Eddie V’s Sold to Parent Company of Olive Garden

When I first heard this story I honestly thought someone was joking with me. Eddie V’s, a perennial occupant of our Top 20 list for Fine Dining restaurants in Austin, had been sold to Darden, a multi-billion dollar restaurant company that owns such brands as the Olive Garden and Red Lobster.

But alas this is true for about $59 million dollars of reasons.

Darden claims that this purchase is about propping up their specialty restaurant division. Eddie V’s founders Guy Villavaso and Larry Foles have signed two year consulting agreements with Darden. And all eight of their Eddie V’s locations in Austin, Arizona and California are in the deal along with their three Wildfish stores.

So the big question is, what will Eddie V’s be like after the ink has dried on the takeover contract? One would like to think that it will be business as usual for the wildly popular restaurants. But pessimist that I am, I’m not entirely sure that will be the case. Darden didn’t get to be a billion dollar company by spending lavishly to entice high-end customers. Rest assured that sooner or later (probably sooner) some corporate bean counter will get his or her hands on the Eddie V’s budgets and… well, I guess we’ll just have to see.