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Olive Garden Owner Darden Restaurants Warns on 3rd Quarter (Red Lobster, Longhorn Steakhouse)
AOL Daily Finance / The Associated Press ^ | February 22, 2013

Posted on 02/23/2013 2:05:43 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Darden Restaurants (DRI), struggling to draw more customers into its Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants, said Friday that its third-quarter profit could fall below Wall Street's expectations and cut its outlook for the year.

The Orlando, Fla.-based chain has tried to revamp menus and marketing for its flagship chains. But revenue at Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse locations open at least one year is expected to fall 4.5 percent in the quarter ending Feb. 24, indicating those efforts have yet to pay off...

(Excerpt) Read more at dailyfinance.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Food
KEYWORDS: dardenrestaurants; economy; florida; food; longhornsteakhouse; olivegarden; recession; redlobster; restaurants
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To: COBOL2Java

>>Maybe Obama will show up at a Red Lobster on Monday and relate this to the Sequester.<<

I’ll have the Sequester Thermidore...


21 posted on 02/23/2013 2:41:40 PM PST by freedumb2003 (I learned everything I needed to know about racism from Colin Powell)
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To: bicyclerepair

I never eat pasta at a restaurant, so I quit Olive Garden loooong ago. These days, we frequent local places that AREN’T chain restaurants. Try a restaurant off of the beaten path, you may find a real gem!


22 posted on 02/23/2013 2:42:27 PM PST by Marie Antoinette (:)
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To: jonrick46

The GOP had better wake up.
*********
Too late for that IMO. The GOP is a pathetic, spineless bunch of appeasers and not the answer to our national problems. They wouldn’t even have the House if not for the Tea Party, whom they promptly shoved aside upon gaining a majority. I’m done with the GOP.


23 posted on 02/23/2013 2:44:11 PM PST by Starboard
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To: Peter W. Kessler

I’ll 2nd Texas Roadhouse. They catered a work lunch one day and I became hooked.


24 posted on 02/23/2013 2:47:42 PM PST by matt04
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Last time the family was in Olive Garden, my daughter ordered her favorite dish. And as soon as she got it, she knew she'd love it -- because she loves it when my wife buys it from Costco. No, seriously, her $20 dinner was from the frozen foods section of Costco. OG thawed it out and heated it up.

Classic.

25 posted on 02/23/2013 2:47:54 PM PST by Tanniker Smith (Rome didn't fall in a day, either.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Below average food, poor service and they are in bed with Moooshell’s menu augmentations. They won’t be seeing my business.


26 posted on 02/23/2013 2:48:19 PM PST by ConservativeInPA (Molon Labe - Shall not be questioned)
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To: Peter W. Kessler
Re: "I much prefer Texas Roadhouse. Great food,..."

... And even greater if you remove your hearing aid.

27 posted on 02/23/2013 2:52:32 PM PST by Cribb (Home of Conservatism - America's middle class.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Shouldn’t he worry about the first quarter??


28 posted on 02/23/2013 2:55:03 PM PST by omega4179 ( Huelo azufre)
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To: Peter W. Kessler

The OGs and Longhorns around Columbia SC have always been very good


29 posted on 02/23/2013 2:56:08 PM PST by wally_bert (There are no winners in a game of losers. I'm Tommy Joyce, welcome to the Oriental Lounge.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

We hardly ever eat out these days. Can’t afford it.

And if we did eat out, we’d go to a local restaurant, not a chain.

I would imagine that these days fewer and fewer people can afford it.


30 posted on 02/23/2013 2:58:37 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America

And according to Nancy Pelosi we need more people on unemployment to spur the economy.


31 posted on 02/23/2013 3:06:27 PM PST by mc5cents
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To: mnehring
O’s economy is now even hurting the cheap, family type restaurants like Olive Garden. Not just the high end places. Next thing will be McD’s and BK.

Not to worry. Soon only Taco Bell will be open...


32 posted on 02/23/2013 3:10:32 PM PST by raybbr (People who still support Obama are either a Marxist or a moron.)
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To: omega4179

Olive Garden has posted disappointing sales several quarters in a row now.

I guess nobody wants to wait 45 minutes to eat frozen, microwaved food at empty restaurants anymore.


33 posted on 02/23/2013 3:30:41 PM PST by erlayman
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
One of the ridiculous gothic (NY thing)diners by me has a huge sign stretching across his parking lot which reads “all dinners half price”. People have cut their eating out-BIG TIME!
34 posted on 02/23/2013 3:34:48 PM PST by TalBlack (Evil doesn't have a day job.)
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To: erlayman

Well, around the N. Virginia area, you can’t get near any restaurants from Friday night on ....tables and tables of folks, big parties, long waiting lines. Nope — everything is really cooking around here.

We used to go out at least weekly ...now it’s an every three or four month occasion.


35 posted on 02/23/2013 3:35:23 PM PST by LibsRJerks
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To: Ouderkirk

It’s doubtful you’re missing much given the prep methods in use. Microwaves, bain maries, steamers, etc. They’ve got the cheek to ladle things out of 5 gallon buckets or zap them in a microwave and charge a fortune for them.

Sysco does a roaring trade in foodservice product sales but it has homogenized the menus and the customers’ palates. Restaurant A’s appetizers are the same at Restaurant B and so forth.

Last but not least is the service as you mention. Too many chiefs and not enough braves. Today’s youth lack the personality, manners and education to carry on an adult conversation so everything is a canned spiel from the greeting to the order taking and beyond. Management would call it training and quality control; I call it false, obvious and insulting. If I have to eat a restaurant I try to sit and order/eat at the bar...the bartenders are usually older (21 so they can pour drinks) and never far away so refills and follow-up are prompt. Contrast this with a teenager waitress/waiter who disappears for long stretches. Ever drive round the back of an Outback or an Olive Garden? There you will find multitudes of front-of-house types taking yet another smoke break. Wonder if they bother washing their hands upon returning?


36 posted on 02/23/2013 3:38:14 PM PST by relictele
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To: Tanniker Smith

Yep - it’s the Sysco effect.


37 posted on 02/23/2013 3:39:21 PM PST by relictele
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To: raybbr

You want some BIG A** FRIES with that?

38 posted on 02/23/2013 3:45:50 PM PST by freedumb2003 (I learned everything I needed to know about racism from Colin Powell)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Olive Garden = Good

Red Lobster = Dread Lobster/Dead Lobster = Pure crap with the exception of cheese rolls.

Longhorn = OLD MEAT. Dirty. Nasty.


39 posted on 02/23/2013 3:47:07 PM PST by My Favorite Headache (In a world where I feel so small, I can't stop thinking big.)
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To: trisham

Yeah, the CEO was a big Obama supporter in 2008. I wonder if he still supports King Barry now?


40 posted on 02/23/2013 3:52:50 PM PST by Timber Rattler (Just say NO! to RINOS and the GOP-E)
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