Darden Restaurants had a strong quarter and exceeded the market expectations with respect to the top and bottom lines. The company outperformed the industry norms for same-restaurant revenues and traffic. Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse reached new all-time weekly sales over the holidays. Despite an 8% increase in hourly wages, restaurant labor was 120 basis points better than the previous year due to sales leverage. The overall increase in restaurant labor costs was 7%. Since Darden used h ....