My family of 4 ate at Olive Garden for the first time, and our $150 meal felt like an excellent value (2024)

FAQs

My family of 4 ate at Olive Garden for the first time, and our $150 meal felt like an excellent value? ›

The meal was surprisingly delicious and felt well worth the price, especially considering the soup, salad, and breadsticks were included with our entrées. The portion sizes at Olive Garden were also impressive. We had leftover pasta to eat for several days, something none of us were complaining about.

Olive Garden does have a policy on breadsticks. Typically, a server is supposed to bring one stick per person plus one extra for the first basket. After that, the rule of thumb is one breadstick per person. Here are the sneaky menu tricks that influence your order.

After 14 years, Olive Garden is kicking its famous slogan to the curb. As of Sunday, "When you're here, you're family" will be replaced with: "Go Olive Garden." Straight to the point, sure.

Our soup and sauce masters create dishes by hand and from scratch, every day. With fresh, whole ingredients like kale, peppers and squash. Because they know cooking that way – the Italian way- everything tastes better. to everything they make.

Typically, the pasta at Olive Garden is cooked in boiling water until al dente, and the sauces are made from scratch using various ingredients, including herbs, spices, and fresh produce. Olive Garden's kitchen staff prepares the sauces in-house, often using traditional Italian recipes and techniques.

With the purchase of any entree, your server will refill your bread basket upon request throughout your meal free of charge. In an age of rising menu prices, the deal remains one of the best in the chain restaurant landscape, but it does come with some unpublicized caveats.

Never Ending Pasta Pass^®

Each “NEPB meal” consists of pasta, sauce and a single topping serving from the promotional NEPB menu. All other entrees excluded. Each meal is for one person and may not be shared. Dine-in only.

The dishes we're known for.

Our signature garden salad and freshly baked breadsticks with Never Ending servings of your choice of homemade soup. Never Ending refills of Soup, Salad & Breadsticks available dine-in only.

Olive Garden was the first restaurant to coin the concept of “unlimited” menu items. Even though they changed their famous tagline to “We're all family here," we're glad that one thing has stayed consistent: their “never ending” menu items.

YOUR LIFETIME PASTA PASS^™ GETS YOU... Lifetime access to UNLIMITED servings of your favorite pastas, sauces and toppings*. UNLIMITED servings of soup or salad and breadsticks. Please note, your Pasta Pass^® cannot be redeemed for ToGo, but you can dine in the restaurant as often as you want.

Do you need to tip at Olive Garden? ›

Yes, it is customary to tip the waiter at Olive Garden or any other restaurant in the United States. Tipping is a common practice in the U.S., and it's typically expected to leave a gratuity for your server, usually around 15% to 20% of the total bill, depending on the quality of service you received.

"Yes, they do use a microwave," the former server is said to have alleged about Olive Garden. "Your potatoes, your veggies, certain sauces, and some of your meats are just microwaved and put on your plate."

don't microwave your olive garden leftovers. let's make them palatable again. oven on 350 and while that's preheating. go ahead and throw a little butter in there to start melting.

Most Chefs probably don't eat their own food, because their too busy to. Good Chefs on the other hand taste their food.

The truth is, you can't simply stroll into an Olive Garden, sit down, and declare, "I'll have the free, unlimited breadsticks only, please." They are only free with the purchase of a meal, and there are some backend rules and regulations that shape the famous perk.

Servers are trained to only bring two breadsticks per person per table, plus one extra, when you're greeted. After that, you have to ask for more, and even then they'll only bring you one more per person for each request, which is a company policy designed to cut down on waste.

It's a nice gesture meant to welcome you into the restaurant, while the following baskets are more of a professional courtesy. From a business standpoint, this makes sense. After all, Olive Garden can't exactly be giving out overflowing baskets full of breadsticks away for free.

Soft and Fluffy Texture: Olive Garden's breadsticks are typically soft and fluffy on the inside with a slightly crisp crust. The texture is achieved through their baking process, which includes a high-hydration dough. Consistency: Olive Garden is known for the consistency of its breadsticks.