Darden Restaurants to Host Its Third Quarter Conference Call on the Internet

March 15, 2001

ORLANDO, Fla., Mar 15, 2001 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) is hosting its Third Quarter conference call on Thursday, March 22, 2001, at 8:30 a.m. ET. The conference call will be broadcast live over the Internet. Joe Lee, Chairman and CEO, and other senior management invite you to listen to the third quarter results.

To listen to the call live, please go to the following Web site 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. ET, Thursday, March 22, 2001

Where: http://www.videonewswire.com/DARDEN/032201/

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

Contact: Analysts, Matthew Stroud, 407-245-5550, or Media, Rick Walsh, 407-245-5366, both of Darden Restaurants, Inc.

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 $3.7 billion. Darden is headquartered in Orlando, Fla.