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      Darden

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      Darden reviews

      3.8

      68% would recommend to a friend

      (2,844 total reviews)

      Rick Cardenas

      72% approve of CEO

      68% positive business outlook

      Ratings by category

      4.1

      Diversity & inclusion

      3.8

      Culture & values

      3.7

      Career opportunities

      3.6

      Senior management

      3.5

      Work/Life balance

      3.5

      Compensation and benefits

      Darden has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 2,844 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Darden employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Restaurants & Food Service industry (3.7 stars).

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Reviews by job title

      3K reviews
      4.0
      Mar 11, 2009

      Easy, comfortable place for students to work.

      Server
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Good, solid company and ease in which you can move into a leadership position. Management program is fairly intense, so I never had any problems with managers. As with most corporate restaurants, they have high standards of cleanliness and procedural issues which I only came to admire after moving into a privately owned, upscale rstaurant. Darden has good benefits for full-time employees which I never took part of because I was always a part-time server and a student. Also, Darden restaurants such as Olive Garden and Red Lobster are so widely known that you don't ever really feel a loss of business.

      Cons

      The higher up in management you get, the more cutthroat it seems to be.

      3.0
      Feb 27, 2009

      If you like being just another worker at a big company, this job is for you.

      Busser
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Discounts to all the Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Bahama Breeze, Longhorns, Smoky Bones); Big company, so benefits (health insurance) can be had; Training for each position within company is very good, and they spend their time making sure all employees know how to do their jobs more than competently. If you go to school and are away (and therefore can't work), they do give you the opportunity to come back and work during summer and holiday breaks, because they need the help and you are already trained. You are not micro-managed. The managers are busy, so they are not watching over your shoulder.

      Cons

      Food industry isn't for everyone; Fairly big restaurants, so when business is not packed, they start sending people home, even if they are scheduled for a full shift. Therefore, if you were expecting to get a certain amount of money from that day's shift, and if you get assigned a back section where tables aren't filling up, you get sent home. Opportunities/money is not so great right now with people cutting down on discretionary spending. Depending on particular managers at your store, you'll be recognized for your work (or not). No down time, ever. If you do have down time, then they make you roll silverware.

      5.0
      Feb 21, 2009

      I Love Smokey Bones

      Server
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      It was a great place to work. I was in a Smokey Bones resturnt. The mangement was very nice and bought us food very often. They rewrded employes for every single thing that they did. They don't expect too much and the best schedules re given based on merit not seniority. Because of this you can be a fairly recent hire and if you work hard enough you can end up making a lot of money.

      Cons

      If you are not one of the favorites management makes it too noticible. I was very liked, but there were other employees who were very hard workers and for whatever reason they weren't liked by the uppers. Close relationships between management and employees allowed this to become aparent.

      Viewing 2818 - 2820 of 2,844 Reviews
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      Glassdoor has 2,907 Darden reviews submitted anonymously by Darden employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Darden is right for you.