10 Things You Could've Guessed About Olive Garden Are Now Confirmed

by N/A, 10 years ago | 1 min read

Here's what you should know before you start scarfing down breadsticks.

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1. The first test kitchen opened in Orlando.

The restaurant was launched by General Mills in 1982 in Orlando, Florida. General Mills later created Darden Restaurant Group, but Olive Garden is still the most popular.

2. It has a sister restaurant.

Red Lobster and Olive Garden are considered "sister restaurants," since they both are owned by the same group and operate with similar business practices, like their unlimited options. Darden once thought about combining the two to expand profits and created 6 Olive Garden/Red Lobster combinations.

3. There's a secret menu you should look into.

Anything can be amended or made for you, even discontinued items. All you have to do is ask.

4. People loved the $100 pasta passes.

The 2014 promotion offered unlimited pasta, soup, salad and breadsticks for seven weeks. They sold out in seconds.

5. Servers hate the unlimited options.

The unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks refills makes a server's job pretty hectic and since the prices are so low, their tips are too.

6. The Tuscan Cooking School isn't real.

Olive Garden claims to send its chefs and managers to a Tuscan cooking school, but according to a Redditor, they spend more time exploring Italy than learning to cook.

7. Investors tried to limit the number of breadsticks you can have.

Starboard Value, one of the chain's investors said that serving unlimited breadsticks was extremely wasteful and suggested only serving one per person to save money, but the company didn't go for it.

8. The food is inauthentic.

It's probably no surprise, but any of the dishes aren't at all authentic and just have fake Italian-sounding names.

9. Any new dish that includes breadsticks is a guaranteed success.

Some Tuscan inspired dishes, like the pear and gorgonzola ravioli or a baked pasta romana didn't go over well with customers, but if a new dish includes breadsticks, it's sure to be a success.

10. There is a viral review of the restaurant floating around.

88-year-old Grand Forks, N.D., food columnist Marilyn Hagerty gave the newest location in her area a fantastic review. It got so popular that Anthony Bourdain offered her a book deal.