Restaurant chain closing all NC locations, including in Raleigh. When to visit
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- Darden announced permanent closure of 14 Bahama Breezes, including Raleigh’s location.
- Fourteen Bahama Breeze restaurants will convert to other Darden brands.
- Closing sites will operate through Sunday, April 5.
A Caribbean-themed restaurant chain is closing all of its locations, including two in North Carolina.
Bahama Breeze, which has restaurants in Raleigh and Fayetteville, will cease to exist within the next 18 months.
Parent company Darden, which also operates many popular chains including Olive Garden, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Chuy’s and Seasons 52, announced in a Tuesday, Feb. 3 news release that it was permanently closing 14 Bahama Breeze restaurants. The remaining 14 will be converted into another Darden brand, the company said.
“The company believes the conversion locations are great sites that will benefit several of the brands in its portfolio,” Darden said in a news release. “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.”
Raleigh’s Bahama Breeze, located on Wake Forest Road near Interstate 440, is among the locations that will permanently close. The Fayetteville restaurant will be converted into another Darden brand.
Darden did not announce which restaurant the Fayetteville location, or any of the other 13 slated for conversion, would become.
Restaurants including the Raleigh location, which are closing permanently, are expected to continue to operate through Sunday, April 5, Darden said in the news release. The other 14 are expected to be converted within the next 12-18 months.
Bahama Breeze ‘not a strategic priority’
Bahama Breeze has been struggling in recent years. There were 43 company-owned Bahama Breeze restaurants as of May 2024 and 28 as of May 2025.
CEO Ricardo Cardenas said in a June 2025 earnings call that even after shuttering 15 underperforming Bahama Breeze restaurants, the company “made the difficult decision that these remaining locations and the Bahama Breeze brand are not a strategic priority for us.”
Cardenas said the company would be considering a potential sale of the brand or converting Bahama Breeze locations to other Darden restaurants.
This story was originally published February 4, 2026 at 1:08 PM with the headline "Restaurant chain closing all NC locations, including in Raleigh. When to visit."
