Popular Steakhouse Is Closing 40 Locations Including Illinois

I think we should all be very careful not to be considered "under performing," because I've noticed that whenever I see those words, something is about to close its doors on a permanent basis. Remember when "under performing" was used over and over in describing Bed Bath & Beyond, and what happened to them? I thought so.

Based upon some recent activity, a popular nationwide steakhouse chain with 700 total locations across the United States and 15 in Illinois is doing some housecleaning and redesigning.

I don't want to give away the restaurant's name right off the bat, but crikey, I'd hate to see the Rockford location with a closed sign on the front door, mate.

Maybe It Was The Bloomin' Onion Photo That Gave It Away, Or It May Have Been Using The Word "Crikey," But Outback Steakhouse Is The Chain We're Talking About

Of course you know the place. Authentic Australian cuisine served up in a restaurant that was founded by actual Australians who scoured their homeland looking for just the right dishes to put on their menu, right?

Well...no, actually.

Back in 1988, this guy was the most famous actor in the world for a time:

And he invited all of us to come to Australia for this:

Which intrigued hospitality industry veterans Bob Basham, Chris T. Sullivan, Trudy Cooper, and Tim Gannon. They went on to found Outback Steakhouse on March 15th, 1988 in Tampa, Florida without every having set foot in Australia.

As they point out, the menu creations are inspired by Australia and have Aussie names, but they're not authentic recipes. They also serve Aussie beer and wines, and their decor is Aussie inspired, too.

Illinois Has 15 Outback Steakhouse Locations, But Up Until Very Recently, We Had 16

The Outback Steakhouse in Mount Prospect at Randhurst Village has permanently closed after almost nine years at that location, one of 40 Outback Steakhouses that have been marked for closure across the country.

This doesn't appear to be a Bed Bath & Beyond scenario at all. As a matter of fact, even though Bloomin' Brands, the company that owns Outback Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, and Fleming's are closing locations, they have plans to open new ones.

WFLA.com:

Bloomin’ said it closed the locations because of a “variety of factors,” including sales, shrinking customer traffic, and financial investments that were too costly to improve the locations. Plus, a “majority of these restaurants were older assets with leases from the ’90s and early 2000s,” according to Bloomin’ CEO David Deno.

Despite this and the company’s most recent round of closures, Bloomin’ Brands plans to open as many as 45 new restaurants in the US this year.