U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, DC 20549 FORM 4 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 [_] Check box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* Sweatt, III Blaine -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Last) (First) (Middle) 5900 LAKE ELLENOR DRIVE, P.O. BOX 593330 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Street) ORLANDO FL 32859-3330 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (City) (State) (Zip) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol DARDEN RESTAURANTS, INC. (DRI) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. IRS Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an Entity (Voluntary) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Statement for Month/Year 01/10/2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Year) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Relationship of Reporting Person to Issuer (Check all applicable) [X] Director [_] 10% Owner [X] Officer (give title below) [_] Other (specify below) EVP DARDEN; PRESIDENT NEW BUSINESS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check applicable line) [X] Form filed by one Reporting Person [_] Form filed by more than one Reporting Person -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================================ Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned ================================================================================ 6. 4. 5. Owner- Securities Acquired (A) or Amount of ship 3. Disposed of (D) Securities Form: 7. Transaction (Instr. 3, 4 and 5) Beneficially Direct Nature of 2. Code ------------------------------- Owned at End (D) or Indirect 1. Transaction (Instr. 8) (A) of Month Indirect Beneficial Title of Security Date ------------ Amount or Price (Instr. 3 (I) Ownership (Instr. 3) (mm/dd/yy) Code V (D) and 4) (Instr.4) (Instr. 4) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Common Stock 01/10/03 M 4,448 A $8.0848 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Common Stock 01/10/03 F 2,576 D $22.715 320,271 (1) D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Savings Common Stock 2,131.2809 (2) I Plan ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ==================================================================================================================================== * If the Form is filed by more than one Reporting Person, see Instruction 4(b)(v). Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. (Print or Type Response) (Over) FORM 4 (continued) Table II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities) ================================================================================ 10. 9. Owner- Number ship of Form 2. Deriv- of Conver- 5. 7. ative Deriv- 11. sion Number of Title and Amount Secur- ative Nature or Derivative 6. of Underlying 8. ities Secur- of Exer- 4. Securities Date Securities Price Bene- ity: In- cise 3. Trans- Acquired (A) Exercisable and (Instr. 3 and 4) of ficially Direct direct Price Trans- action or Disposed Expiration Date ---------------- Deriv- Owned (D) or Bene- 1. of action Code of(D) (Month/Day/Year) Amount ative at End In- ficial Title of Deriv- Date (Instr. (Instr. 3, ---------------- or Secur- of direct Owner- Derivative ative (Month/ 8) 4 and 5) Date Expira- Number ity Month (I) ship Security Secur- Day/ ------ ------------ Exer- tion of (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. 3) ity Year) Code V (A) (D) cisable Date Title Shares 5) 4) 4) 4) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stock Option 12/14/95 Common (right to buy) $8.0848 01/10/03 M 4,448 (3) 01/14/03 Stock 4,448 0 (1) D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ==================================================================================================================================== Explanation of Responses: Note 1: Represents amount of securities beneficially owned as of 01/10/03. Note 2: The number of shares reported is based on a plan statement dated December 31, 2002, and is derived from an undivided interest in a fund consisting of both Darden common stock and a small cash position that fluctuates from time to time. The number of shares reported may change based on the size of the cash position at the time of reporting. Note 3: The option vested 100% 12/14/95. /s/ Douglas E. Wentz 01/14/03 --------------------------------------------- ----------------------- **Signature of Reporting Person Date BY: DOUGLAS E. WENTZ, Attorney-in-fact for SWEATT, III, BLAINE 5900 LAKE ELLENOR DRIVE P.O. BOX 593330 ORLANDO, FLORIDA 32859-3330 DARDEN RESTAURANTS, INC. (DRI) ** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a). Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.