For the first quarter, sales per operating week were up 4.8% relative to pre-COVID.
And through the first three weeks in September, sales per operating week were up approximately 7% relative to pre-COVID.
And we remain on track to open approximately 35 to 40 new restaurants this fiscal year.
A long-term framework calls for 2% to 3% sales growth from new restaurants.
We also paused any new initiatives in order to further eliminate distractions for our restaurant teams and allow them to focus on what it takes to run 14 great shifts a week.
For the quarter, off-premise sales accounted for 27% of total sales at Olive Garden and 15% of total sales at LongHorn Steakhouse.
Digital transactions accounted for 60% of all off-premise sales during the quarter, and guest satisfaction metrics for off-premise experiences remained strong.
As a result, we are netting more than 1,000 new team members per week, and our team member count is approximately 90% of our pre-COVID levels.
Total sales for the first quarter were $2.3 billion, 51% higher than last year, driven by 47.5% same restaurant sales growth and the addition of 34 net new restaurants.
Diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations were $1.76.
We returned approximately $330 million to our shareholders this quarter, paying $144 million in dividends and repurchasing $186 million in shares.
We had strong performance this quarter, despite increased inflationary pressures with EBITDA of $370 million and EBITDA margin of 16%, 250 basis points higher than pre-COVID.
The market for proteins this quarter was very strong with spot premiums as high as 30% above our contracted rates.
This resulted in higher average cost per pound for our proteins contributing to total commodities' inflation for the quarter of approximately 5.5%.
Now looking at the P&L for the first quarter of 2022, we're providing a comparison against pre-COVID results in the first quarter of 2020, which we believe is a more comparable to normal business operations and with how we've been talking about our margin expansion.
For the first quarter, food and beverage expenses were 150 basis points higher, driven by investments in both food quality and pricing significantly below inflation.
Restaurant labor was 110 basis points lower, driven primarily by hourly labor improvement, due to efficiencies gained from operational simplifications and was partially offset by elevated wage pressures.
Restaurant expenses were also 110 basis points lower due to sales leverage.
Marketing spend was $45 million lower, resulting in 220 basis points of favorability.
As a result, restaurant-level EBITDA margin for Darden was 20.9%, 290 basis points better than pre-COVID levels.
G&A expense was 30 basis points higher, driven primarily by approximately $10 million of stock compensation expenses related to the immediate expensing of equity awards for retirement eligible employees.
Additionally, we had approximately $5 million of expense related to mark-to-market on our deferred compensation.
Our effective tax rate for the quarter was 12.6%, which benefited from the deferred compensation hedge I just mentioned.
First quarter sales at Olive Garden were flat to pre-COVID, while segment profit margin increased 220 basis points.
This was strong performance despite elevated inflation and two-year check growth of only 2.4%.
LongHorn had the best sales performance across our segments with sales increasing by 26% versus pre-COVID, while growing segment profit margin by 250 basis points.
Sales at our Fine Dining segment increased 24% versus pre-COVID in what's traditionally their slowest quarter from a seasonal perspective.
Segment profit margin grew by 490 basis points, driven by strong sales leverage and operational efficiencies, which more than offset double-digit commodity inflation.
Our Other segment grew sales by nearly 5% and segment profit margin by 360 basis points.
We now expect total sales of $9.4 billion to $9.6 billion, representing growth of 7% to 9% from pre-COVID levels; same restaurant sales growth of 27% to 30% and 35 to 40 new restaurants; capital spending of $375 million to $425 million; total inflation of approximately 4% with commodities inflation of 4.5% and total restaurant labor inflation of 5.5%, which includes hourly wage inflation of about 7%; EBITDA of $1.54 billion to $1.60 billion; and annual effective tax rate of 13% to 14% and approximately 131 million diluted average shares outstanding for the year, all resulting in diluted net earnings per share between $7.25 and $7.60.

Summary:
Diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations were $1.76.
Now looking at the P&L for the first quarter of 2022, we're providing a comparison against pre-COVID results in the first quarter of 2020, which we believe is a more comparable to normal business operations and with how we've been talking about our margin expansion.
We now expect total sales of $9.4 billion to $9.6 billion, representing growth of 7% to 9% from pre-COVID levels; same restaurant sales growth of 27% to 30% and 35 to 40 new restaurants; capital spending of $375 million to $425 million; total inflation of approximately 4% with commodities inflation of 4.5% and total restaurant labor inflation of 5.5%, which includes hourly wage inflation of about 7%; EBITDA of $1.54 billion to $1.60 billion; and annual effective tax rate of 13% to 14% and approximately 131 million diluted average shares outstanding for the year, all resulting in diluted net earnings per share between $7.25 and $7.60.