Olive Garden Expands Nationally
Recipe Restaurant Group Opens New Olive Garden in Vaughan Mills, Boosting Eastern Canada Presence
Recipe Restaurant Group has opened its first new Olive Garden in Ontario at Vaughan Mills, marking the brand's return to Eastern Canada after more than two decades. The location attracted over 6,000 job applications and hired a team of more than 250 staff, according to Financial Post.
The opening is the first new-build Olive Garden in the region under Recipe's national development agreement with Darden Restaurants, Inc. Recipe CEO Frank Hennessey called it a milestone, saying the goal was to bring Olive Garden back "in a way that respects the brand's heritage while meeting the modern Canadian consumer's expectations for quality and value," per Edmonton Sun.
Olive Garden Left Ontario in the Early 2000s
Olive Garden once had a strong presence across Ontario in the 1990s. But high costs and changing tastes led Darden to close most Canadian locations in the early 2000s. Only a handful of Western Canadian outposts survived, according to National Post.
That left a gap in the market for decades. Ontario residents became known for crossing the border to Buffalo and Detroit just to eat at an Olive Garden. That pent-up demand became a key reason Fairfax Financial backed Recipe's push to re-enter the market, according to Calgary Herald.
Recipe Struck a Deal With Darden, Then Built From Scratch
In February 2024, Recipe and Darden signed a formal national development agreement. Recipe acquired eight existing Olive Garden locations in Western Canada — in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta — that Darden had previously operated directly, per Calgary Herald.
The Vaughan Mills location is different. It is a brand-new build, estimated at $4.5 million in construction and fit-out costs. The 7,800-square-foot restaurant seats more than 250 guests and features a modernized design. Vaughan Mills draws over 13 million visitors a year, giving the restaurant a massive built-in customer base, according to Edmonton Sun.
Recipe Now Owns Olive Garden Alongside Its Own Italian Brand
Recipe manages over 20 brands and more than 1,200 restaurants. Its portfolio includes Swiss Chalet, Harvey's, St-Hubert, and its own Italian concept, Scaddabush. Adding Olive Garden creates an internal tension. Olive Garden competes directly with Scaddabush for Italian dining dollars, according to Financial Post.
Analysts say Recipe made the move to keep a competitor from taking the Olive Garden franchise. "By controlling Olive Garden in Canada, they prevent a competitor from taking the franchise and cannibalizing their own Italian-inspired brands. It's a consolidation play," industry analyst Robert Carter told Calgary Herald.
Three More Ontario Locations Are Already in Development
Recipe confirmed the Vaughan Mills opening is just the start. Three more Ontario locations are in development for 2027: Mississauga at Heartland Town Centre, Whitby, and Ottawa. The company sees this as a blueprint for a broader rollout across Ontario and Quebec, per Edmonton Sun.
Darden CEO Rick Cardenas said the partnership works because Recipe knows the Canadian market. "Partnering with Recipe allows Darden to leverage a sophisticated supply chain and deep understanding of the Canadian regulatory and consumer environment," Cardenas said, per National Post. Recipe's existing procurement network, which covers dairy and flour for its other brands, will now serve Olive Garden too — potentially lowering food costs compared to the Darden-run era.
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