Darden Closes, Converts Bahama Breeze Locations, Displacing Hundreds of Workers

At 2417 Potomac Mills Circle in Woodbridge, Virginia, 62 restaurant workers clocked out for the last time on April 5 as Darden Restaurants permanently closed the location. Thirteen other markets faced the same outcome simultaneously as Darden executed the first major phase of its Bahama Breeze wind-down, shuttering a 30-year-old brand that had already shed 15 locations in May 2025.

The Orlando-based restaurant group permanently closed 14 Bahama Breeze Island Grille locations on April 5, with 14 more sites slated for conversion to other Darden brands over the next 12 to 18 months. Darden announced the plan in February following a strategic review, and cited sustained performance pressure: Bahama Breeze's same-store sales had dropped nearly 8 percent in 2024.

The Jacksonville location alone affected 75 jobs. Florida's WARN Act filings for 2026 list Bahama Breeze as the state's top filer, with notices tracking thousands of affected workers. Across the 14 permanently closed sites, most of those displaced were cooks, servers, bartenders, and hosts whose weekly take-home depended directly on the chain's tip structure and service volume.

Darden stated that "the primary focus will continue to be on supporting team members, including placing as many as possible in roles within the Darden portfolio." The outcomes, by market, have been uneven. Megan Robinson, Darden's Human Resources Director, noted in the Virginia WARN filing that the 62 Woodbridge layoffs are permanent but that transfer opportunities to other Darden locations are being offered. In other markets, workers were not offered an internal landing spot.

The 14 conversion sites, 10 of which are in Florida, introduce a distinct layer of uncertainty for workers who remain. Darden has not disclosed which brands will replace those units, and CEO Rick Cardenas pushed back on analyst speculation that Olive Garden would be the default replacement, noting the two chains already overlap in many of the same trade areas. Conversions require temporary closures for build-out, creating a gap in hours before the new concept opens. When it does, station assignments, prep work, staffing ratios, and tip-pooling arrangements may all look different from what Bahama Breeze workers knew.

Employees at permanently closed sites who were not offered transfers should file for unemployment promptly and pull pay stubs to verify final check accuracy. WARN Act notices filed in Virginia, New Jersey, Florida, and other states set timelines that affect both unemployment eligibility and any legal claims tied to the adequacy of layoff notice.

The closures also release a concentrated pool of experienced casual-dining workers into local markets at once. In Jacksonville and Woodbridge alone, more than 130 workers with line, bar, and floor experience are now available, a real staffing opportunity for nearby operators already running shorthanded heading into spring.