Darden International

Congratulations Olive Garden KSA Family for 2nd opening Abha City #Skyvillage #olivegatden #KSA #Abha #Darden Erwin Arceño

I am most pleased to announce that today, 4/29/2024 at 11:00am; LongHorn, Plaza Las America’s officially opened its doors to our guests! This restaurant was supported by our amazing partners GCG, Brenda Martinez, Pedro Morales, Mildred Rivers, and two coaches from Darden. I wish to emphasize that we would not of been able to execute this Restaurant Opening without the leadership Brenda Martinez! Thank you once again for all your organization, support, and leadership. We are truly lucky to have you in our ranks and represent our brands Brenda! Thanks to our partners at GCG for the leadership they have in place, a beautiful restaurant, and hiring successfully. The Managing Partner Jose A. Nieves Pagan is truly one of the best operators I have ever had the pleasure to work with. Along with the experienced, passionate, and knowledgeable managers he has at his side, I am certain this will be a very successful operation.

Thanks to our amazing partners at Big Steaks; we are happy to announce our doors at Raleigh, Ruth’s Chris are open once more.

An in-market immersion and competitive analysis are critical steps to new market entry. This provides a better understanding of cultural dining norms, palate, ingredients and habits of Guests in a new market. This exercise informs possible adaptions needed to effectively reach and engage Guests while ensuring we deliver the core essence of brand. Additionally, this “boots on the ground” approach strengthens our partnership with Franchisees. Would you like to bring one of our iconic brands to your international market? Click the link below for details: https://lnkd.in/e4R7eFJR Cheers from Mumbai and New Delhi! See you on the next flight.

Mahalo Team Union Mack! This week the Darden International Support Team visited our Franchise Teams in Honolulu, Hawaii. Great food, Teams and outcomes. Truly impressive results, from a truly impressive Team. We’re cooking up some exciting news on the island in the coming year. More to come. Until the next flight, aloha!

There is no substitute for hands-on in-restaurant training. Jeronimo and Fernando from Wow! Restaurants Brasil spent this week, cooking, connecting, learning and EATING Olive Garden, in Kissimmee, Florida. Great thanks to the Trainers, Team Members and Managers that helped bring this to life for our International Teams. This experience not only allows our International Teams make and taste foods. It helps to define the culture we build in our Teams, that delivers results. We can import food and translate recipes, but explaining how to build and maintain an award winning culture, that is much harder to do from a training manual. Thank you Team OG West Kissimmee for being a gold standard example of an incredible Team culture! Bravo!

Shukran Team Olive Garden Jeddah for your passion for Hospitaliano! This week the Darden International Support Team went to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to meet with our franchise partners the Boudl Group. We reviewed food quality (it was outstanding), practiced making Alfredo sauce and worked on developing new recipes for Ramadan. Great thanks to Mohamed Elaraby and his Team for their dedication to delivering the brand with excellence and making everyone feel like family. See you on the next flight, cheers! #whenyourehereyourefamily #olivegarden #franchise #internationalfranchise

Oh Canada… The Darden International Support Team spent this week in Calgary, Alberta, Canada! Great thanks to Tim Collins, and Team, for their genuine hospitality and passion for Ruth's Chris Steak House. The Calgary Ruth’s Chris’ Team are true professionals! An absolute must visit. Additionally, we had the opportunity to visit our Canadian Olive Garden GMs, to understand how we can improve our support and review local sourcing. We started the day with a cooking exercise, that allowed us to review local sourcing and practice core recipes with Restaurant Leaders. The OG Calgary Team was phenomenal. They set up mise-en-place and helped plan the exercise. It’s nice to be set up for success. GMs were highly engaged with the exercise and they practiced Being Brilliant with the Basics! Tammy Ens, thank you for your leadership and support! It was a great visit! See y’all on the next flight! Cheers