LongHorn Steakhouse's® Grill Us Hotline Reopens this Fourth of July Weekend

ORLANDO, Fla., July 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- LongHorn Steakhouse announces today that the LongHorn Grill Us Hotline will be open Thursday, July 3, through Sunday, July 6, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT daily.  The restaurant's Certified Grill Masters will be on hand to answer those burning questions to help take the heat off cookout preparation this holiday weekend.  From choosing the best cut of fresh steak to achieving the correct grill temperature and using proper handling and seasoning techniques, LongHorn's experts will provide grilling tips and guidance via phone, text message, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

No holiday is more synonymous with grilling than the Fourth of July; 62 percent of Americans surveyed say they grill the most on the holiday*.  While a lot of propane and charcoal will be burned this weekend, unfortunately, so will many meals.  In fact, 64 percent of those surveyed have burned their meal on the grill*.  Given that, the Grill Masters at LongHorn encourage grillers to call LongHorn's Grill Us Hotline this weekend to help mitigate some of these mishaps.

"Many of our guests tell us that grilling steak can be daunting," said Valerie Insignares, president of LongHorn Steakhouse. "The Grill Us Hotline allows members of the LongHorn Steakhouse team to connect directly with our guests to share their grilling expertise to ensure everyone has a successful holiday cookout."

The Hotline
More than 70 Grill Masters from across the country, who work every day in LongHorn restaurants or the LongHorn culinary center, will provide grilling tips and tricks this Thursday, July 3, through Sunday, July 6, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT daily.

The Hotline is accessible through the following channels:

• Phone: Dial 1-855-LH-GRILL (1-855-544-7455) to be connected to a Grill Master
• Text: Text LHGRILL to 40679 for directions on where to find tips and recipes or to be connected with a Grill Master over the phone (standard texting rates apply)
• Facebook, Twitter, Instagram: Pose a question to LongHorn at www.Facebook.com/LongHornSteakhouse or on Twitter and Instagram using @LongHornSteaks, and LongHorn experts will answer it in real time. Add the hashtag #GetGrilling to follow the conversation and view others' questions.

In honor of National Grill Month, LongHorn Steakhouse will provide grilling tips, recipes and inspiration throughout July on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and ExpertGriller.com.  Additionally, the hotline will be open every Saturday in July (July 12, 19 and 26) from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  Guests can post and tweet their questions, and LongHorn experts will answer them in real time. 

The Grill Masters
Every LongHorn Steakhouse restaurant features two-to-three Grill Masters who prepare all our LongHorn's fresh, never frozen, steak, chicken and fish.  To become a certified Grill Master, LongHorn provides extensive on-the-job training to ensure team members are experts at understanding how to prepare the correct cut of steak, know the appropriate amount of seasoning to apply and consistently grill steak to the right degree of doneness.

For those who would rather put down their spatula this holiday weekend, the more than 460 LongHorn Steakhouse locations across the country will be open and ready to grill up the perfect steak.  To find a location visit, www.LongHornSteakhouse.com and visit www.expertgriller.com for recipes and grilling tips from the LongHorn Steakhouse chefs.

ABOUT LONGHORN STEAKHOUSE
Known for a "Passion for Grilling®" fresh, tender, juicy steaks, LongHorn Steakhouse offers the widest variety of cuts and numerous preparations, including its signature bone-in Outlaw Ribeye® – all served in a relaxed, warm atmosphere inspired by a rancher's home.  A growing brand, LongHorn plans to open several new locations over the next year, bringing our total to more than 460 restaurants across 40 states. LongHorn Steakhouse is owned by Darden Restaurants, Inc., (NYSE: DRI), which owns and operates more than 2,100 restaurants that generate over $8.5 billion in annual sales. Headquartered in Orlando, Fla., and employing more than 200,000 people, Darden is recognized for a culture that rewards caring for and responding to people. In 2014, Darden was named to the FORTUNE "100 Best Companies to Work For" list for the fourth year in a row. The people of LongHorn aim to be a positive force that makes real, substantive connections within the community.  We support organizations and individuals who share our value of doing things the right way through fundraising efforts, donations and grants that benefit local organizations and causes.  For example, all LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants participate in the Darden Harvest program, which has donated more than 75 million pounds of food to local community food banks across the country.

*Survey of meat-eating Americans was conducted online by Impulse Research/Los Angeles in partnership with LongHorn Steakhouse, April 2014

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SOURCE LongHorn Steakhouse