ORLANDO, FL - Darden Restaurants is investing $40 million to remodel Olive Garden locations across the United States in a push to give Olive Garden a fresh, new look capable of attracting a younger generation of diners. When all is said and done, 75 of Olive Garden's 800 nationwide locations will feature this major upgrade to its dining area, bar, and counter-tops. In addition, Olive Garden will be unveiling a new logo for its restaurants and a new set of menu selections to go with it. Altogether Darden hopes the changes will lend a sense of newness to a franchise that has gone a long time without a remodel.

"Quite frankly, we let the brand go too long without [a] major update,” Jay Spenchian, Darden's Executive Vice President of Marketing told the Orlando Sentinel. “We don't like to brag, but our restaurants still offer tremendous value, and this is going to refresh that and bring in new customers. We are already thrilled with the reaction we're seeing."

Considering that Olive Garden sales will make up 60% of Darden's total sales numbers now that it is finalizing it's $2.1 billion sale of Red Lobster, Darden badly needs a good return on its investment in order to avoid financial troubles in the future. 

"Darden's success is really dependent on Olive Garden's success,'' said Mark Kalinowski, an analyst for Janney Montgomery Scott. "They needed to do something. The concept of Olive Garden is behind the times. It still offers good value, but it's getting lost in the changing market.''

The new Olive Garden menu will have 20 new items for customers to choose from, including low calorie items and cheaper, under $10 choices for the modern consumer who is increasingly more health and budget focused than ever before. It will also be hopping on-board the growing list of restaurants offering an online takeout option for customers to take advantage of.

So far the returns look promising. Darden President Gene Lee noted increased sales numbers after the Fort Walton Beach Olive Garden was remodeled, according to the Orlando Sentinel. With only two of the remodels completed however, Olive Garden still has plenty of work to do before anyone will be able to get a sense on how successful the overall plan was.

In the mean time you can count on AndNowUKnow to keep you informed of any updates to this story as they occur.  

Darden Restaurants