Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The Board of Directors and Stockholders
Darden Restaurants, Inc.

    We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Darden Restaurants, Inc. and subsidiaries as of May 29, 2005 and May 30, 2004, and the related consolidated statements of earnings, changes in stockholders’ equity and accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended May 29, 2005. These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits.

    We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

    In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Darden Restaurants, Inc. and subsidiaries as of May 29, 2005 and May 30, 2004, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended May 29, 2005 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

    We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the effectiveness of Darden Restaurants, Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of May 29, 2005 based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), and our report dated July 28, 2005 expressed an unqualified opinion on management’s assessment of, and the effective operation of, internal control over financial reporting.

Orlando, Florida
July 28, 2005