ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) will host its Fiscal 2009 Second Quarter conference call on Friday, December 19, 2008 at 8:30 am ET. The conference call will be broadcast live over the Internet. Clarence Otis, Chairman & CEO, and other senior management invite you to listen to a discussion of second quarter results. The subjects to be covered may also include forward-looking information, such as the outlook for the current month or quarter, and the company's previously-announced earnings guidance. Questions may be posed to management by participants on the call and in response the company may disclose additional material information.

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A copy of our press release announcing our earnings, the Form 8-K used to file the release with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and any other financial and statistical information about the period covered in the conference call, including any information required by Regulation G, will be available under the heading "Investor Relations" on our website at www.darden.com.

To listen to the call live, please go to the following website 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. Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call

    When:    8:30 am ET, Friday, December 19, 2008

    Where:   http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=54043

    How:     Live over the Internet - Simply log on to the web at the address
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Darden Restaurants, Inc., (NYSE: DRI) headquartered in Orlando, FL., is the world's largest company-owned and operated casual dining company with almost $6.7 billion in annual sales and approximately 180,000 employees. The Company owns and operates over 1,700 restaurants including Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52. For more information, please visit www.Darden.com.

SOURCE Darden Restaurants, Inc.