This is somewhat Polk County related since the first Red Lobster was in Lakeland, FL.

USAToday features a profile of Darden Restaurant's CEO, Clarence Otis Jr. Darden is the parent company to Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52. The article is the standard business-profile-piece but it does talk about the growth options for Darden and the difficulty they've had in launching Smokey Bones and Bahama Breeze

Its Smokey Bones Barbeque & Grill chain, where Otis was president from late 2002 into 2004, has disappointed of late, posting same-store sales declines of 3.7% last year. Also not a home run has been Darden's Bahama Breeze Caribbean food chain.

It's too early to judge Darden's newest chain, Seasons 52, which features pricey, better-for-you, fresh food. The six-unit chain, with no entrée over 475 calories, has done well in Florida. But with meals averaging $35 per person, growth will likely be limited.

I was trying to count how many locations that Darden operates in Polk County. I have five: 2 in Winter Haven (OG, RL) and 3 in Lakeland (OG, RL, SB).

The photo above is from the Red Lobster site and shows the original Lakeland location.