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Tag: Restaurant chains

  • Bahama Breeze to close all locations: Full list

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    Darden Restaurants—owners of the Caribbean-inspired casual dining chain, Bahama Breeze—has confirmed in a press announcement on February 3, that, following a strategic review, it will be closing all 28 Bahama Breeze restaurant locations. 

    Darden confirmed that 14 locations will permanently close by April 5, 2026, while the remaining 14 restaurants will be converted into other, higher-performing brands in its portfolio—which include Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, and Yard House—-over the next 12 to 18 months. The press release states that Darden expects to “continue to operate until any temporary closures are needed for the conversion.”

    Bahama Breeze Locations Permanently Closing in 2026

    Darden Restaurants says it will permanently shutter 14 Bahama Breeze locations across nine states by April 2026, according to the company’s press release. 

    The closures include:

    • Newark, in Delaware  
    • Duluth in Georgia
    • Miami, Jacksonville, Kissimmee (the restaurant located on West Osceola Parkway), Pembroke Pines, and Sanford in Florida
    • Livonia, Michigan 
    • Cherry Hill, in New Jersey 
    • Raleigh, in North Carolina
    • King of Prussia and Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania 
    • Woodbridge, in Virginia 
    • Tukwila, in Washington

    Darden said that it plans to help all Bahama Breeze staff members who will be affected by these closures, confirming in its press release that, “going forward, the primary focus will continue to be on supporting team members, including placing as many as possible in roles within the Darden portfolio,” which—alongside Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, and Yard House—include Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, The Capital Grille, Chuy’s, Seasons 52, and Eddie V’s.

    Bahama Breeze Locations To Be Converted by 2027

    Darden plans to convert 14 Bahama Breeze locations into other Darden brands—though it has not yet disclosed which brands will replace each site—with the conversions expected to be completed within 18 months, extending into 2027. 

    The locations slated for conversion include:

    • Altamonte Springs, Brandon, Fort Myers, Kissimmee (the location on Bronson Memorial Highway), Lutz, all four locations in Orlando, and Tampa, in Florida 
    • Kennesaw, in Georgia
    • Fayetteville, in North Carolina 
    • Charleston, in South Carolina
    • Virginia Beach, in Virginia 

    Why Is Darden Closing Bahama Breeze Locations

    Darden’s decision to wind down its 28-unit Caribbean-themed casual-dining brand—known for its tropical flavors, cocktails, and  island‑themed atmosphere—comes after it previously announced that “the Bahama Breeze brand, and its 28 locations, were no longer a strategic priority and that it would consider strategic alternatives.”

    According to reporting from Restaurant Business, Bahama Breeze had seen a 7.7 percent decline in sales in 2024. Darden had shuttered 15 locations in May 2025. 

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  • Subway CEO Just Assumed Cold Cut Combo Started Covid

    Subway CEO Just Assumed Cold Cut Combo Started Covid

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    MILFORD, CT—With new genetic evidence tying Covid-19 to animals sold at a wet market in Wuhan, China, Subway CEO John Chidsey confirmed Friday that he had just assumed this whole time that the virus originated with the restaurant chain’s Cold Cut Combo. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but I was 99% sure Covid-19 made the jump to humans from one of our classic Cold Cut Combo sandwiches,” said Chidsey, adding that it wouldn’t have been the first time a global pandemic spread from one of the franchise’s menu offerings, nor would it be the last. “Between the three types of lukewarm, sweaty cold cuts; the translucent, decomposing vegetables; and the bulk, room-temperature mayonnaise we pile on that thing, I wouldn’t be surprised if it took out 3 million people in one day, let alone over the course of several years. In fact, I’m still not convinced it didn’t—that’s not too far off our annual number of rancid ham-related deaths. Nothing is cooked inside a Subway, and we are still not allowed to classify our bread as food, so you do the math. Most of this meat is just sitting outside the back door in a garbage bag—we don’t even order it, and when we do order it, it’s purchased loose from the back of some guy’s truck that’s always parked in the sun. So I can’t say whether or not an infected raccoon dog or bat or whatever made it into one of our sandwiches or was, God forbid, exposed to one, but either way, I presumed this whole thing was either our fault or Quiznos’.” At press time, Chidsey had reportedly used the public exoneration as an opportunity to relaunch Subway’s discontinued H1N1 Chicken Club from 2009.

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