Olive Garden Relents on Its Resistance to Delivery

Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants has largely shunned the idea of delivery, until now. The company on Thursday announced an exclusive two-year deal with Uber that will allow customers to order pasta, breadsticks, and the like through Olive Garden's app—and then receive that food from an Uber driver. It will begin as a pilot program offered by select restaurants later this year and expand to all 900 locations by May if all goes well, reports CNN. Darden CEO Rick Cardenas said Uber agreed to "make a custom integration to smooth operations," as the Wall Street Journal puts it; the delivery option won't be available in any third-party food apps, including Uber Eats.

The menu prices will remain the same for delivered food, with the delivery fee expected to be around $7 for a typical order. The move comes as Darden reported a 1.1% drop in same-store sales across its brand for the quarter ending Aug. 25, with the Olive Garden division seeing a 2.9% decrease. Darden has largely stayed away from delivery, even during the pandemic, "saying such deals erode profit and sully the guest experience," per the Journal. CNN notes the exception has been Olive Garden catering orders of $100 or more, which have been delivered by the restaurant's employees. Darden's shares closed up 8% at the news, at $172.27, on Thursday. (More Olive Garden stories.)