CHICAGO, October 21, 2025—Joe R. Lee, whose role in building out the industry sector now known as casual dining earned him the Gold Plate award in 1988, has died at age 85.
Local media identified the cause of his death as complications stemming from a long battle with cancer.
Lee had largely dropped out of public view after stepping down as CEO of Darden Restaurants, parent of the Olive Garden and The Capital Grille full-service chains, at the end of 2005. But his legacy is in plain view in the restaurant rows of suburbs throughout the country.
During his long leadership of Darden and its predecessor company, General Mills Restaurants, Lee oversaw the launch of moderately priced full-service restaurants ranging from Red Lobster to Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama Breeze, and Seasons 52. At his instigation, General Mills Restaurants bought and expanded another casual chain, Darryl’s, that was co-founded by 1982 Silver Plate winner Thad Eure, Jr.
But his influence didn’t stop with those brands. Many of the executives he led at Darden would move on to become leaders of other casual dining chains. At one time, virtually every player of scale in the segment was led by someone who had worked under either Lee or Norman Brinker, the founder of Brinker International. The two are widely regarded as the founders of the segment.
In addition, Lee’s approach to the business would become part of the sector’s mindset. He saw no benefit in building restaurants on land leased from someone else, contrary to the still-prevalent notion that owning a plot ties up capital that could be put into building more restaurants.
His view was vindicated after Darden was forced by disgruntled shareholders to sell Red Lobster, the company’s longtime flagship brand. The buyer immediately sold the land under the restaurants, which subsequently struggled to meet their new obligation of paying rent. That situation was a major reason why the brand would file for bankruptcy protection.
Lee also saw limited benefits to franchising, since a franchisor only collects a small percentage of a franchisee’s revenues. Virtually all of the hundreds of restaurants that were opened under his tenure were company-operated and owned. In addition, all were full-service ventures.
Lee briefly left General Mills Restaurants to take a high-level position within its parent company, the food processing giant General Mills. He returned to the industry after the milling concern spun off its restaurant subsidiary as a standalone public company for Lee’s first boss, Bill Darden.
Lee's experience in the industry actually began in the early 1960s after a stint in the Air Force. Enrolling in a local college, he took a job as a server to help pay for tuition and books.
His smarts in an hourly role soon drew the attention of Bill Darden, who hired Lee to be the manager of a new venture then called The Red Lobster. It specialized in seafood, which at that time was largely available only in fine-dining establishments and fried-food operations.
The notion was to offer the middle class a polished dining experience without the high prices, an ambitious objective given the cost of seafood relative to other proteins. But the notion caught on, and Red Lobster had a long run as the industry’s largest full-service operation.
The same formula—introducing the unfamiliar but curious to a new type of cuisine—would be duplicated with Olive Garden. At the time, Italian restaurants were not a major presence away from the coasts. Many served fare that no Italian would recognize as the fare of their homeland.
Olive Garden offered large portions of less Americanized fare at a price the middle class could afford. It remains Darden’s workhorse brand today.
Lee also generously gave back to the industry and the community. He served as chairman of the National Restaurant Association, where he encouraged the industry to use its might to counter well-intentioned measures that nonetheless unduly burdened the business.
A champion of opportunity, he donated $5 million of his own money to the Boys & Girls Club of Central Florida.
When he stepped down as an EVP and director of General Mills to run Darden Restaurants, he was asked how it had felt to hobnob with the big-name corporate stars who then also served on the milner’s board.
He shrugged and responded, “They put their pants on one leg at time, same as me.”
As Managing Editor for IFMA The Food Away from Home Association, Romeo is responsible for generating the group's news and feature content. He brings more than 40 years of experience in covering restaurants to the position.