Darden Plans Up to 60 New Restaurants in 2023

Restaurant operator Darden (Orlando) said it plans to open 55-60 new locales during its fiscal 2023. The company – which operates locales under nine different brands, including Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and Capital Grill – made that disclosure in its latest earnings release.

Darden did not specify which of its brands would grow by how much. The restaurateur did say its capital spending for the year would total $525-$575 million.

Most of Darden’s recent growth has been in its Olive Garden, Longhorn and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen flags. In all, the company operates 1887 restaurants.

As for its most recent quarter, Darden said total sales increased 9.4 percent to $2.49 billion driven by a blended same-restaurant sales increase of 7.3 percent and sales from 35 net new restaurants Reported diluted net earnings per share increased 2.7 percent, to $1.52

“I am pleased with our results this quarter,” says Darden President and CEO Rick Cardenas. “All of our brands performed at a high level by remaining focused on our ‘Back-to-Basics Operating Philosophy’ anchored in food, service and atmosphere. I am proud of the focus and commitment our teams continue to display. Their disciplined approach in executing our strategy is what enables us to succeed, evidenced by the fact that, just last week, we surpassed $10 billion in sales on a trailing 52-week basis for the first time in Darden’s history.”