Darden Restaurants’ (DRI) Olive Garden chain is preparing for a sweeping overhaul that will include new food, new decor and even a new (but not necessarily improved) logo.
Darden has released pictures of the redesigned restaurants, which feature dark, wood floors, exposed ceiling beams and long, green couches. The changes will affect 350 of its 800 restaurants. The company still will test new designs through fiscal 2015 (which begins in May 2014), reports the Orlando Sentinel.
Meanwhile, the new Olive Garden logo has a brown background with the restaurant chain’s name in white font, then “Italian Kitchen” in green underneath. IT also features a small, green olive branch.
To say the logo is understated would be … well, an understatement. The Consumerist has compared the new logo to what would appear on “a generic package of veggie burgers.”
The Orlando Sentinel also notes several other changes coming to Olive Garden, which includes new plates that highlight the food, 20 new menu items, online ordering, carside pickup, and delivery for large orders.
In recent months, Darden has come under increasing pressure to spin off some of its poorly performing chains, including Olive Garden and Red Lobster. While the company has said that it plans to spin off or sell the Red Lobster chain, it appears to be hitching its wagon to an Olive Garden renaissance.
