Olive Garden turnaround attributed to a better menu

Two years ago, activist hedge fund Starboard Value assumed control of Darden Restaurants and made a makeover of Olive Garden's menu a big part of its mission to get the company back on track. It appears that consumers were pleased with the changes. Following Darden's quarterly report of strong earnings yesterday — largely attributed to higher same-store sales at Olive Garden — shares spiked nearly 3 percent and are now up over 20 percent for the year.