Is Darden a good company to work for?

Darden has an overall rating of 3.8 out of 5, based on over 2,910 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has decreased by 4% over the last 12 months. 68% of employees would recommend working at Darden to a friend and 68% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about Darden have been left by employees working as Managing Partner , General Manager and Culinary Professional .

Does Darden pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Darden employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.5 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Darden. This rating has decreased by 5% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Darden?

68% of Darden employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Darden 3.4 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.8 for culture and values and 3.7 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Darden?

Server (685) , Server/Waiter (189) , Manager (100) , Restaurant Manager (81) , Hostess (75) , Host (68) , Bartender (62) , Line Cook (55) , Server/Bartender (47) , General Manager (45) , Food Server (39) , Bartender/Server (35) , Server/Waitress (23) , Busser (22) , To Go Specialist (22)

What are the pros of working at Darden according to real employee reviews?

""There are really really great benefits with this job and you are highly likely to make awesome connections with your coworkers!"" ((in 180 reviews)); "The money is good and the job is relatively secure in these tough economic times." ((in 143 reviews)); "They were very friendly and the pay was good" ((in 128 reviews)); ""The people are great and very good at their jobs."" ((in 115 reviews)); "Hours are flexible and fairly easy to get days off and make adjustments to your work schedule." ((in 104 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Darden according to real employee reviews?

"Management is poor and needs improvement" ((in 189 reviews)); "A bad manager who doesnt know what they are doing can ruin a restaurant very quickly." ((in 123 reviews)); "No work life balance" ((in 40 reviews)); "Blatant Favoritism" ((in 28 reviews)); "Upper management are insulated by HR." ((in 19 reviews))

What are employees saying about Darden layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Darden layoffs and their outlook for job security at Darden in 2026.

What are the top reviewed Darden locations?

Orlando , Atlanta , Houston , Tampa , San Antonio , Phoenix , Austin , Philadelphia , Charlotte , San Diego , Dallas , Jacksonville , New York , Miami , Boston , Chicago , Pittsburgh , Kansas City , Los Angeles , Schaumburg , Indianapolis , Cincinnati , Las Vegas , Wayne , Louisville , Raleigh , Fort Worth , Knoxville , Daytona Beach , Salt Lake City

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Darden

Darden reviews

3.8

68% would recommend to a friend

(2,847 total reviews)

Rick Cardenas

75% approve of CEO

68% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.1

Diversity & inclusion

3.8

Culture & values

3.7

Career opportunities

3.5

Senior management

3.5

Compensation and benefits

3.4

Work/Life balance

Darden has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 2,847 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

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

3K reviews

4.0

Jan 16, 2009

Darden...so far!

Restaurant manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Compensation is pretty good. Although I had concerns with the buyout (when Longhorn and Capital Grill was purchased by Darden) everything has gone okay. Darden will continue to grow Longhorn and streamline the purchasing and receiving process. They will probably not be too good for Capital Grill though. Darden continues to be a competitive employer through research of other companies.

Cons

Employee Relations is too involved in decision making. They are thousands of miles away and want to run the restaurant for the management teams. Darden is a huge company and they are afraid of employee relations law suits. Health Insurance is aweful.

3.0

Jan 2, 2009

Perfect Job, Needs better pay

Server's assistant

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

I loved the people that i worked with. Most of the guest were very nice as well. I also like the fact that employees got 50% off the food they were buying if they worked that day. I think that is very nice of them

Cons

I think that for the amount of work a servers assistant did, the pay should be a little more that what it is. I dont think it is fair that we only get tipped out so little at the end of each day, sometimes i feel like the servers assistant to more that the actual servers do

4.0

Dec 30, 2008

Good place for a career in restaurant management.

General manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Darden has good pay and benefits including stock ownership. The company is a leader in the restaurant industry and is an innovator. If you want to work for the best company in the restaurant business then this is the one to work for. If you don't like a lot of structure then this probably would not be a good work environment for you.

Cons

Pretty much the same as any other company - some Senior Management seem to be more interested in looking for ways to get ahead personally instead of being effective leaders. Some areas seem to have a very entrenched "good ol boy network" going on. Have witnessed some instances of discrimination.

Viewing 2671 - 2673 of 2,847 Reviews

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Darden

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Darden...so far!

Perfect Job, Needs better pay

Good place for a career in restaurant management.

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