Olive Garden Sales Improve In Third Quarter, Boosting Darden Earnings

March 23 (Reuters) - Darden Restaurants Inc's Olive Garden chain, which generates almost half of company revenue, posted its first rise in quarterly same-restaurant sales in more than a year, lifting the restaurant operator's quarterly profit.

Earnings at the Orlando, Florida-based company that also operates the Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse chains were $164.1 million, or $1.25 per share, from continuing operations, for the third quarter ended Feb. 26, up from $151.2 million, or $1.08 a share, a year earlier.

Sales at Olive Garden restaurants open at least 16 months were up 2 percent during the third quarter.

Comments

[Patient Zero]

10:18 AM on 03/27/2012

dear god, why would you eat at this place?

[Lily P]

02:31 PM on 03/26/2012

I remember when they were somewhat 'decent'. The breadsticks were crispy with butter and garlic. Now they are like cardboard. The pasta fagoli soup was my favorite, it had huge chunks of sausage in it. Not anymore. The salad dressing actually has 20 grams of fat per serving, which is 2 teaspoons. Just so you know. I cook better than this place. Heck my cooking is like Gordon ramsay compared to this place. And everyone's right, everything is pre packaged and heated up. Why spend your hard earned $ on nothing?

[MajorKong]

09:31 PM on 03/25/2012

Might as well just eat a frozen dinner - since that's basically what you're getting.

[Wanda Glass]

11:20 AM on 03/25/2012

I'm going to say this about Olive Garden, although I think their food is really uninspired chain restaurant fare; I worked as a cook for them when I was in college and they were by far, the cleanest run kitchens I ever worked in. (alas, tuition had me working in way too many restaurants....)

[Doug Hendrickson]

03:41 PM on 03/25/2012

I'd have to agree with you on that. Only worked at one that was top to bottom cleaner, and that one doesn't count since I was part of the crew on opening night in a new building.

Their entrees are remarkably bland and lifeless on occasion, but I've always enjoyed the soup, salad and breadsticks lunch!

[cyoohoos]

06:25 PM on 03/26/2012

Fanned for the soup salad and breadsticks

[mjr91]

07:26 PM on 03/24/2012

No doubt the upturn is due to its positive review in the Grand Forks Herald.

[Christine Casabar]

02:22 PM on 03/24/2012

It's not a matter of "good" - as long as it's cheap and consists of carbs & cheese, people will eat it. To maintain the brand standard, all the food is assembled, bagged and shipped to individual restaurants. Not appetizing.

[Karl Wilder]

01:42 PM on 03/24/2012

Shows that much of America either likes bad food or has not been exposed to good food.

[Sinned39]

12:47 PM on 03/27/2012

...Or can't afford to spend $150 - $300 on a meal prepared by a celebrity chef.

[Karl Wilder]

01:02 PM on 03/27/2012

One does not need a celebrity chef to avoid garbage like the Olive Garden, one can cook at home, one can seek out a small bistro (assuming one is in a place with small businesses), one can cook a meal with a friend. No matter how poor there is no good reason for one to eat at this place.

[NGFatSquirrel]

11:18 AM on 03/24/2012

I have never liked Olive Garden, but I always go because my family insists the food is great. I've given this restaurant plenty of opportunity to amaze me in the taste department - they haven't. This is the best example of a faux Italian restaurant. I can do better Italian cooking at home to be honest, and I'm not even Italian. Maybe it's because I've been to Italy before and had REAL Italian regional cuisine. Could be.

However, the salad bowl ALWAYS disappoints. They throw on so much dressing my tongue goes numb from the heavy vinaigrette, the bread sticks are crap...the soup is horrid. The pasta is the only passable dish in this place, and they don't cater well to food allergies. I've had more problems with cross-contamination at this restaurant, which shouldn't happen. My eggplant parmesan should not have mixed with any shellfish, but yet somehow, Olive Garden makes it happen.

Last time I went, I was pregnant and they started to push the wine on me. I had to explain several times I'm pregnant and I won't even 'take a taste'. Management apologized, but I was still pissed.

I hope this place gets better, I really do. It might make evenings out with extended family members more bearable if I could at least eat the food without gagging.

[fifi lahkay]

12:48 PM on 03/24/2012

I'm not a pizza fanatic, but they still managed to make the worst pizza I've ever tasted. Most of their product tastes like it comes from a jar.

[Ricardo Joseph Pistone]

07:56 AM on 05/17/2012

Crap food I agree horible Italian food

[RedDog79]

03:07 PM on 03/24/2012

you know, if you just tell them you don't want any wine - they won't push it on you. but then again - it sounds like you prefer to exaggerate.

[Dr Gachet]

02:15 AM on 03/24/2012

The OG is a dark and terrible place. I'm no food snob, but how much crumby Italian can people put up with before we all join hands across America? I'd rather get an 8 dollar slice at Sbarro.

[mjr91]

07:28 PM on 03/24/2012

Oddly, the one thing OG is not is dark. Most of them are pretty brightly lit.

[clearthinker16]

12:10 AM on 03/24/2012

I have not been to any of then in quite some time. I do like the salads at Olive Garden ans Red Lobster along with the alfredo dishes at both. It just has been a tough time for me, so I cook at home