Overview

• Darden Restaurants confirmed the trial covers seven reduced-size versions of core dishes, such as Chicken Parmigiana and Fettuccine Alfredo.
• Participating restaurants price the lighter entrées around $12.99 to $13.99 depending on market, offering them at dinner on weekdays and all day on weekends.
• The new options do not replace existing items and still include unlimited breadsticks and unlimited soup or salad.
• Company-reported early results show affordability scores up about 15 percentage points, with nearly 6% same-restaurant sales growth and about 3% traffic growth in test stores.
• Executives frame the move as an affordability play to support long-term growth, and after mixed quarterly results Darden shares fell roughly 7% as the test continues without a set expansion plan.