Outback Steakhouse shutters 21 sites, more closures coming

Bloomin’ Brands says Outback Steakhouse has closed 21 underperforming locations in 2025 and flagged 22 more where leases won’t be renewed. The company points to a broader turnaround—menu and execution changes—while reporting early improvements in brand trust a

The last time many diners visited Outback Steakhouse, it may have looked familiar—same name, same steakhouse promise—but the details didn’t always land. Service could feel uneven. Food quality could swing from visit to visit.

Outback Steakhouse is now trying to fix that reality the way major restaurant groups often do: by pulling back from sites that aren’t performing and putting money behind the ones that can.

Bloomin’ Brands. the parent company of Outback Steakhouse. said in its third-quarter 2025 earnings call that it completed a detailed review of its restaurant base and identified 21 underperforming restaurants. Those 21 restaurants were closed last week from that review’s results. and the company also identified 22 restaurants where it would not renew the lease.

Those closures weren’t all in one wave. The company said it closed the first 21 locations in 2025, with many of the remaining shutdowns taking place this year. Bloomin’ Brands CFO Eric Christel said most of those leases expire in the next 4 years. and the company’s goal is to focus resources on the remaining healthier restaurants.

For a brand built on repeat visits, the timing matters. Outback Steakhouse has been struggling in recent years with its menu. its execution. and keeping customers coming back—problems that Bloomin’ Brands has tied to the need for an overhaul of most of the chain rather than just a short-term adjustment.

Roland Ornelas. Panda Restaurant Group Chief Supply Chain Officer. put the underlying restaurant logic bluntly when he described the industry’s need for constant reinvention. “The lifeblood of the restaurant industry is new items. You need something to speak about. ” he told Restaurant Dive. adding. “You have to really focus on that value to guests — but you also have to steal customers from your competitors.”.

Outback’s overhaul is meant to address not just what it serves, but how it shows up in the dining room. The chain’s overhaul includes a renewed focus on the menu, offering customers value, and improving execution, according to comments during the company’s most recent Q1 earnings call.

The company’s leadership has also described a broader reset. CEO Michael Spanos said Outback’s strategy is based on 4 strategic platforms: “one. deliver a remarkable dine-in experience; two. drive brand relevancy; three. reignite a culture of ownership and fun; [and] four. invest in our restaurants. ” during Bloomin’ Brands Q4 earnings call.

Then came the early signal that the changes are beginning to take hold. Spanos said Outback’s guest metric scores increased year over year for the third consecutive quarter. In Q1 of this year compared to Q1 of last year, Spanos reported that brand trust increased by 4 points. He also said guest scores increased across service by 6 points. value by 5 points. atmosphere by 5 points. food by 4 points. and intent to return by 4 points.

The numbers show improvement, but not full recovery. Outback’s first-quarter earnings release reported a 0.3% drop in comparable sales. The company framed that decline as an improvement over the 0.6% drop in Q4 and the 0.5% loss in same-store sales for all of 2025.

That gap—better scores, still soft sales—sits inside a tougher consumer environment. Casual dining chains like Outback are facing pressure as Americans handle cost increases elsewhere in their budgets and become more selective about where and how they dine out. The Motley Fool’s Matthew Benjamin wrote.

The consequences show up in the competitive landscape. The comments cited from Restaurant Business say Outback Steakhouse has lost share to steakhouse competitors such as Texas Roadhouse and LongHorn Steakhouse. which have been among the best performers in casual dining in recent years. It also says Outback has had a particularly hard time attracting customers with household incomes below $100. 000. and that Outback’s leadership believes value is a major reason for that struggle.

Add to that the wider market pressure on the sector. Bloomin’ Brands shared Black Box Intelligence data in a report used for Restaurant Dive that said 9% of full-service restaurants are at risk for closure this year. with shuttering of casual dining chains continuing to outpace openings. The report also said the segment has seen more than a 3% drop in net unit growth since 2022.

Black Box Intelligence vice president of insights and knowledge Victor Fernandez said in a statement, “In an environment where cumulative inflation has driven costs up by nearly a third since 2019, it is virtually impossible for a unit to remain viable after losing 30% or more of its peak sales.”

S&P Global also sees a significant challenge for Outback to return to growth. The company says Bloomin’ expectations show flat revenue and declining system-wide sales. with meaningful drops in operating income. linked to ongoing traffic softness and international exposure challenges that the company highlighted in recent earnings.

Even with turnaround efforts producing measurable gains in how guests rate the brand, the closures signal how quickly the market is rewarding execution—and how unforgiving it can be for restaurants that aren’t meeting expectations.

For Outback Steakhouse, the story now is not just about what changes inside the dining room. It’s also about what stays open.

Outback Steakhouse Bloomin' Brands Eric Christel Michael Spanos restaurant closures underperforming restaurants comparable sales brand trust casual dining turnaround lease renewals