Brands Live
      On The Front Line

Olive Garden brings an idealized Italian family dining experience to millions of guests. Smokey Bones offers the food and camaraderie of a backyard barbeque. In both cases – whether sustaining a brand for two decades or expanding a brand to multiple new communities – company culture brings each concept to life. Indeed, our employee training and communication efforts are focused on consistently and brilliantly delivering each concept's brand vision. The ways in which this happens are as distinct as the brands themselves.

    Olive Garden believes in the power of inspiration to infuse its teams with Italian culture and passion. Each year, many team members travel to Italy to train at Olive Garden's Riserva di Fizzano restaurant and adjoining Culinary Institute of Tuscany. There, they absorb the culinary heritage, spirit and atmosphere of genuine Italian dining (and develop new recipes that often are added to the menu in our restaurants throughout North America). Closer to home, Olive Garden restaurants across the country have held "family reunion" dinners, in which the restaurant staff provides a worthy local family or group with a special dining experience. "Reunion" guests have included unemployed families, foster parents and their children, military families and Red Cross volunteers. The opportunity to provide these deserving people with an enjoyable evening has proved to be an extraordinary way of instilling Olive Garden team members with the true spirit of Hospitaliano!®

    At just over 100 locations in about six years, Smokey Bones is our fastest growing brand. It has consistently delivered its brand vision through well-trained and committed teammates, as reflected in the company's strong guest satisfaction ratings. Friendliness is a key part of the Smokey Bones vision, and that starts with the hiring process, where an engaging and outgoing personality counts as much as experience. Smokey Bones also helps its servers let their natural friendliness and personality come through to guests by keeping table service simple. For instance, servers are encouraged to simply "be themselves," rather than recite a memorized speech when greeting guests.

    Smokey Bones' success in bringing its brand to life on the frontline underscores what our entire Company has learned through the years: when the team understands and believes in the vision, the vision comes to life.