One of Outback Steakhouse’s biggest franchise operators filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 2, 2026, and Outback’s parent company is lined up to buy its 61 restaurants. Bloomin’ Brands signed a $26.3 million agreement to acquire them, according to Restaurant Dive.
The operator, Out West Restaurant Group, runs steakhouses across five Western states. The sale would move most of them back under the control of the chain that owns the Outback name.
What the bankruptcy filing says
Out West Restaurant Group and its parent, Cerca Trova Restaurant Group Holdings, filed for Chapter 11 protection on November 2, according to Restaurant Dive. The company is seeking to sell its 61 restaurants to Bloomin’ Brands.
Chapter 11 is a reorganization process. Under the federal courts’ explanation of the process, a business that files usually keeps operating while it works out a plan with creditors, and it may sell property with court approval. A freeze on most collection actions begins once the case is filed.
Nation’s Restaurant News reported that the franchisee is based in San Diego and was once known as T-Bird Restaurant Group. It was Outback parent Bloomin’ Brands’ first franchisee and began life in 1992, according to that report.
For diners, the news lands at a moment when chains of every size are fighting for traffic. Readers curious about how some of them got their start can browse a look at 12 fast-food chains from the 1950s, while anyone heading out for steak may like tips on steakhouse etiquette.
The $26.3 million deal with Bloomin’ Brands
Bloomin’ Brands, based in Tampa, Florida, signed what is known as a stalking-horse agreement. That means its bid sets the minimum price, and other buyers can come in with higher offers during the court process.
The $26.3 million price is reduced by whatever Out West owes on a financing facility. Bloomin’ is supplying up to $5.5 million of that financing to keep the restaurants running during the case. The company would also take on lease obligations and unredeemed gift card liabilities, according to the trade publication.
Bloomin’ described the bankruptcy as an “isolated incident” that will not affect its corporate operations or financing. The parent has its own corporate site with company news and investor information.
Where the 61 restaurants are
A closed neighborhood restaurant often leaves a gap in a local dining scene. An Ogden diner that served its last meal after 18 years is a recent example of how much a single closure can matter to regulars.
The restaurants sit in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, according to Fox Carolina’s coverage of the filing. The same report said 10 restaurants closed between October 11 and October 25, before the court filing.
The company once ran as many as 100 Outback locations, Nation’s Restaurant News reported. It also closed three restaurants earlier in the year, so the 61 now up for sale are what remains of a much larger network.
Anyone dining out on a budget has other options in the meantime, and a list of restaurant red flags and common dining-out blunders are handy reading. Diners in those states may notice little change at first. Chapter 11 cases typically leave doors open, and a buyer that owns the brand has a clear interest in keeping popular locations running. Closures that happen along the way are a separate matter, and reports so far do not list which individual restaurants might be affected next.
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Why the franchisee struggled
Nation’s Restaurant News laid out a long financial slide. The company had accumulated nearly $320 million in secured debt under a series of forbearance agreements, and its loans came due in April 2022 without being repaid. As of October 25, it reported $5.7 million in cash, expected to fall to $3.4 million by the filing date.
The report also said the company faced a $1.6 million wage-and-hour class action settlement approved in August, plus two other California wage-and-hour lawsuits. Revenue fell 35% during the pandemic, and the franchisee had tried and failed to sell itself four times since 2018.
Bloomin’ told the publication that the pandemic had fatally undermined the franchisee’s finances. Outback has also felt the squeeze on traffic: the company-owned restaurants saw same-store sales rise 1.4% in the quarter ended June 28, while traffic fell 2.8%, according to the same report.
What it means for Outback
Outback was founded on March 15, 1988, in Tampa by Bob Basham, Trudy Cooper, Chris T. Sullivan and Tim Gannon, according to Wikipedia’s Outback Steakhouse entry. Most locations are owned by Bloomin’ Brands, and the chain is known for its Australian-themed American menu and the Bloomin’ Onion, a deep-fried appetizer.
Restaurant Dive noted that Outback has about 115 franchised restaurants in the United States and about 544 company-owned ones, based on Bloomin’s latest quarterly filing. If the deal closes, Bloomin’ would take control of a majority of its franchised locations in the country.
The company said that owning the units would give it direct insight into operations and let it invest through its development initiatives, while limiting disruption for guests and employees. Details of the sale, including whether rival bidders emerge, will play out in bankruptcy court. Background on the parent company is available in Wikipedia’s Bloomin’ Brands entry.
For now, the picture is a company in court, a parent with a deal in hand and 61 restaurants waiting on the outcome. The first test will come when the bankruptcy court sets a schedule for competing bids, which would show whether another buyer wants the restaurants more than Bloomin’ does.
Reports so far do not say whether gift cards or regular hours will change while the case moves forward. Bloomin’ said it would assume the unredeemed gift card liabilities.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Alton – Public domain/Wikimedia Commons
