Darden Restaurants is shutting down the last Bahama Breeze in Georgia and converting the Kennesaw location into a Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, part of a broader plan to eliminate all 28 of the Caribbean-themed restaurants.
The Kennesaw Bahama Breeze closes its doors Saturday, and conversion work begins September 23. Darden, the parent company behind Olive Garden, Cheddar's, and the now-doomed Bahama Breeze brand, has not confirmed when the new Cheddar's will open or how many displaced employees have accepted transfers to other Darden restaurants.
The closure marks the end of Bahama Breeze's presence in Georgia entirely. It is one piece of a company-wide wind-down that Darden announced earlier this year, when the restaurant giant revealed plans to scrap every one of Bahama Breeze's 28 locations and convert roughly half into other Darden-owned formats.
Darden has already shuttered 14 Bahama Breeze restaurants in nine states: Delaware, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Washington. The remaining locations face conversion over the next 12 to 18 months, The Sun reported.
Florida will absorb the heaviest share of conversions. Darden has confirmed plans for locations in Altamonte Springs, Brandon, Fort Myers, Kissimmee, Lutz, Tampa, and four sites in Orlando, 10 Florida locations in all. Additional confirmed conversion sites include Fayetteville, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; and Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Not every converted location will become a Cheddar's. Darden previously announced that a Bahama Breeze in Fayetteville, North Carolina, would be replaced by Chuy's Tex-Mex Grill, another Darden brand. A separate Florida Bahama Breeze was also slated for Cheddar's conversion. Which remaining locations get which brand has not been disclosed.
Darden has not said how many Bahama Breeze workers have taken transfers to other company restaurants. For employees at the Kennesaw location, the Saturday closure leaves little runway, and no public confirmation from corporate about what comes next for them individually.
The company has also declined to provide a confirmed opening date for the new Kennesaw Cheddar's, offering only the September 23 conversion start date. With the 12-to-18-month conversion window Darden has outlined for the broader rollout, customers in the area could face a long wait before a new restaurant opens in the same space.
When a corporate parent decides a brand has run its course, the spreadsheet math may work out fine in the boardroom. The people who cooked the food and served the drinks are the ones who get to find out last what happens next.
