Darden Restaurants, Inc. is a multi-brand restaurant

Restaurant

A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

 operator headquartered in an unincorporated area

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Orange County, Florida

Orange County, Florida

Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida and is part of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 1,145,956....

, near Orlando

Orlando, Florida

Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

. The firm owns several casual dining

Casual dining

This is a list of casual dining restaurant chains around the world, arranged in alphabetical order. A casual dining restaurant is a restaurant that serves moderately-priced food in a casual atmosphere...

 restaurant chains, most notably Olive Garden

Olive Garden

Olive Garden is an American restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. It is a subsidiary of Darden Restaurants, Inc., which is headquartered in an unincorporated area in Orange County, Florida, near Orlando. Olive Garden operates more than 730 locations globally.- History :The...

, LongHorn Steakhouse

LongHorn Steakhouse

LongHorn Steakhouse is a restaurant chain, with locations throughout the Eastern United States and in Puerto Rico. Most of its restaurants are in the Southern United States. It also has a few locations in the Midwest, Southwest, and Puerto Rico...

, and Red Lobster

Red Lobster

Red Lobster is a U.S. chain of seafood restaurants. It also operates in Canada, the UAE and Japan . It is aimed at the mid-level "casual dining" segment of the market...

. Darden owns and operates 1,800 restaurant locations throughout North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 and has more than 180,000 employees, making it the largest full-service casual dining company in the world by number of stores. Darden does not franchise

Franchising

Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....

 its restaurants in the United States, but many of its international locations are not under corporate control.
What would become to be known as Darden Restaurants began when William (Bill) Darden founded the Red Lobster Inns of America and opened the first Red Lobster restaurant in Lakeland, Florida

Lakeland, Florida

Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States, located approximately midway between Tampa and Orlando along Interstate 4. According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the city had a population of 94,406...

 in 1968.