Olive Garden adopts 'downtown' style with urban prototype

Nation's Restaurant News, Jan 6, 2003 by Lori Lohmeyer

ORLANDO, FLA. -- As part of an effort to target diners in metropolitan areas, Olive Garden is expanding into the downtown districts of several North American cities with a new urban-design prototype.

The company said it would set its sights on urban areas following the success of the chain's highest-grossing unit, which is located in the heart of New York City's Times Square.

A subsidiary of Darden Restaurants Inc., Olive Garden opened in early November two units in downtown Seattle and New York.

Executives of the 503-unit casual-dining chain further stated that future urban units currently are in various stages of development in such cities as Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis and Baltimore. They also said they anticipate opening about two urban-design units per year. The chain, however, will continue to open its traditional Tuscan-style-farmhouse design in suburban neighborhoods and plans to add 25 new units this year.

"We really felt urban-growth opportunities were something we needed to address to help us get another avenue of growth as we move into the future," said Mike Ellis, senior vice president of development. "I think it's a strategy that we haven't tapped to its fullest extent."

Although the new casual-dining units boast the traditional Olive Garden menu, menu prices are higher at urban units than they are at the suburban counterparts. Ellis also noted that the company conducted market research to ensure that the urban entree prices were value-priced and competitive with their downtown markets. The menu at the company's new location in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York, for example, features main courses ranging in price from $11.95 to $23.50.

In order to construct an authentic, urban Italian restaurant, Olive Garden's design team traveled to Italy to research architecture in the country's larger cities. With Italian architects Fabio and Lucia Zingarelli acting as guides, the team spent eight days touring Rome, Florence and Milan. They studied the different finishes, materials and overall design of Italy's urban restaurants.

"We wanted to learn everything they do with urban restaurants in Italy so that we could deliver up a genuine Italian dining experience in an urban setting," said Briggs Sellers, Olive Garden's director of design and construction.

According to Sellers, the signature defining characteristics of Italian restaurants -- such as the use of rich, warm woods, dark cherry finishes, diverse wall textures, subtle lighting and dramatic ceilings--all were incorporated into the interior of the new prototype.

"From the time guests walk in the door, they are welcomed by a distinctively Italian decor that combines Old World Italy with a classic neighborhood trattoria," Ellis said.

Pendant-shaped lighting fixtures illuminate the prototype's bar area, while decorative wall sconces and traditional wrought-iron lighting fixtures accent the dining room. Olive Garden's newest Manhattan location is on a single level, with the space separated into smaller rooms by archways, thus providing more intimate seating areas. And the walls alternate between a gold-toned, textured surface and one of exposed brick.

To provide a variety of seating options, Olive Garden has combined both table and booth seating throughout its dining rooms. The approximately 269-seat prototype's booths are covered in a vibrant, jewel-toned fabric. The Chelsea restaurant incorporates a unique Italian touch by including a large family table in the main dining room, which is a reproduction of a large dining table used in The Osteria, a landmark cafe in Florence.

The company, in keeping with its initiative to raise alcohol sales, took the opportunity to maximize its wine list at the urban prototypes. Olive Garden said it offers 56 imported and domestic wines, with 42 of them available by the glass. When researching the New York location's wine list, Ellis said they made sure to include traditional offerings as well as to incorporate neighborhood favorites.

To highlight the focus on wine, Briggs said the company installed a large, glass-encased wine room in the space. Positioned near the entrance of the restaurant, the wine room provides the company with a valuable marketing tool, he noted. And in addition to the wine room, wine displays and racks are featured prominently throughout.

"It's long been the desire of Olive Garden to display and really make the wine a focal point [of the restaurant], as they do in Italy," he added.

Although the interior sports numerous new elements, Ellis said the team did not stray too far from Olive Garden's familiar Tuscan-style design. As a result, he said, the chain decided to incorporate some of the elements of its farmhouse design into the new prototype. It has the same carpet and traditional artwork complements scattered throughout the space.

"We wanted to make sure to keep that linkage and comfort level," he explained.

While the interior of each urban-design unit will follow the prototype's style, the exteriors will vary, Sellers said. Because urban units usually will be limited by existing architecture, he added, Olive Garden typically would make only small changes to the restaurant's entrance on the exterior.