The ratings on Darden Restaurants Inc. reflect the company's relatively good position in the casual dining industry, financial conservatism demonstrated by its solid cash flow protection measures, and a strong balance sheet. Darden is the largest full-service, casual dining restaurant company in the U.S., operating 676 Red Lobster, 527 Olive Garden, 34 Bahama Breeze, and 44 Smokey Bones BBQ restaurants, along with one Seasons 52 restaurant. Darden's operating performance improved materially from 1998 to 2002 due to successful reinvestments in its core businesses. During this period, the company improved the food, service, and atmosphere at its units. As a result, Olive Garden had recorded 36 consecutive quarters of same-store sales gains as of Sept. 24, 2003, and Red Lobster had
