

                                                                     Exhibit 5.2


                               Darden Restaurants
                             5900 Lake Ellenor Drive
                                 P.O. Box 593330
                           Orlando, Florida 32859-3330
                       (407) 245-5811 Fax: (407) 245-4844
                            Email: dwentz@darden.com

Douglas E. Wentz
Senior Associate General Counsel

                                  July 29, 2005

Darden Restaurants, Inc.
5900 Lake Ellenor Drive
Orlando, FL 32809

     Re: Registration Statement on Form S-3

Ladies and Gentlemen:

     I am Senior  Associate  General  Counsel  of Darden  Restaurants,  Inc.,  a
Florida  corporation (the "Company"),  and in such capacity I am familiar with a
Registration  Statement on Form S-3 (the "Registration  Statement")  relating to
the offer and sale by the Company from time to time of its debt  securities (the
"Debt Securities") for an aggregate initial offering price of up to $475,000,000
(or  the  equivalent  in  foreign   currencies,   currency  units  or  composite
currencies).

     For purposes of this opinion I have examined the following:

     (a)  the  Articles  of  Incorporation,  as  amended,  of the  Company  (the
          "Articles of Incorporation");

     (b)  the Bylaws, as amended, of the Company (the "Bylaws");

     (c)  resolutions of the Board of Directors of the Company  adopted on March
          22, 2005 (the "Resolutions");

     (d)  the  Indenture  dated as of January 1, 1996  between  the  Company and
          Wells Fargo Bank,  National  Association  (as successor to Wells Fargo
          Bank Minnesota,  National Association) (formerly known as Norwest Bank
          Minnesota, National Association), as trustee (the "Indenture"); and

     (e)  the Registration Statement,  including the prospectus included therein
          (the "Prospectus"), which provides that it will be supplemented in the
          future by one or more supplements to the Prospectus.

<PAGE>


     I have also  examined such other  documents and reviewed such  questions of
law as I have  considered  necessary  and  appropriate  for the  purposes  of my
opinions  set  forth  below.  In  rendering  my  opinions,  I have  assumed  the
authenticity of all documents  submitted to me as originals,  the genuineness of
all  signatures  and the  conformity  to authentic  originals  of all  documents
submitted  to me as  copies.  I have also  assumed  the legal  capacity  for all
purposes relevant hereto of all natural persons and, with respect to all parties
to agreements or instruments  relevant hereto other than the Company,  that such
parties had the  requisite  power and  authority  (corporate  or  otherwise)  to
execute,  deliver  and  perform  such  agreements  or  instruments,   that  such
agreements or  instruments  have been duly  authorized  by all requisite  action
(corporate or  otherwise),  executed and delivered by such parties and that such
agreements or instruments are the valid, binding and enforceable  obligations of
such  parties.  As to questions of fact  material to my opinions,  I have relied
upon certificates of officers of the Company and of public officials.

     Based on the foregoing, I am of the opinion that:

     1.   The Company is a corporation duly  incorporated,  validly existing and
          in good standing under the laws of the State of Florida.

     2.   The Company has the  corporate  power to execute,  deliver and perform
          its obligations under the Indenture and the Debt Securities.

     3.   When a particular series of Debt Securities has been duly established,
          executed and delivered in accordance with the terms of the Resolutions
          and the Indenture, such Debt Securities will have been duly authorized
          by all requisite  corporate  action and duly executed and delivered by
          the Company.

     The  opinions set forth above are subject to the  following  qualifications
and exceptions:

     (a)  I have assumed that, at the time of the authentication and delivery of
          a series of Debt  Securities,  the Indenture and the Resolutions  will
          not have been modified or rescinded.

     (b)  I have assumed that, at the time of the authentication and delivery of
          a series of Debt  Securities,  there will not have occurred any change
          in the  Company's  Articles of  Incorporation  or Bylaws or in the law
          affecting the authorization,  execution and delivery, of the Indenture
          or the Debt Securities

     My  opinions  expressed  above  are  limited  to the  laws of the  State of
Florida.

     I hereby  consent  to your  filing of this  opinion  as an  exhibit  to the
Registration Statement and to the reference to me under the caption "Validity of
Debt Securities" contained in the Prospectus.

                                          Very truly yours,
                                          /s/ Douglas E. Wentz
                                          Douglas E. Wentz
                                          Senior Associate General Counsel

