The popular bottomless meal deal returned in October 2022 after a three-year, pandemic-prompted hiatus.
The pasta-palooza returned again last fall with similar results.
It’s happening right now, through Nov. 17.
Photo: Olive Garden/Facebook. Design: Eat This, Not That!
For the uninitiated, the deal gives you unlimited refills of a select number of menu options.
So, yeah, abundance and value are clearly part of the deal.
But, what about the other part?
Chris Shott for Eat This, Not That!
Is Olive Garden’s pasta actually… craveable?
I stopped into my local Olive Garden to see for myself.
Where I live in Brooklyn, N.Y., the never-ending promo costs a bit more than at other locations.
Chris Shott for Eat This, Not That!
The starting price is now $15.99one dollar more than last year.
Tack on $4.99 if you want the added meat options.
The Crispy Chicken Fritta is a recommended topper on the menu, so I went with that, too.
Chris Shott for Eat This, Not That!
Using a kitchen scale, I weighed the bowl both before and after eating.
The look: A hefty but not entirely intimidating portion of pasta and protein to start.
The taste: Uninspiring to say the least.
Chris Shott for Eat This, Not That!
While the chicken was crunchy and enjoyable, the pasta itself left a lot to be desired.
But, that does allow you the opportunity to sample some of the noodles without sauce.
This so-called signature dish delivered a big thud.
Chris Shott for Eat This, Not That!
I ordered this duo as one of my refills.
The look: Rich and hearty, albeit more modest in size.
The rigatoni looked fairly standard: tubular with visible ridges.
Chris Shott for Eat This, Not That!
The meat sauce came red and chunky with tiny morsels of meat, tomato, and onion.
Like the Alfredo, it arrived generously garnished with herbs.
The taste:Sweet, savory, and lightly garlicky.
The meat sauce is an improvement, flavor-wise, from themilquetoast Alfredo.
The problem, yet again, is the pasta.
And arguably no dish better representsAmericanized riffs on Italian cookingin general like the ubiquitous spaghetti and meatballs.
I ordered this one as my first order upon my second visit.
The look:Another plentiful heap, this one almost entirely red.
Three golf ball-sized orbs sat atop this considerable jumble of noodles.
The pasta appeared to be more widely coated in sauce than prior bowls.
The taste:Sweet and tangy but unmemorable.
The meatballs were pillowy, bready, and very mild in flavorno “spicy meatball” here!
(My apologies toAlka Seltzer).
And the noodles, again, came ultra soft.
The taste:More interesting than others but still a bit underwhelming.
The biggest surprise here was the pasta.
Angel hair is far more delicate than other noodle varieties, making it even more susceptible to overcooking.
Yet, these lighter strands offered a little more firmness and bite than the bigger shapes.
Most respectable pasta of the entire lineup.
Olive Garden also spreads a creamy mushroom sauce over its regular chicken marsala fettuccine.
The saucier (if Olive Garden even employees one) obviously went a little overboard on this one.
It’s the only pasta bowl so far wherein no noodle is left uncovered.
I counted at least six slices of real mushroom in the creamy mix and greenery galore on top.
The taste:Creamy and delicious.
And the angel hair again demonstrated that it’s the noodle to beat in this somewhat limited lineup.
Even so, I can’t say I walked away craving more of this stuff.
There’s really one dish that actually hit that high mark.
The look:Fresh and vibrant.
The taste: Habit forming.
This zesty and refreshing salad had more zip than any of the saucy pasta dishes in the entire promotion.
That, my friends, is the very definition of craveable.
Maybe that’s why Olive Garden’s pastas are so bland.
They’re designed to bring your palate back down to earth after all that heavenly flavor upfront.
The “never-ending first course” of that truly craveable salad is included with that, too.
An earlier version of this article was published in November 2023.
It has been updated to include the latest information.
