Olive Garden’s parent company Darden has announced the company will be massively expanding its restaurant empire this year.
During an earnings call last week, Darden CFO Raj Vennam shared that the company plans to open 65 new restaurants across the country.
Of the 65 openings being planned for the 2026 fiscal year (May 2025 to May 2026), 18 are set to be Olive Gardens.
Other restaurants that fall under the Darden umbrella include The Capital Grille, Yard House Ruth’s, Chris Steak House, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, Chuy’s, and LongHorn Steakhouse — which will also have 18 new locations.
Darden currently has 2,100 locations across all its restaurants, and the company has already opened 22 new spots in the first quarter (when accounting for closures).
Darden’s total sales rose 10.4 percent to $3 billion compared to last year, boosted by a 4.7 percent increase in same-restaurant sales, its purchase of 103 Chuy’s locations, and 22 new restaurant openings.
‘We had a strong start to the fiscal year with same-restaurant sales and earnings growth that exceeded our expectations,’ Darden CEO Rick Cardenas said in a statement.
‘The strength of our results is a testament to the power of our strategy. Across our portfolio, our restaurant teams remained focused on being brilliant with the basics and, at the Darden level, we continued to leverage our four competitive advantages to position our brands for long-term success.’
Olive Garden’s parent company, Darden, has announced that it will open 65 new restaurant locations in the 2026 fiscal year
Olive Garden is known for its bottomless breadsticks, classic Italian-American cuisine, and family-friendly dining
Last year, Olive Garden was dethroned as the top US restaurant after a seven-year reign.
The Italian-inspired chain — known for its never-ending breadsticks and pasta-heavy menu — slipped to second place in 2024 based on total US revenue.
Founded in Orlando, Florida in 1982, Olive Garden has grown steadily to be a favorite for family meals. It had held the top spot since 2018.
But last year, a resurgent Texas Roadhouse took the revenue crown for the first time, marking a shift in consumer appetite.
The steakhouse chain brought in $5.5 billion across its nearly 650 US locations, a 15 percent jump from the previous year.
It also opened 26 new restaurants in 2024 to help feed its growing customer base.
Olive Garden, meanwhile, still had a strong year, pulling in $5.2 billion from just under 1,000 restaurants and adding 15 new locations.
The $5.2 billion was a smaller number than anticipated. Olive Garden recorded an 8.8 percent growth in sales going into 2024.
Of the 65 new locations that Darden plans to open this year, 18 of them will be Olive Garden restaurants
Olive Garden last month reintroduced one of its famous promotions — the fan-favorite ‘Never Ending Pasta Bowl’.
The all-you-can-eat pasta offer will once again start at $13.99, holding steady despite restaurant prices climbing sharply over the past four years.
Menu prices across the US have risen about 30 percent since 2020, according to the National Restaurant Association.
Industry experts say Olive Garden can afford to keep the promotion cheap because pasta is inexpensive to make and filling, while customers rarely eat more than a few bowls.
Meanwhile, over the past year and a half, several iconic brands have filed for bankruptcy, including TGI Fridays, Red Lobster, Hooters, Bertucci’s, and On The Border.
Even some of Darden’s brands are underwater.
Back in May, Darden-owned Bahama Breeze abruptly shut 15 restaurants after suffering a sharp decline in earnings.
The struggling restaurant chain shuttered a third of its locations in Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Tennessee.
The closures came after Bahama Breeze suffered a 7.7 percent sales slump last year. With these shutdowns, only 29 restaurants remain open in the US.
