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 ...
I like Olive Garden.
0dungo-nation at work.
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.
Used to go to those three somewhat often. Can’t afford the Burger King dollar menu these days.
I used to go to all three on occasion and have stopped because the service is poor. Food arrives lukewarm...never hot.
Just wait until the impact of all the tax increases filters through the economy. What little growth there was in the private sector is going to dry up like the prairie in August. Decisions have consequences. The decision of the GOP to cave into Obama is going to have dire ones.
Wait until the “deathstar” of ObamaCare fully hits these businesses.
Nothing at all to do with the federal theft of our wages. Fatzilla forced all of us to cough up more of our limited income to feed its insatiable maw, but fatzilla can’t reduce it’s belt notch a lousy 1% without incessant hysteria and claims of wolf-at-the-door. Those people and their constant cries of wolf make me absolutely sick. And it’s the same stinking behavior from every local school district, town, village, city, county, and state government. Why can’t they just man-up and make do with what they extort from us?
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Federal civilian employees are getting a PAY RAISE for goodness sakes!!
When gas is $3.98 per gallon, it leave a lot less to eat out on.
I have not set foot in one of these places since they pulled their ads from Glenn Beck on Fox.
Maybe the Dems desired massive hike in minimum wage will help! /s
We like Longhorn. But, as retirees, we cannot afford it much.
There are great Olive Gardens, and AWFUL Olive Gardens. Consistency through the chain is not their strong point.
I ate at a Longhorn years ago. It was awful.
I much prefer Texas Roadhouse. Great food, well prepared, great service, and consistency - every TR I’ve patronized has been splendid.
Just my two cents...
IIRC, the CEO of Longhorn Steakhouse, Clarence Otis Jr., has donated thousands of dollars to democrats.
Well, I have another suggestion for them: try serving something called “good food”.
Oh, their commercials always make their food look oh so tempting an luscious.....til you actually go into one and see what’s dumped onto your plate.
I’ve eaten in all three of those chains. I could have just chewed on the menu and gotten the same satisfaction. Horrid.
Well, I have another suggestion for them: try serving something called “good food”.
Oh, their commercials always make their food look oh so tempting and luscious.....til you actually go into one and see what’s dumped onto your plate.
I’ve eaten in all three of those chains. I could have just chewed on the menu and gotten the same satisfaction. Horrid.
>>Maybe Obama will show up at a Red Lobster on Monday and relate this to the Sequester.<<
I’ll have the Sequester Thermidore...
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!
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.
I’ll 2nd Texas Roadhouse. They catered a work lunch one day and I became hooked.
Classic.
Below average food, poor service and they are in bed with Moooshell’s menu augmentations. They won’t be seeing my business.
... And even greater if you remove your hearing aid.
Shouldn’t he worry about the first quarter??
The OGs and Longhorns around Columbia SC have always been very good
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.
And according to Nancy Pelosi we need more people on unemployment to spur the economy.
Not to worry. Soon only Taco Bell will be open...
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.
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.
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?
Yep - it’s the Sysco effect.
You want some BIG A** FRIES with that?
Olive Garden = Good
Red Lobster = Dread Lobster/Dead Lobster = Pure crap with the exception of cheese rolls.
Longhorn = OLD MEAT. Dirty. Nasty.
Yeah, the CEO was a big Obama supporter in 2008. I wonder if he still supports King Barry now?
With the family (kids are 7 & 5) so can’t go to the bar.
The service in all of the “chains” are abysmal. I no longer go to them...ever.
I have found much better at locally owned/operated restaurants where the owner is in the house every night and comes to every table.
When I travel on business I ask the folks I am working with where to eat.
That’s a good question. I believe that he was a supporter of Michelle’s push to change school lunches in Obama’s first term, but it’s difficult to say how he feels now. I will say that if Obama decides that it behooves him to “save” Darden Restaurants, he will do so, by any means necessary.
Wasn’t Darden up Obummer’s bum? If I recall, they were big proponents of his & they’re large corporate donors of Planned Parenthood.
Looks like their chickens are coming home to roost. No sympathy here.
The last time I went to Olive Garden my food was steaming hot on the outside and frozen solid on the inside. I didn’t want to send it back because I don’t like bodily fluids in my food. That was over 10 years ago and I haven’t been back since.
We like both Olive Garden and Red Lobster. We’ve noticed that the quality of food has been declining at many restaurants lately. However, OG and RL have been consistently good without raising prices. Maybe they are paying the price for that now?
How did you even get served? Last two times I tried to eat at Olive Garden I didn’t get served. First time at least we got drinks. I think 20-30 minutes for a server to come to the table is too long to wait. I don’t know how long it was going to take but I know how long I was willing to give them a chance.
Red Lobster? Gag me with a spoon. Expensive food with absolutely no atmosphere. Well unless you call screaming kids atmosphere.
If Longhorn is anything like those two restaurants then that is on my no dine list also.
Interesting. I haven’t eaten at a Texas Roadhouse in years. I thought the food sucked and was way overpriced. About a month ago I ate at a Longhorn in Texarkana and the food was great. I went to an Olive Garden on Veteran’s Day. The food was good but their salad is the best.
“That’s a good question. I believe that he was a supporter of Michelle’s push to change school lunches in Obama’s first term, but it’s difficult to say how he feels now.”
More than that - I believe that Olive Garden changed their menu to “align” with Michelle’s wishes. I’ve eaten there once, it was Never Ending Pasta Bowl, and I didn’t notice a difference (still never-ending salad and bread sticks too). But I suspect that a lot of people were put off. I know I won’t go there anymore, except for that special, which is like once a year.
I don’t know where this is supposedly happening. In the Dayton Oh area there is almost always a wait for a table at all of these restaurants, even on a Monday evening.
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