Darden Restaurant Sales Grow Despite Fine Dining Pullback

Darden Restaurants’ sales climbed this quarter despite diners shying away from its fine-dining establishments.The company, owner of chains such as Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, released earnings Thursday (Dec. 19) that showed total sales increasing 6% to $2.9 billion.While sales were up 7.5% at LongHorn and 2% for Olive Garden, sales for the company’s fine dining restaurants — Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood and The Capital Grille — fell by nearly 6% for the quarter.CEO Rick Carden ...