed by a spokesperson of Bahama Breeze to ABC news, which is a renowned media outlet based in US. Cardenas, said that Darden will no longer invest in Bahama Breeze, and emphasized that the brand may get better growth with a new ownership.

“We think that they have a lot of growth potential with another owner,” he said. “We were not going to be putting a lot of investment into Bahama Breeze. And so to give those team members and those managers growth opportunities, it's better for them to be under a different ownership.”

The restaurant chain was launched in 1996 by Darden Restaurants and the parent company also owns Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and the Capital Grille. The restaurant chain offered diners a unique taste of the signature tropical foods of the Caribbean including Jerk Chicken, Coconut Shrimp, guava barbeque ribs and classic desserts like key lime pie.

This news notably follows the shutdown of 15 restaurants spanning across several different US states on May 15 including cities like Las Vegas, Memphis and others which has significant Caribbean diaspora population. The closed destinations include;