It's a marked shift for the Florida-based restaurant company and world's largest casual-dining chain.
In the past, Darden has leaned on a cadre of consumer-research gurus, trend-watchers and financial engineers to develop a stable of chains that could deliver the same kind of results the company gets from powerhouses Olive Garden and Red Lobster.
The recent closures of Smokey Bones and Bahama Breeze restaurants -- both homegrown concepts -- show the strategy is faltering, industry watchers and analysts say.
"How many times do you get to stand at the plate in the major leagues and swing and miss at pitches?" said Bryan Elliott, a restaurant-stock analyst for investment bank Raymond James.
Darden's
