LongHorn will replace Bahama Breeze on Raleigh’s Wake Forest Road

LongHorn Steakhouse plans to replace the former Bahama Breeze at 3309 Wake Forest Road in Raleigh, and the old restaurant building will be torn down first. The plan was reported by the Triangle Business Journal on October 14, 2026, and the new LongHorn is expected to open in late 2027 or 2028.

The site is on Raleigh’s Wake Forest Road, near Interstate 440 and down the street from the North Hills Innovation District. It is not in the town of Wake Forest. Both restaurant brands belong to the same parent company, Darden Restaurants of Orlando, Florida.

What is planned at 3309 Wake Forest Road

WRAL’s Foodie News column on October 16, 2026, citing the Business Journal, said LongHorn is taking over the former Bahama Breeze and called LongHorn “another Darden chain.” Triangle Food Blog reported the same day that the restaurant would open in late 2027 or 2028 “after a complete tear down and rebuild.”

Neither report cites a City of Raleigh site plan or building permit for the project, and neither gives a size, cost or construction start date for the new building. As of October 29, 2026, the LongHorn is a planned project. It is not open and has no announced opening date.

How the Bahama Breeze closed

Darden announced on February 3, 2026, that it would end the Bahama Breeze brand after a review of its options. The chain had 28 restaurants at the time. Half were set to close for good, and the other half were to be turned into other Darden brands over the next 12 to 18 months, according to FOX 35 Orlando, which published the list of sites.

The Raleigh restaurant was on the closing list, not the conversion list. The only other Bahama Breeze in North Carolina, in Fayetteville, was one of the 14 restaurants picked for conversion. Darden said at the time that the conversion locations are “great sites that will benefit several of the brands in its portfolio,” WRAL reported.

The closing restaurants were expected to stay open through April 5, 2026. The Raleigh location shut down sooner. Radio station K97.5 reported on March 9, 2026, that the Wake Forest Road restaurant had closed on Sunday, March 8, about four weeks ahead of schedule.

The closures followed a smaller round in May 2025, when Bahama Breeze shut about one-third of its locations, WRAL reported.

Here is the sequence of events for the site, as reported:

• Darden announced on February 3, 2026, that it would close or convert every Bahama Breeze restaurant.
• The Raleigh Bahama Breeze closed on March 8, 2026, according to K97.5.
• Darden says it finished the closures on or about April 5, 2026.
• The Triangle Business Journal reported the LongHorn plan on October 14, 2026.
• The LongHorn is expected to open in late 2027 or 2028, after the old building is torn down and rebuilt.

Darden owns both brands

Darden’s annual report for the fiscal year that ended May 31, 2026, lists LongHorn Steakhouse and Bahama Breeze among the brands it owns and runs, along with Olive Garden, Yard House, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, The Capital Grille, Chuy’s, Seasons 52, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood and The Capital Burger. The company’s main office is at 1000 Darden Center Drive in Orlando.

The same report counts 618 company-run LongHorn restaurants and 21 franchised ones as of May 31, 2026, for a total of 639. It says Darden expects to convert the remaining Bahama Breeze restaurants to other Darden brands over 12 to 18 months, and that one conversion was done by the end of the fiscal year.

Darden already runs several restaurants in Raleigh under its other names, including The Capital Grille, Yard House and Chuy’s Tex-Mex.

Nearest LongHorn restaurants for Wake Forest-area diners

There is no LongHorn on Wake Forest Road today. Visit Raleigh, the Wake County visitors bureau, lists LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants at Brier Creek and in Apex:

• The Brier Creek LongHorn is at 8121 Brier Creek Parkway in Raleigh, and its phone is 919-484-7669.
• The Apex LongHorn is at 1411 Beaver Creek Commons Drive, and its phone is 919-303-4889.
• Visit Raleigh says the Brier Creek restaurant serves lunch and dinner.

In the town of Wake Forest, Outback Steakhouse runs a restaurant at 680 Richland Grove Avenue. Its phone is 919-435-3031.