ORLANDO, Fla., March 13 -- Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI - news) will have its Third Quarter conference call on Friday, March 22, at 8:30 a.m. (E.S.T.). The conference call will be broadcast live over the Internet. Joe Lee, Chairman and CEO, and other senior management invite you to listen to a discussion of third quarter results.

To listen to the call live, please go to the following website at least fifteen minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software. For those who cannot listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available shortly after the call.

    What:      Darden Restaurants, Inc. Third Quarter Earnings Release


    When:      8:30 a.m. (E.S.T.), Friday, March 22, 2002


    Where:     http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=3836


    How:       Live over the Internet - Simply log on to the web at the
               address above

As the largest casual dining restaurant company in the world, Darden Restaurants, Inc., owns and operates over 1,100 Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Bahama Breeze and Smokey Bones BBQ restaurants with annual sales of $4.02 billion. Darden is headquartered in Orlando, FL.