The sales of Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.-based restaurant operating firm Darden Restaurants soared in its fourth fiscal quarter of 2025, but its Fine Dining segment, which includes such chains as The Capital Grille and Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, took a hit in the period.
The company’s total sales in the quarter surged 10.6 percent year over year to USD 3.3 billion (EUR 2.9 billion), driven largely by a blended same-restaurant sales increase of 4.6 percent, as well as sales stemming from the acquisition of 103 Chuy's Tex Mex restaurants and 25 net new restaurants.
For its entire 2025 fiscal year, Darden’s sales increased 6 percent to USD 12.1 billion (EUR 10.5 billion).
Two of its chains, LongHorn Steakhouse and Olive Garden, performed especially well in the three-month period, but sales in its Fine Dining segment declined 3.3 percent.
Pacific Management Consulting Group Founder and CEO John Gordon told SeafoodSource that fine dining has struggled across the restaurant industry. He attributed some of the slowdown in the subsector to restaurants like The Capital Grille being typically located in urban centers that are still impacted by employees working from home on a hybrid basis after the Covid-19 pandemic...
