Bahama Breeze Island Grill, commonly called Bahama Breeze, was founded in 1996 by the Darden Restaurant Group. The company specializes in a chain of casual restaurants that offer Caribbean-style cuisine and fruity cocktails. There are currently 40 locations in 16 states in the US.
The company offers the usual burgers and fries, but its specialty is Caribbean-styled foods such as chicken and fried plantains, a variety of seafood platters, and empanadas. Most locations offer happy hour and live entertainment, usually on the weekends.
Bahama Breeze was involved in a racial discrimination lawsuit in 2009 after employees at the Beachwood, Ohio, location, claimed managers harassed black employees. In an out-of-court settlement, the company agreed to update its anti-discrimination policy, provide diversity training to its managers, and paid the plaintiffs $1.26 million.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic of 2020-2022, Darden Restaurants continues to open new locations.
Bahama Breeze Island Grill
Bahama Breeze Island Grill, commonly called Bahama Breeze, was founded in 1996 by the Darden Restaurant Group. The company specializes in a chain of casual restaurants that offer Caribbean-style cuisine and fruity cocktails. There are currently 40 locations in 16 states in the US.
History
The company offers the usual burgers and fries, but its specialty is Caribbean-styled foods such as chicken and fried plantains, a variety of seafood platters, and empanadas. Most locations offer happy hour and live entertainment, usually on the weekends.
Bahama Breeze was involved in a racial discrimination lawsuit in 2009 after employees at the Beachwood, Ohio, location, claimed managers harassed black employees. In an out-of-court settlement, the company agreed to update its anti-discrimination policy, provide diversity training to its managers, and paid the plaintiffs $1.26 million.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic of 2020-2022, Darden Restaurants continues to open new locations.
I came to the Bahama Breeze location in Memphis,TN on Friday February 17th I was greeted by a well done up lady, a young lady with red hair and a boy with blonde hair. I must say the greeting was nice compared to my other visits. I requested a table for 4 was told it would be a 5-10 minute wait ok no problem I knew we would have a bit of a wait based off the parking lot being packed. As my friends and I are standing close to the host area due to the couches for waiting being full I hear the young boy with blonde hair say why is this stupid s*ut a*s b**ch still standing in my face to a fellow coworker, I guess he believes because he was turned to the side we wouldn’t hear him we did, and was mortified I wanted to say something in the moment but I’m so non confrontational I didn’t, honestly I was in shock. I think you all should consider who works for you especially since they’re responsible for welcoming guest in and setting the tone. We were then told by that same host our table was ready and he told another host I’m assuming what table we were going to. She walked us there and was very pleasant, and friendly she informed us of the host arriving shortly and for us to enjoy, I wish we could’ve really enjoyed the way we were anticipating but the male host kind of shocked us to the point were we didn’t know what to expect next, however our server was nice and friendly also very attentive. I say all of this to say get rid of the bad apple(s) they don’t poison the kind and friendly staff members you do have.
I am writing today to let you know about my dining experience last month (June) at Bahama Breeze in Memphis, TN. Let me begin by saying that I am NOT a complainer and I have thought long and hard about writing this email. If I were part of this company, I would want to know how my restaurant was being run.
I received a gift card for the Darden restaurants and originally thought about going to your steakhouse. I was bringing my two teenagers and my husband with me. My husband actually suggested Bahama Breeze because our teens had never been there. We made reservations and dined on a Sunday. We were greeted politely and the wait for a table was brief.
Upon meeting the waitress, we placed our drink order. I ordered the ultimate strawberry daiquiri. I was told that they were out of the strawberry mix for this drink. I asked the waitress to suggest another drink, and she did. We ordered the empanada appetizer.
When ordering food, my daughter tried to order a chicken and shrimp dish. She was told that they were out of chicken.
The restaurant barely had any customers. Our waitress was waiting on our table and ONE other table. We had to ask for drink refills twice. We had to flag her down for the drink refills. She had friends sitting at the one other table she was serving, and she spent way too much time standing and talking to them. To say that our table was neglected is an understatement. She laughed and talked with her friends and did not bother to see if my table needed anything. We were highly discouraged.
