An Olive Garden restaurant is planned in Delafield, at the site of a now-closed Perkins Restaurant & Bakery.
Orlando-based Darden Restaurants Inc. plans to demolish the existing 7,300-square-foot former Perkins building, located at 2440 Milwaukee St., to build a 6,500-square-foot single-story Olive Garden in its place, according to city documents.
All Milwaukee-area Perkins restaurants closed last year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new restaurant building would seat up to 198 diners, and the parking lot would be reconstructed with 119 spaces and new landscaping. Darden has also proposed construction of a new sidewalk along Milwaukee Street to accommodate pedestrians from Golf Road.
Olive Garden currently has five locations in southeast Wisconsin, located in Greenfield, Brookfield, Menomonee Falls, Racine and Pleasant Prairie. Nationwide, the Italian restaurant chain operates 865 restaurants, generating more than $4 billion in annual sales, according to its website.
Olive Garden plans to hire about 100 people at its Delafield location, with 30 working each shift. Proposed hours of operation are Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Site plans, including proposed signage, will be reviewed by Delafield’s Plan Commission on April 28.
