DRI

What You Should Know

Darden Restaurants, Inc. is the largest full-service restaurant company in the United States by revenue, operating more than 2,000 company-owned restaurants across a portfolio of brands: Olive Garden (the flagship Italian-American casual-dining brand and the company's largest concept), LongHorn Steakhouse (the second-largest brand, a casual-dining steakhouse), the Fine Dining segment (The Capital Grille, Eddie V's, and the Ruth's Chris Steak House chain acquired in 2023), and Other Business (Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, and Chuy's, acquired in 2024). Restaurant and food-service operation is permissible at the activity level under standard Sharia methodology, but Darden raises two specific Sharia concerns at most major advisory boards. First, alcohol sales are a meaningful component of revenue across the portfolio — full-service casual-dining and steakhouse concepts derive a significant share of revenue from beer, wine, and spirits, and the Yard House brand in particular is built around an extensive beer-and-cocktail offering; alcohol-related revenue likely exceeds the typical 5% haram-revenue Sharia screen threshold across the consolidated portfolio. Second, the menus serve non-halal-certified meat (including pork products such as Italian sausage and bacon at Olive Garden and non-halal beef and pork across the steakhouse and casual-dining brands). Most major Sharia advisory boards classify Darden as doubtful or non-compliant due to the alcohol-revenue exposure.