Darden Restaurants, Inc., owns and operates over 1,390 fast casual restaurants including; Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, Smokey Bones, and Seasons 52. Darden recently reported same-restaurant sales results for the four-week October fiscal month ended October 30, 2005. This period is the second month of Darden's fiscal 2006 second quarter.
Sales at the fast casual restuarant Olive Garden increased 8% to 9% for October, which reflected a 6% to 7% increase in guest counts and an approximate 2% increase in check average. The increase in check average was mainly due to a 2% increase in pricing. Sales for the fast casual restaurant Red Lobser increased 2% to 3% primarily due to a slight increase in guest counts and also a minor increase in check average, again due to pricing.
