Clarence Otis, Jr. - CEO - Darden Restaurants

Clarence Otis Jr., CEO of Darden Restaurants (DRI), will never forget the Sunday drives his family took through Beverly Hills when he was a boy.

Each began and ended in Watts. In 1965, the South Los Angeles area was the scene of riots that killed 34 and injured more than 1,000, but to Otis, who was 9 at the time, it simply was home.

Otis' father, a janitor, took his family to Beverly Hills not to gawk in envy. It was his way to show the kids another world was out there, and let them know it wasn't out of their reach.

"Those drives showed me how the other half lived," Otis recalls. "They made me believe another life was possible."

Was it ever.

Two years ago this month, at age 48, Otis was named CEO of the largest casual-dining restaurant company, overseeing such mega-brands as Olive Garden and Red Lobster. He's one of only a handful of African-American CEOs running Fortune 500 companies. At home in Orlando, he and his wife, Jacqui, are amassing one of the finest collections of African-American art in the nation.

Life is not perfect in restaurant land, however. Like most of the $70 billion casual-dining industry, Darden has taken a recent hit from slumping sales and declining customer counts.

Consumer uncertainty has driven the industry downturn, he says. People still are befuddled about too many things, including energy costs and mortgage costs. Even as gas prices decline, Otis knows that many cost-conscious consumers will not soon rush to eat out. Besides eating out less often, he says, diners are less patient with restaurant gaffes such as cold food or slow service.

This industry turmoil makes it all the more notable that Otis is considering creating a new Darden brand to try to evolve into another restaurant powerhouse.

"Darden is a superbly managed company," says John Glass, restaurant industry analyst at CIBC World Markets. But even in the best of times, "It hasn't been very successful at creating new brands."

New brands propel growth. So, just two years after being named CEO, much is expected of Otis. With sales last year of $5.7 billion, Darden already is the only restaurant company in America to own two such prominent casual-dining chains as Olive Garden and Red Lobster. Creating a third mega-brand has been a tough nut for the company, and for Otis.

Read MORE