Olive Garden

Olive Garden is an American casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian–American cuisine.

The chain was founded in 1982 in Orlando, Florida as a unit of General Mills' restaurant division, which also included Red Lobster. It expanded to 145 locations by 1989. That division was spun off as Darden Restaurants Inc., named for Red Lobster founder Bill Darden, in 1995.

In 2014 a slate of directors put forward by the Starboard Value hedge fund were elected to replace Darden's existing board.

Birmingham area locations

• 630 Gayle Street at Magnolia City Place,Gardendale (opened June 30, 2023)
• 3555 Roosevelt Boulevard, Trussville
• 3450 Galleria Circle, Hoover (opened 1986)
• 20 South Colonial Drive, Alabaster
• 2100 McFarland Boulevard, Tuscaloosa
• 835 Rainbow Drive, Gadsden (opened May 2023)
• 401 Oxford Exchange Boulevard, Oxford

Former locations

• 7701 Crestwood Boulevard, Eastwood (Fall 1987 - April 2020)

References

• Olive Garden classified ad (September 14, 1987) Birmingham Post-Herald p. 45.
• Patton, Leslie (October 10, 2014) "Starboard Wins All Seats on Darden's Board." Bloomberg News
• Thornton, William (April 21, 2020) "Birmingham Olive Garden location closes." The Birmingham News
• Thornton, William (February 22, 2023) "Gadsden Olive Garden looking at mid-May opening." AL.com
• Morrison, Callie (June 29, 2023) "Gardendale welcomes newest Olive Garden location." Bham Now

External links

• Olive Garden website