Darden Restaurants, Inc. is a restaurant operator that owns and runs a variety of different restaurants that are found throughout the United States. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, Darden has more that 2,100 restaurants across the country and employs well over 200,000 employees. This fact alone makes Darden the largest full-service restaurant company in the entire world. This Fortune 500 company is extremely successful and sees billions of dollars in revenue each year. We are going to take a look at some of their most famous brands that they own.
5. Bahama Breeze
First up on our list is the popular restaurant chain Bahama Breeze. These restaurants first started popping up in 1996 and have been providing Americans with a variety of popularized Caribbean influenced dishes, drinks, and island themed atmosphere. Drawing from Latin and Caribbean influences, Bahama Breeze serves up seafood, steaks, and chicken with exotic island flavors. Right now they have 37 locations located all across America.
4. Seasons 52
Seasons 52 is a upper-scale grill and wine bar that serves patrons a variety of different dishes that are always changing based on the seasons. The atmosphere at Seasons 52 is more sophisticated as there are private dining rooms and a piano lounge providing guests with live music every night, for example. Seasons 52 also takes nutrition and health into consideration as all items are supposedly “under 475 calories”. With 42 different locations across the United States and over 100 different bottles of wine on the menu, Seasons 52 is extremely popular.
3. The Capital Grille
The Capital Grille is a more well-known Darden brand and its known for its high quality fine-dining. The first Capital Grille opened up in 1990 in Rhode Island, and has been providing patrons with great tasting food ever since. Known for its great steaks, quality seafood, and an exceptional award-winning wine list The Capital Grill was named one of the top 50 American restaurants by Open Table. Having around 48 locations across the country, The Capital Grille is sure to leave you satisfied.
2. LongHorn Steak House
LongHorn Steak House is, no surprise, a steak house who has been serving its customers with choice cuts of meat since 1981. Founded in Atlanta, LongHorn Steak House provides patrons with a Texas and western atmosphere while serving up some great steaks and other grilled meats. Only serving fresh food, LongHorn Steak House is a very popular Darden brand and has over 435 different locations in the United States, Puerto Rico, and even Saudi Arabia.
1. Olive Garden
Easily the most popular and most well known restaurant brand that Darden owns, Olive Garden provides patrons with a variety of Italian and Italian inspired dishes. Originally founded in 1982 in Orlando, Olive Garden has grown exponentially since then. They currently have over 800 locations worldwide and account for 45% on generated sales by Darden, making them the most popular on our list.
Photo by Justin Sullivan
