The Festus City Council on Monday night gave Olive Garden Holdings the go-ahead to build an Olive Garden restaurant in town.
Council members unanimously approved a motion authorizing Mayor Sam Richards to enter into and execute an agreement with the company to allow it to build a restaurant on Shapiro Drive in the Festus Commerce & Business Center. The proposed Olive Garden site is on property next to an existing Texas Roadhouse restaurant, 1351 Shapiro Drive, city officials said.
“I’m tickled to death an Olive Garden is coming,” Richards said after the meeting. “We need another big restaurant, and we’re getting one.”
While the agreement calls for construction of the restaurant to begin by Oct. 1 of this year and for the developers to apply for a certificate of occupancy by Aug. 1, 2027, an Olive Garden spokesperson said actual dates have not yet been determined.
“Since we are still in the early process and are waiting for the necessary approvals, we cannot provide a definitive opening date yet,” said Hailey Fitch, communications manager for Olive Garden and Chuy’s.
Michael Christopher, the interim city manager as well as the city’s public works director, read a staff report to the council, saying Festus began discussions in April 2025 with Ryan Corporation of Orlando, Fla., about expansion plans for Darden Restaurants Inc. to build an Olive Garden in Festus.
He said the agreement calls for the applicants to build an estimated 6,500-square-foot restaurant, with an estimated investment of $4.5 million. The restaurant is expected to employ three or four manager-level positions and 50-60 additional full-time equivalent jobs. It is estimated to generate $523,600 in annual sales taxes and $58,000 in property taxes each year.
According to other information provided in the staff report, the city agrees to provide Ryan Corporation and Darden Restaurants with a partial refund of general fund sales tax revenue generated by the restaurant, with the following schedule: for the first five years, the city is to refund 50 percent of the sales tax revenue; for the following five years, the city is to refund 35 percent of the sales tax revenue.
The refund period lasts a total of 10 years starting either Aug. 1, 2027, or the date the applicant receives a certificate of occupancy for the restaurant, whichever is earlier. The refund only applies to the city’s general fund sales tax, not sales taxes for other dedicated city funds such as transportation and public safety.
Christopher said he welcomes the restaurant to Festus.
“I think adding an Olive Garden to our community will be another great addition to an already fantastic list of restaurants and eateries in our community,” he said.
Olive Garden, a casual-dining restaurant chain featuring Italian cuisine, has more than 900 restaurants nationwide, according to the restaurant’s website.
Fitch said Festus offers the type of site Olive Garden looks for when developing a new restaurant.
“We chose Festus, and the Festus Commerce & Business Center in particular, because of the strong synergy among the surrounding shopping, dining and hotel options, which make the area a natural fit for an Olive Garden,” Fitch said.
A developer is building a 92-room Hampton Inn & Suites hotel at an estimated cost of $16 million also near the Texas Roadhouse on Shapiro Drive in Festus.
In other business
■ The proposed data center for Festus remains a hot topic of discussion during the Remarks of Visitors section of City Council meetings. Of 19 citizens signed up to speak at the meeting (two were no-shows), seven spoke against the project either directly by pointing to their concerns of how a data center would negatively affect the public’s water and electricity use, increase noise levels, hurt property values and other related issues, or indirectly criticizing city officials for lack of transparency or for not allowing data center opponents their First Amendment rights to free speech during meetings. The other 10 speakers said they supported the project, saying it would create jobs and generate tax funds for the city and other public entities.
CRG of St. Louis has said it plans to develop a data center on property north of Hwy. 67 and west of Hwy. CC in Festus.
■ Maranda Akers of Hillsboro asked for and received permission from council members to hold a “No Kings” protest on March 28 on a portion of the Festus Public Library parking lot, followed by a march along sidewalks to Jokerst Memorial Park along south Mill Street, where those involved with the protest will assemble at a pavilion. Akers said she organized similar protests in Hillsboro.
“Our goal here is to hold a peaceful, organized event that allows residents to exercise their First Amendment rights while maintaining the public safety and minimizing disruption,” she told the council.
Dining and Cooking