ORLANDO, FL - Now having closed its $780 million deal to purchase Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants is pulling the chain into the fold. This includes shifting its Irving, Texas, headquarters to Orlando, Florida. The question of when, however, still remains.

“While there is no timeline in place, eventually Cheddar’s will be headquartered in Orlando,” said Darden Senior Director Rich Jeffers in an e-mail, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “For Cheddar’s to benefit from our scale, and the rest of our competitive advantages, we will need to consolidate many of the support functions.”

As we reported previously when the acquisition was announced, Cheddar's President and CEO Ian Baines expressed excitement for the leverage the buyout would bring the company, commenting that Darden's expertise will enable his team to further capitalize on its growth potential.

Jeffers also noted that Darden CEO Gene Lee said that the ability for Cheddar’s to leverage Darden’s scale is one of the key aspects of the deal.

Baines himself is both a former Central Florida resident and former Darden executive, according to the report, and will remain President of Cheddar's post-acquisition.

Lee told investors after the announcement that departments like human resources would be among the first consolidated, of which there are less than 100 corporate support jobs at the Irvine location currently.

Cheddar’s operates 165 locations across 28 states, priding itself on making fresh, made-from-scratch dishes with quality, natural ingredients.

AndNowUKnow will continue to keep you up to date on this and other moves in foodservice and beyond.

Darden Restaurants