The Unspoken Limits Of Olive Garden's Unlimited Breadsticks - Chowhound (2024)

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The Unspoken Limits Of Olive Garden's Unlimited Breadsticks - Chowhound? ›

While the staff might not mention it as you walk in, if they catch someone sneaking breadsticks into their bags to take home, they won't provide them with free refills anymore. This rule is in place to emphasize that the free breadsticks are meant to enhance your dining experience and not for free takeaways.

At Olive Garden, the unlimited breadsticks are probably even more famous than the food itself — and for a very good reason. Although it's had plenty of opportunities to clamp down on its free breadstick policy over the years, Olive Garden is still sticking fast to its guns today.

Starboard Value LP, a shareholder with an 8.8% stake in Darden Restaurants, has raised concerns related to the endless bread- sticks and salads being offered to customers at Darden's Olive Garden restaurants. According to this major shareholder, these practices have led to food waste and reduced profitability.

The famous Olive Garden breadsticks are once again sesame-free. The popular chain restaurant recently switched suppliers, so the customer favorite is made with flour – with no added sesame. Olive Garden was among several national eateries with bread products that suddenly contained sesame as of the end of 2022.

Leftover breadsticks end up in the trash

After a resounding "heck no," the Olive Garden employee assured Redditors that uneaten breadsticks are always thrown out — or, sometimes, eaten by staff. In any case, they are not — and never would be — served in a new basket to a different table.

According to servers on Reddit, the only instance when customers are denied free refills is when they're caught stuffing food into their bags for later. As long as you consume the breadsticks on the premises, the only limit is your own appetite.

Additionally, fruit juices, as well as Olive Garden's Caffe la Toscana all include endless refills, as well. Not every location will offer free refills on anything but soft drinks, though, so you'll want to check with your server before requesting a top-off.

Olive Garden does its best to make you feel welcome with some free salad and breadsticks — you get hungry and decide to order some food, and you leave the restaurant feeling satisfied while Olive Garden makes a profit. It's a win-win situation all around.

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.

"It's not 100 percent chicken, and the chicken that comes on the never-ending pasta bowl is actually canned chicken. Or, canned mystery chicken." However, Olive Garden told Eat This, Not That! the claims about canned chicken aren't true and that absolutely none of the chicken served at the restaurant comes from a can.

Does Olive Garden use real butter on their breadsticks? ›

There is no dairy in our breadsticks or in the breadstick topping.

Despite the rumors about the Franz breadsticks, it seems like Turano is the true supplier of Olive Garden's garlicky appetizer. Darden has previously praised the partnership with Turano, particularly when it comes to the quality of the breadsticks. In 2000, Darden awarded Turano with the William B.

Store your Olive Garden breadsticks in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag for up to 4 or 5 days in the fridge. You can also freeze them in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months.

Heat your leftover breadsticks in the oven for 7-10 minutes at 350 °F (177 °C) for the best results. You can also use a microwave or air fryer to revive leftover breadsticks. Season your leftover breadsticks with garlic salt and butter to add some flavor back into them.

The soups are made in-house daily—but all the desserts are frozen. The pasta, however, is made to order. The restaurant only uses microwaves for heating dipping sauces and warming desserts. Otherwise, everything is pan fried, deep fried, or grilled.

Every Olive Garden restaurant participates in the Harvest program, which has been in place for 20 years. Each day, restaurants collect high-quality surplus food that was not served to guests and donate it on a weekly basis to local nonprofit partners.

According to Olive Garden's menu, the lunchtime Alfredo is around 650 calories, while a dinner portion is closer to 1,310 — nearly double the size of the lunchtime serving.

Olive Garden's "V" symbol on its menu indicates that a particular dish is vegetarian, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's vegan — though some items are vegan-friendly. Vegetarian cuisine foregoes meat and animal byproducts but typically includes dairy and eggs.

Fresh, Never Frozen

Olive Garden has an industrial-sized bread maker that cooks the dough flawlessly and keeps those golden brown beauties warm until they are served. A fresh batch of breadsticks is cooked every 15 minutes, so you're always guaranteed a hot one.