Outback to Close More Locations
In 2026 & 2027

| published September 16, 2026 |

By Thursday Review staff

Outback Steakhouse, which is owned by Bloomin’ Brands, will close more locations in 2026 as part of its long turnaround business plan. Outback closed at least 20 locations in 2025, and may close as many as 20 more before the end of next year, according to several business news sources.

The iconic steakhouse has faced significant struggles with a declining customer base in recent years, but the challenges facing the restaurant now include a sharp increase in many of its most popular menu items, notably beef, which has seen a nearly 10% increase in price in 2026. Making matters worse: the U.S. trade war with Canada, which has further fueled rising costs, including the cost of Canadian meat products.

Outback says it is only closing those restaurants not able to perform profitably, which was part of the company’s long term strategy. Aside from the closures in 2025, the company chose to not renew leases on at 22 other locations, indicating Bloomin’ Brands intention to close additional restaurants over the next 12-to-24 months.

Some of the most recent closures came in August, including the shutdown of the Staten Island, New York location of Outback on August 10, and the August 23 closure of the Caspar/Evansville location. In early October it will close the doors of its Boston Street location in Baltimore. All of these locations had been operating for decades.

On September 14, Bloomin’ Brands closed the Outback restaurant on Milan Road (U.S. 250) near Sandusky, Ohio. That closure came without warning, and left scores of employees without a job. Reporters for the Sandusky Register told readers that their messages to Bloomin’ Brands went unanswered that day.

In some locations, the shutdowns come as no surprise. Restaurant worker wages have risen dramatically in the post-Covid19 era, even as the cost of many of the food items has risen sharply. Those restaurants which show underperformance are obviously as risk. The war with Iran has also wrought an increase in oil prices, and one of the multiplier effects of those increases is a higher cost to process and transport food and supplies to restaurants.

In 2025, Outback closed roughly 20 locations, including two locations in Birmingham, Alabama, one in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a mall location in Silver Spring, Maryland, and one in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, which had been open for more than 35 years.

The Bloomin’ Brands overall portfolio still appears sturdy however: the parent company operates more than 650 Outback locations in North America, as well as its sister restaurants, Bonefish Grill, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine.

Bloomin’ Brands is based in Tampa, Florida, and the company employs approximately 85,000 people worldwide.



Related Thursday Review articles:

7-Eleven to Close 640 Stores; By Thursday Review staff; April 15, 2026.

Whole Foods Opens New Stores in Florida; By R. Alan Clanton, Thursday Review editor; May 21, 2026.