Darden announced that dine-in traffic at flagship brands Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse has led to an improvement of more than 10 percentage points in same-store sales. As of Sunday, 49 percent of dining rooms were open in a limited capacity. The company expects more than 65 percent to be open by the end of May. The news comes as more than 60% percent of the states have announced reopening guidelines for dining rooms in some fashion. Darden started reopening dining rooms April 27 at 25 to 50 percent capacity, depending on the state or local mandate. At Olive Garden, same-store sales were down 38.1 percent in the week ending May 17. For restaurants with dining rooms open specifically, comps slid 26.1 percent with 398 restaurants open for an average of 6.7 days.  For LongHorn, comps were down 44.1 percent in the week ending May 17. But at units with dine-in traffic, same-store sales decreased 28.1 percent with 275 dining rooms open last week for an an average of 6.9 days.  Darden’s weekly cash burn rate is now less than $10 million, including capital expenditures. In early April, the burn rate was approximately $25 million per week. The company has $700 million in cash on its balance sheet and has access to more than $1.4 billion in liquidity. “As we continue to reopen our dining rooms, we remain dedicated to providing a safe environment for our team members and guests,” CEO Gene Lee said in a statement. “Early signs show that our loyal guests are grateful for the opportunity to dine-in with us, and they appreciate the added safety measures we have implemented. At the same time, our to-go business remains strong. I am pleased that we are able to return some team members from furlough to support these phased openings, and we look forward to safely serving more guests as more communities begin to reopen.” – Source: fsrmagazine.