Dozens Of Outback Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill And Carrabba’s Restaurants Are Closing

If you’re a fan of Bloomin’ Onions and Bang Bang Shrimp, listen up.

Dozens of Outback Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill, Carrabba’s Italian Grill and Fleming’s Steakhouse locations will be closing soon.

Bloomin’ Brands, the parent company for those chains, announced last week that it plans to close 43 “underperforming restaurants” around the country. That represents a small fraction of the more than 1,500 restaurants they own in 48 states and 20 countries.

There’s no official word yet on which specific restaurants will close, but journalists around the country have been writing about chain locations that closed abruptly, including:

• Two Bonefish Grill locations and a Carrabba’s restaurant in Connecticut closed over President’s Day weekend.
• The Outback Steakhouse in Westborough, Massachusetts also, closed over the weekend.
• The Carrabba’s location in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, closed Feb. 15.
• A Carrabba’s location in Columbia, South Carolina, closed Feb. 15.
• A Carrabba’s restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina, closed Feb. 15.
• A Bonefish Grill, three Carrabba’s and an Outback Steakhouse recently closed in New Jersey.
• An Outback Steakhouse in Rochester Hills, Michigan, closed over President’s Day weekend.

A company spokeswoman said customers with Bonefish Grill gift cards can call guest relations at 866-880-2226 or email customerservice@bonefishgrill.com to exchange it for a gift card that can be used at any other existing Bloomin’ Brands restaurant. The spokeswoman did note that the company would “consider each request on a case-by-case basis.”

Though she was talking about Bonefish Grill specifically, it seems likely that the company would offer the same deal if your gift card was for another recently closed restaurant in Bloomin’ Brands family.

On a happier note, the company also recently announced that some of its restaurants will start offering delivery service sometime this spring.  Soon, you’ll be able to order spaghetti and other tasty dishes from 115 Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba’s Italian Grill locations. Company leaders say they’re experimenting with in-house delivery services and third-party services (think Grubhub and Yelp Eat24).

The Florida-based company is also planning to expand internationally and hopes to open 40 or 50 new restaurants abroad this year.

All these changes are an attempt by the company to rebound after a year of declining sales in 2016, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal.