A popular tropical-themed restaurant chain is about to disappear from another state as its parent company continues a major restructuring. Bahama Breeze’s final Georgia restaurant served its last customers as the location transforms into another restaurant concept.
Final Georgia location closing Saturday
The Bahama Breeze on Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw, Georgia, permanently closed after serving its final customers on Saturday, August. 29. The closure leaves Georgia without a single Bahama Breeze restaurant.
The Kennesaw restaurant was located at 755 Ernest W. Barrett Parkway NW. It was the last remaining Bahama Breeze in the state after the chain’s Duluth location closed in April.
Restaurant will become Cheddar’s
Unlike some Bahama Breeze locations that are being permanently shuttered, the Kennesaw restaurant will get a new life under another Darden Restaurants brand.
Darden plans to convert the building into a Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen. The company expects the conversion to take approximately three weeks, with the new restaurant currently scheduled to open September 23.
Darden has said it intends to support affected employees by placing as many as possible into positions elsewhere within its restaurant portfolio, although it has not disclosed how many Kennesaw employees will transfer.
Bahama Breeze is disappearing nationwide
The Georgia closure is part of a much larger decision by Darden to wind down the Bahama Breeze brand.
In February, Darden announced that it had evaluated strategic alternatives for the chain and determined that Bahama Breeze was no longer a strategic priority. At the time, all 28 remaining locations were slated for either closure or conversion.
Darden planned to permanently close 14 restaurants, while converting the other 14 to different Darden concepts.
The Kennesaw location is among those being converted rather than permanently abandoned. For Georgia customers, however, the closure marks the end of the Bahama Breeze brand in the state after years of serving Caribbean-inspired food and drinks.
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