Seasons 52

LongHorn's labor approach yields 6.7% comp rise, Darden says

By Peter Romeo on Dec. 19, 2019

The casual steak chain outperformed all of its sister operations, largely because of how it handled personnel, its parent company said. Olive Garden's comps rose 1.5%.

Financing

Darden tries a new remedy for Cheddar’s

By Peter Romeo on Sep. 19, 2019

After data revealed an unexpected marketing issue for the chain, management pulled back on advertising and started working on an adjusted plan.

Topics

10 summer LTOs winning with consumers

By Patricia Cobe on Jul. 17, 2019

Lure guests with limited-time offers that feature ingredients and flavors in sync with the season.

Operations

Olive Garden tries new off-premise moves

By Peter Romeo on Jun. 20, 2019

The Darden Restaurants holding is still a no-go on small-order delivery, but its catering program is moving within reach of couples.

Top 500 Chains

Seasons 52

May 03, 2019

Get Top 500 data: sales, units and YOY change, average unit volume, and company/franchise units, as well as Technomic’s analysis, growth forecast and more.

Financing

Why everybody isn’t posting numbers like Darden Restaurants’

By Peter Romeo on Mar. 25, 2019

The parent of Olive Garden and Capital Grille said its strong third quarter was the result of working a plan that’s long been in place. Here’s a refresher on some of the components.

Financing

Olive Garden backs off promotions, citing better industry conditions

By Peter Romeo on Dec. 18, 2018

The Italian chain posted a same-store sales increase of 3.5% for Q2, but Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen continued to underperform for the chains’ parent, Darden Restaurants.

Consumer Trends