Yahoo News 
The company that owns Olive Garden just placed a $780 million bet on a tiny restaurant chain
Chain restaurant behemoth Darden Restaurants just snapped up a new eatery for $780 million: Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen.
Darden owns a handful of restaurant companies including Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House, and The Capital Grill.
Cheddar's is a smaller chain with just 165 locations — about one sixth the size of Olive Garden — in 28 states including Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina.
It's best known for its house-smoked baby-back ribs, chicken fingers, and Monte Cristo sandwich.
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The Monte Cristo features smoked ham and turkey, two cheeses, and raspberry preserves in bread that's battered and fried and dusted with powdered sugar.
"Did a couple of lunches here over the past couple of months, and still haven't ventured past the Monte Cristo and mac and cheese," one customer wrote in a review of Cheddar's on Yelp. "I could eat those things daily, and die happy at 40."
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The menu also features dishes like loaded potato skins, nachos, fried cheese bites, chicken fried steak, grilled catfish, and beer-battered fried shrimp.
In reviews, customers say the portions are hefty, the prices are reasonable, and the service is reliable.
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Cheddar's was previously owned by private equity firms L Catterton and Oak Investment partners.
It will likely expand under Darden's ownership.
In a release announcing the purchase, Darden highlighted Cheddar's "significant growth opportunities in new and existing markets."
It said Cheddar's average sales per restaurant is about $4.4 million — which is close to Olive Garden's $4.5 million in annual per-restaurant sales last year.
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