Orlando-based Darden operates more than 1,500 restaurant and employs more than 150,000 people. The company opened a 6,280-square-foot, 240-seat LongHorn Steakhouse — the steakhouse chain’s third in the area — on Miller Lane in Vandalia, generating 80 to 100 new jobs.
Same-store sales for Olive Garden are expected to turn positive in August, improving by a projected 0.8 percent, after a 4.2 percent drop in July, Darden officials said.
Darden has launched what it calls the Olive Garden Brand Renaissance Plan and said it sees signs of progress, including improvement in guest-satisfaction scores across several categories in the first quarter; a 13 percent increase in Olive Garden’s take-out business during the first quarter compared to the first quarter last year, enabled by the company-wide roll-out of online ordering during this year’s first quarter; and testing of tablet technology in several restaurants, which has generated check growth, increased table turns, and an increase in tip percentage for servers.
Darden expects to release sales and earnings results for its fiscal first quarter on Sept. 12.
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