Olive Garden’s troubles are a rare case of indigestion for Darden and the firm’s boss, Clarence Otis Jr. Since Otis took the helm in late 2004, Darden has revived its other big eatery, Red Lobster; bought other chains (LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille and, this fall, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood and Wildfish Seafood Grille); gotten rave reviews for its niche outlet, the healthy-food-centric Seasons 52; and, most important for investors, nearly doubled its stock price. The firm now has more than 1,900 restaurants. “Darden is just very consistent on the whole,” says Lynne Collier, restaurant analyst at Sterne Agee.
Consistent until it tried to tinker with Olive Garden, home of unlimited salad and breadsticks (the chain serves 9 million breadsticks a week). The Gorgonzola dish, along with some other menu moves, had performed well during test marketing, but many bombed once they were rolled out nationwide. Otis concedes that the Italian eatery got too “adventurous.”