Outback Steakhouse Closures List: What's Closed, What Stays Open After Its Largest Franchisee's Bankruptcy

Outback Steakhouse’s biggest U.S. franchisee is in bankruptcy court, and diners across the West want to know whether their local Outback is next. The short answer from the filings so far: the closures already happened, and the remaining restaurants run by the franchisee are expected to stay open while the case plays out.

Out West Restaurant Group, operating as Cerca Trova Restaurant Group Holdings and four affiliates, filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, SanDiegoVille reported. Outback’s parent company, Bloomin’ Brands, has agreed to buy its 61 remaining restaurants.

Which Outback locations closed?

According to a summary of the court filings reported by Nacionale, Out West closed 10 restaurants between Oct. 11 and Oct. 25. It has asked the court to let it reject those leases, saying the sites lost money or did not earn enough to cover occupancy costs. Cities named among those closures include:

• Arizona: Tucson and Mesa
• Colorado: Colorado Springs, Highlands Ranch and Aurora
• Nevada: Reno (Virginia Street)

The other October closures, including any in California, have not been fully identified in the reporting we reviewed, so this is not a complete street-by-street list.

Out West had already closed three California restaurants earlier in 2026: Brea and Pittsburg in March and Westminster in June, according to the same filing summary. SanDiegoVille put the total closed earlier in the year at 13.

Is my Outback closing?

For most diners, probably not because of this case.

• Out West restaurants (California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico): All 61 remaining restaurants are expected to keep operating during the bankruptcy, employees will keep getting paid and gift cards remain valid, according to a declaration from CEO David Goronkin cited by SanDiegoVille.
• Everywhere else: Most Outbacks are not run by Out West. Restaurant Dive, citing Bloomin’s latest 10-Q, counts about 544 company-owned U.S. Outbacks and about 115 franchised ones.

In San Diego County, SanDiegoVille listed six Out West restaurants: Clairemont, Mission Valley, Poway, National City, El Cajon and San Marcos. None was among the 13 closed earlier in the year.

Bloomin’ Brands’ $26.3 million deal

Outback has entered a $26.3 million “stalking horse” agreement to buy the 61 restaurants and “substantially all” of Out West’s other assets, Restaurant Dive reported, citing a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A stalking horse bid is an opening offer that sets a floor for a court-supervised auction, so other buyers could still try to top it, and the court must approve any sale.

Bloomin’ also agreed to provide up to $5.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing, with a matching cut to the purchase price. The company said buying the restaurants “gives [Bloomin’] direct operational insight” and lets it “mitigate disruption to guests and employees.” It called the bankruptcy an “isolated incident” that will not affect corporate operations, MLive reported, citing Nation’s Restaurant News.

Restaurant Dive noted the deal could leave Bloomin’ directly controlling a majority of Outback’s U.S. franchised locations.

Why the franchisee went bankrupt

Goronkin’s sworn declaration, as reported by SanDiegoVille, describes years of financial strain:

• About $319.9 million in secured debt, mainly owed to lenders led by Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group
• Loans that matured in April 2022 without being repaid
• Accrued interest and fees that grew from about $11 million to more than $170 million
• Guest traffic down 2.7% to 3.6% a year over the previous four years, despite menu price increases
• Rising food and labor costs, especially in California, where about 54% of its roughly 3,669 employees work

“By 2026, the pressures on the business had converged,” Goronkin wrote.

Earlier Outback closures

Older closure lists still circulate online. Those mostly refer to a separate round in October 2025, when Bloomin’ closed underperforming company-owned Outbacks in several states as part of a turnaround plan, MLive and Restaurant Dive reported. Since then, Restaurant Dive says, the chain has invested in steak quality and ended a streak of same-store sales declines.

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