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OLIVE Garden has brought back a fan-favorite menu item.
The offering comes as the restaurant chain has been working hard to maintain and increase its customer base over the past year.
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Since August 26, many have been taking advantage of Olive Garden’s Never-Ending Pasta Bowl.
It’s still just $13.99 for the meal deal, the same price since 2022.
Bottomless pasta options through the promotion include angel hair, fettuccine, rigatoni, and spaghetti.
Customers can also select a variety of sauces as they build out their bowls, including Olive Garden’s Alfredo, Creamy Mushroom, Five Cheese Marinara, Traditional Marinara, and Traditional Meat Sauce.
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Unlimited breadsticks, soup, or salad are also included in the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl.
Upgraded items, including Crispy Chicken Fritta, Italian sausage, meatballs, and others can also be added for an additional $4.99.
The promotion is available nearly a month earlier than usual in autumn and will last at least three weeks longer, per CNBC.
Olive Garden’s early push comes after Darden Restaurants, its parent company, reported less-than-stellar first-quarter earnings for 2025 on Thursday.
Still, Darden Restaurants CEO Rick Cardenas was “confident” in the moves being made by brands under the company’s banner.
“While we fell short of our expectations for the first quarter, I firmly believe in the strength of our business,” Cardenas said in a press release.
“I am confident in the actions all our brand teams are taking to address their guests’ needs, which do not compromise the long-term health of our business for short-term benefits.”
Sales particularly fell at Olive Garden by about 2.9%, according to the earnings report.
TRIED AND TRUE
While Darden Restaurants moves to attract customers to Olive Garden again, the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl offering has proven successful in past years.
Cardenas confirmed the benefits of the all-you-can-eat offer in driving Olive Garden’s revenue during an earnings call in December.
Olive Garden’s Never-Ending Pasta Bowl Deal
The chain restaurant is officially bringing back its Never-Ending Pasta Bowl, a limited-time promotion that typically reappears annually each fall.
Olive Garden announced that the deal will start at just $13.99 – the same price tag it started with in 2022.
This year, the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl will become available to all customers starting on August 26.
However, Olive Garden’s eClub members and social media followers will have early access to the in-restaurant offer starting on August 19, as the restaurant has been promoting on their TikTok page.
Those who take advantage of the promotion will be able to enjoy unlimited breadsticks and either soup or salad, as well as create their own pasta dishes by choosing from a list of noodle and sauce varieties.
Customers will have 80 different flavor combinations to choose from.
“Guest demand was higher this year and our restaurant teams did a great job delivering outstanding guest experiences, achieving the highest refill rate ever,” he said at the time.
The early arrival and late stay of the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl seems to be a win-win for both the brand and customers.
Several voiced their excitement for the deal’s annual return in a post on Olive Garden’s TikTok page.
“My fav time of the year,” someone said.
“Words cannot describe how excited I am for this,” another wrote.
PRICE PROBLEMS
Still, some customers are still furious with Olive Garden after it confirmed plans to increase menu prices this summer.
Darden Restaurants said the uptick would occur company-wide by around 2% to 3% on menus throughout 2025.
CFO Raj Vennam said it would “be more in line with inflation.”
Olive Garden menu prices already increased by 1% in 2023.
Cardenas stressed that Darden Restaurants had “done a lot of work on keeping prices low” and would “continue to do that” despite the increase.
“Operators that deliver their brand promise and value will continue to appeal to consumers despite economic challenges, and that’s what we’re focused on doing,” he said in a June earnings call.
Some competitors aren’t fairing as well with changes in consumer habits.
Another Italian-American restaurant chain quietly filed for bankruptcy recently and confirmed the closure of 13 locations.
Another Italian restaurant with 200 locations also abruptly closed a single restaurant with little warning this summer.
