Olive Garden employees have admitted they are being ‘annihilated’ by the chain’s ‘Never Ending Pasta Bowl’ special.
A customer triggered a discussion on Reddit when they asked on how the promotion, which gives customers unlimited bowls of pasta for $13.99, is affecting workers.
‘As a customer getting it during busy hours servers tend to screw you because you have to wait and wait, never able to get past 3-4 refills. As a server you get backed up and have to make more trips than it’s worth,’ the post creator wrote.
The user did not clarify if they had ever worked at the chain, but the post received many responses from employees admitting they are struggling with the deal.
‘Our kitchen got absolutely annihilated last night, and the pasta bowls were a pretty major cause of that,’ one worker wrote.
‘I worked over the weekend and it was so bad,’ another person claimed. ‘Kitchen was super backed up and food runners were running out half of the orders out, some cook quit cause he couldn’t handle it.’
‘I had a table get 12 pasta refills, 15 salad refills, and 6 bowls of soup. and the dishwashers also have it pretty bad,’ another worker responded.
‘As a server it’s been kicking our butts,’ another person said.
Olive Garden’s $13.99 ‘Never Ending Pasta Bowl’ deal returned on August 25
Employees claimed kitchens have been hectic due to the ‘Never Ending Pasta Bowl’ special
The deal, which has been the same price since 2022, returned to Olive Garden restaurants on August 25.
The 30-year-old promotion includes unlimited servings of four pastas — fettuccine, spaghetti, angel hair and rigatoni — paired with six sauces, plus meatballs, chicken, or sausage can be added for $4.99.
Olive Garden’s unlimited soup or salad and endless breadstick deals are also included.
The restaurant chain typically launches the deal at back-to-school time, when families are facing more expenses.
This year, the offer runs through November 16.
Despite some workers admitting they are struggling with the deal, others said that some customers do not actually end up getting a second portion at all.
‘I haven’t had anyone get more than one refill. Some even haven’t gotten any. I’d way rather just ring in pasta refill and run it than get soup/salad/bread refills,’ an employee wrote on the Reddit thread.
Last year, the promo helped the chain to post a 2 percent sales increase in the three months ending November 24, after suffering four straight quarters of declines.
The 30-year-old promotion includes unlimited servings of four pastas — fettuccine, spaghetti, angel hair and rigatoni
The deal, which has been the same price since 2022, returned to Olive Garden restaurants on August 25
Some workers admitted online that they are struggling to keep up with the deal
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Experts are uncertain if the ‘Never Ending Pasta Bowl’ will cost $13.99 forever, but they have concluded that it ‘drives traffic to stores.’
The pasta bowl offer came months after Olive Garden rolled out delivery from its almost 900 restaurants across the US.
The orders are priced the same as in restaurant menus, and can be ordered through its website or app.
Olive Garden has been thriving this year even though it was recently dethroned as the nation’s top restaurant chain.
Its fourth quarter sales grew by 6.9 percent to $1.38 million — driven through deliveries and promotions like its ‘Buy One, Take One’ deal.
Darden Restaurants, the chain’s parent company, is planning to open about 20 Olive Garden locations by next year.
Its sister chain, LongHorn’s Steakhouse, will also expand following its successful sales growth.
Fellow sister chain Bahama Breeze was not so lucky, however, and is now in the process of offloading its remaining restaurants.
The chain had initially planned to shutter only a third of its locations following its sharp earnings decline.
Now, Darden is exploring the idea of selling the brand entirely, or turning them into other company-owned brands — including Olive Garden.