Our appetizer NEVER came out. She was no where to be found to ask about the appetizer. We decided to give up, hoping our dinner order would arrive soon. Upon delivery of food, we received three meals, but my daughter’s meal did not arrive. The waitress said it was taking longer.
The meal finally came. The majority of our food was a BIG disappointment. I ordered the shrimp tacos. The shrimp was overdone and the taco was LOADED with slaw (and one piece of shrimp cut in half).
When receiving the bill, of course we had been charged with the appetizer that we never received. 🙁
I flagged down the waitress again and told her that it was on our bill. She took the receipt to make the correction, but did not even apologize when she returned. My husband was furious that she did not even have the courtesy to say… Oh, I’m so sorry.
Needless to say, we will NOT be returning to Bahama Breeze. It makes me sad to see how this restaurant has gone down hill. Everyone I have spoken with about my experience has had the same opinion of the restaurant… terrible food, terrible service. I am afraid that it will be just a matter of time before the doors have to be closed forever.
Again, I am not a complainer, but corporate executives need to know what is happening in their Memphis location. They would be shocked!
My husband and I went to Bahama Breeze in woodbridge NJ this evening and it was the absolute worst service we have ever had. It was not busy and it looked like about 15-20 people working between servers, hostesses and runners. We were seated for 15 mins and no server came over. We had to stop a server and ask them to help us. He was nice enough even though we were not in his section. We ordered drinks and apps. Once the food arrived we didn’t have silverware napkins or anything. We asked a server walking by who looked annoyed that we asked for something. There was a server sitting and talking with her friends at a table. The hostesses and other servers were standing at the host stand on their phones and the table next to us still had dirty glasses that sat there the entire time we were there. Everyone looked like they couldn’t be bothered and didn’t want to help anyone. My husband and I ate our apps but refused to order anything else because we were so disgusted. We paid our bill and left. That was the last time we will ever eat there. I would rather eat somewhere else where the staff is friendly and helpful.
I am sadden by the treatment of my Sorority sister in Cleveland this was one of my favorite spots to take friends and eat. I will not return to this or any of Darden restaurants until this is addressed. This is so sad that this restaurant was named after a Black Country and we cant eat and without being harassed. I have sent this to all my contacts and ask that they do the same.
Charlenia Rutland-Persons
My family took me Bahama Breeze at the Cordova TN restaurant for my ‘birthday dinner:” I ordered the Steak Oscar. The steak was so tough I could hardly cut it, or chew it. The steak had not been marinaded and the flavor not good at all. I was only able to eat 2 pieces and had to leave the rest. I would have complained while at the restaurant, but our server did not stop by our table. It was such a disappointment – I had looked forward to this for a couple of days, only to have this substandard steak. I very seldom critique a restaurant, but this was let down.
I was dining at your Bahama Breeze Troy, Michigan location on 2/14/17 with a couple of my girlfriends. There was a family of 6, 4 women/1 man/1 child. Not only were they extremely loud and obnoxious but also started using very foul language. I brought it up to the server who couldn’t do anything so we asked to speak to the manager. The manager said that it tends to be loud in there anyways and some people have different dining experiences. So nothing could be done and it completely ruined our lunch. The language was extremely vulgar and I do not feel that this acceptable public behavior! I frequent your restaurant quite a bit but not quite sure I will be back. I feel like your staff should have said something to them but they didn’t seem to care. Is that your policy to allow that kind of behavior? It seems like their dining experience was more important than mine and quite a few other guests.
Just returned to UK from 2 week vacation in Florida. Visited the Kissimmee restaurant and had great meal and service. Manager asked me to fill out survey…..I tried…..gave great answers and the reply was that I had a disappointing time. Is your computer NUTS. Also trying to contact you thru your web page from UK is impossible…..wrong zip code error keeps appearing.