Since opening our first Red Lobster restaurant in Lakeland, Fla., in 1968, Darden has grown to become the world’s largest full-service restaurant company. Through subsidiaries, own and operate 1,800 restaurants, employ approximately 180,000 people and serve more than 400 million meals a year. That last number reveals something telling about how we do business. In serving that many meals, we’ve come to know our guests extremely well. From them, we’ve realized what it takes to create an environment of natural hospitality and to build enduring brands. It’s why we’re able to make our guests feel so welcome, special and at ease.

Fun and games collide with food and drink at these nightspots. Dave & Buster's owns and operates about 55 entertainment complexes in 25 states and Canada that offer casual dining, full bar service, and a cavernous game room. The adult fun centers feature the latest in video games and motion simulators, as well as games of skill played for prizes. For dining, Dave & Buster's offers a menu that features traditional American fare such as burgers, seafood, and steak. Partners David Corriveau and James "Buster" Corley opened the first Dave & Buster's in 1982. Private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners acquired the company in 2010.

Over the past 50 years, Denny’s has been bringing on the day with round-the-clock breakfast and casual family dining across America. From freshly cracked eggs to craveable salads and burgers, Denny’s has an endless list of possibilities to fuel your day. And with approximately 1,500 restaurants nationwide, wherever you are, wherever you’re going, a fresh start is never too far away. At Denny’s, it’s always a new day, and it’s yours for the taking.

Being marooned at one of this company's eateries might not be such a bad experience. Desert Island Restaurants is a leading regional dining company with a handful of restaurant concepts. Its holdings include five Ruth's Chris steakhouses located in Hawaii franchised from Ruth's Hospitality Group and an Asian-themed restaurant in Salt Lake City operating under the name Thaifoon - Taste of Asia. Desert Island also operates Ling & Louie's Asian Bar & Grill with locations in Denver and Scottsdale, Arizona. CEO Randy Schoch founded the company in 1998 and opened his Thaifoon restaurant in 2001.

You might say this company runs a network of sports bars. DHP develops and operates the FOX Sports Grill chain, which offers a menu of appetizers, sandwiches, burgers, and steaks in an upscale atmosphere that includes dozens of televisions showing a variety of sporting events. In addition, the restaurants play host to banquets, parties, and meetings. The company has a half dozen locations in five states. ESPN Zone creator William Freeman and financier William Dallas started the FOX Sports Grill concept in 2001. It uses the FOX Sports name and logo through a licensing deal with FOX Sports Net.

In the past, the world knew us as IHOP, an American icon to our guests and a franchising company that was focused on providing strategic leadership and vision for our franchisees and on enhancing value for our shareholders. With this dedicated focus, we cultivated a core expertise in brand revitalization and franchising know-how which became the basis for the winning formula that has defined the financial success of our business in recent years. With the addition of Applebee’s to the IHOP family of restaurants in November 2007, we made a bold new commitment to our brand revitalization abilities and to the power of franchising. DineEquity promises to make our two businesses more powerful and more successful than either brand could have been apart. Along with our new name comes a new opportunity to focus even more clearly on how we win: energizing our brands, improving the operational performance of our franchise systems, and maximizing franchise development. These goals, along with our intention to transform Applebee’s to a nearly 99% franchised system, will inform how DineEquity provides leadership for our Applebee’s and IHOP brands, today and into the future.

Founded in 1960, Domino's Pizza is the recognized world leader in pizza delivery operating a network of company-owned and franchise-owned stores in the United States and international markets. Domino's Pizza's Vision illustrates a company of exceptional people on a mission to be the best pizza delivery company in the world. To learn more about Domino's, please visit the links we've provided at the top of the page.

Dynamic Management owned and operated Barnhill's Buffet along with private equity firm Jefferies Capital Partners. The chain of more than 40 buffet restaurants filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2007 and shuttered or sold all its eateries. Previously, Dynamic Management operated the Black-eyed Pea restaurant chain. It was formed in 2002 to acquire the Black-eyed Pea business from bankrupt Phoenix Restaurant Group.

EACO Corporation lost its appetite for the buffet business. For a half-dozen years after selling its restaurant operations to pursue a new line of business, the company generated revenues from a handful of rental properties including restaurant and industrial properties. (Tenant NES Rentals accounts for about half of its rental revenues.) In 2010 the company acquired Bisco Industries, which distributes electronics components in the US and Canada. EACO was once the sole franchisee of Ryan's Restaurant Group restaurants in Florida; it also owned a chain of 16 Whistle Junction and Florida Buffet locations.

Eat'n Park began nearly a half century ago as the first Pittsburgh-area drive-in restaurant with carhops. The carhops are gone now, and our look has changed quite a bit since then, but one thing remains the same — our commitment to great food at an exceptional value while providing outstanding service. On June 6, 1949, Eat'n Park began with a revolutionary concept. Led by Larry Hatch, an executive of the Isaly Company of that era, a group of Pittsburghers built a tiny, two-tone yellow, 13-seat restaurant in Pittsburgh's suburban South Hills and, at 2:00 p.m., sent 10 bustling carhops out to serve customers right in their cars. And what a revolution it was. The restaurant was so busy that it caused an enormous traffic jam on Saw Mill Run Boulevard and had to close to regroup a scant six hours after it opened. But the votes were in and the die was cast. Eat'n Park, one of the area's first carhop restaurants, was a smash hit.

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