Current Events > Olive Garden's endless pasta thing is back...

(+) Yeah! (+)

Starts today if you're in their eClub and next Monday if not.

I now open the floor to how much you hate eating there.

Literally all of it is Microwaved from a bag. I can buy their Salad dressing now so they don't have anything special now.

Tour of Italy is still nice to get once in a while though.

That's cool and all but how much pasta can you eat? By the time my entree arrives, I'm half stuffed from the unlimited breadsticks. >_>

GATTJT posted...

That's cool and all but how much pasta can you eat? By the time my entree arrives, I'm half stuffed from the unlimited breadsticks. >_>

Pasta is super filling too so I can't eat much more than a single serving anyways.

Now endless shrimp at Red Lobster is a good deal

I'd probably out away two bowls of chicken Alfredo and be done-zo

GATTJT posted...

That's cool and all but how much pasta can you eat? By the time my entree arrives, I'm half stuffed from the unlimited breadsticks. >_>

I plan it very carefully when I go so I can get through like five bowls on a good day.

I work there, it's my first endless pasta.

Not looking forward to my first day with it lol.

MC_BatCommander posted...

Now endless shrimp at Red Lobster is a good deal

Shrimp I can do all day lol

Solid_Sonic posted...

I plan it very carefully when I go so I can get through like five bowls on a good day.

Damn, that's impressive. I might be able to do two if I fast all day and go for a late dinner.

Solid_Sonic posted...

I plan it very carefully when I go so I can get through like five bowls on a good day.

Damn

They do sort of cheat you because the first bowl you get is a full-size bowl so you won't want to keep going after the first refill (which are all smaller bowls).

What I do is not eat anything going in then only ask for refill-sized bowls from the get-go. I can almost always go for at least three like this (and more if I'm really hungry). I don't think I've ever left unsatisfied as a result, which is why I like when this rolls around.

Solid_Sonic posted...

They do sort of cheat you because the first bowl you get is a full-size bowl so you won't want to keep going after the first refill (which are all smaller bowls).

What I do is not eat anything going in then only ask for refill-sized bowls from the get-go.

That's similar to an endless/bottomless promotion I went through while working at IHOP.

Endless pancakes, I think it was. I believe it started with 4 and every refill afterwards was 2.

Kradek posted...

That's similar to an endless/bottomless promotion I went through while working at IHOP.

Endless pancakes, I think it was. I believe it started with 4 and every refill afterwards was 2.

Makes sense from a business perspective. I dont want to give you four and then you only end up eating one

Kradek posted...

That's similar to an endless/bottomless promotion I went through while working at IHOP.

Endless pancakes, I think it was. I believe it started with 4 and every refill afterwards was 2.

And then they refuse to fucking refill you :(

The last time I did it I decided that I was going to get all of the sauces, I knew the first bowl trick, so I picked my favorite sauce first (5 cheese) and then left the alfredo for last since I knew it was going to kill my appetite after I ate it. I managed to make it through and was ridiculously stuffed, decided that was something I never needed to do again. We were there on Saturday and I just ordered a regular order of 5 cheese and only finished half of it, was looking at it like "how the heck did I eat all that pasta".

ChocoboMogALT posted...

And then they refuse to fucking refill you :(

No we didn't.

Trust me, I wish what you were saying was true lol.

But a shit ton of people getting endless refill of pancakes did lead to waiting times.

Solid_Sonic posted...

I now open the floor to how much you hate eating there.

Olive Garden, and I'm being serious here, causes me to poo blood for about a week after eating it. Eating there is a terrible experience on all levels, so I've avoided it all costs for years.

I did a Taco Bell 20 taco package one time as a challenge with a friend. Made it through 18 tacos. Felt terrible for like a day and a half.
I think he finished all 20 but also felt like shit.

PoopPotato posted...

I did a Taco Bell 20 taco package one time as a challenge with a friend. Made it through 18 tacos. Felt terrible for like a day and a half.
I think he finished all 20 but also felt like shit.

I can do like 12 at once (so a single party pack) but I don't push my luck.

PoopPotato posted...

Makes sense from a business perspective. I dont want to give you four and then you only end up eating one

Now I'm wondering how many pancakes you'd need to eat for IHOP to start losing money.

Lokison posted...

Literally all of it is Microwaved from a bag. I can buy their Salad dressing now so they don't have anything special now.

Tour of Italy is still nice to get once in a while though.

From what I heard, at minimum the food is cooked fresh but they store them in the refrigerator.

Prestoff posted...

From what I heard, at minimum the food is cooked fresh but they store them in the refrigerator.

Yeah, I see plenty of cooks actually cooking the foods, but there are times they use the microwave. The lasagna is an example, which I don't know if that's just cause it's frozen or cause they're melting the cheese for the aesthetic, however the noodles at least are cooked.

Kradek posted...

I work there, it's my first endless pasta.

Not looking forward to my first day with it lol.

How do you feel about the cheese grater...

Some waiters/waitresses seem to just laugh along when we make the inevitable joke about "yes, more cheese lol" because it can be a little embarrassing for everybody so you know... But last time we went, we heard the waitress (whom we'd never seen before) saying to herself "they always laugh at us" in an eye-rolling, head-shaking, over-it kind of way as she walked away. We weren't really laughing at all actually, there was just friendly ha-ha to keep it light and not awkward.

So do you guys get made fun of for having to do that? Do you protest it or resent having to do it or is it just... whatever?

LoveLikeJazz posted...

How do you feel about the cheese grater...

Some waiters/waitresses seem to just laugh along when we make the inevitable joke about "yes, more cheese lol" because it can be a little embarrassing for everybody so you know... But last time we went, we heard the waitress (whom we'd never seen before) saying to herself "they always laugh at us" in an eye-rolling, head-shaking, over-it kind of way as she walked away. We weren't really laughing at all actually, there was just friendly ha-ha to keep it light and not awkward.

So do you guys get made fun of for having to do that? Do you protest it or resent having to do it or is it just... whatever?

Doesn't bother me at all. I love cheese and enjoy spreading its goodness.

The jokes do tend to get repetitive and stale, but nothing that would actually upset me.

I admittedly do that sometimes myself. When everybody except one person at a table gets cheese I'll unusually refer to them as "a rebel" because the vast majority of people definitely want cheese. The table tends to laugh at it and that's what matters, though at this point it's kind of reflexive and automatic on my part.

Some people get oddly invested into it on a very personal level, though.

This one elderly woman told me she was tipping me more specifically because I remembered she didn't want cheese for her soup refills.

Not complaining or anything, it just felt odd that that would be something that was worthy of an extra tip.

I also always make sure to bring a fresh block whenever I take the grater and question how my coworkers can just take random graters that look like they have basically no cheese left. I make it a point to never run out at a table and so far only 1 that I can remember came close to taking the entire block.

That's also a go-to joke when they bring up the cheese, usually asking if I made sure I have enough.

PoopPotato posted...

I did a Taco Bell 20 taco package one time as a challenge with a friend. Made it through 18 tacos. Felt terrible for like a day and a half.
I think he finished all 20 but also felt like shit.

Must have been an absolutely disgusting shit

Kradek posted...

Doesn't bother me at all. I love cheese and enjoy spreading its goodness.

The jokes do tend to get repetitive and stale, but nothing that would actually upset me.

I admittedly do that sometimes myself. When everybody except one person at a table gets cheese I'll unusually refer to them as "a rebel" because the vast majority of people definitely want cheese. The table tends to laugh at it and that's what matters, though at this point it's kind of reflexive and automatic on my part.

Some people get oddly invested into it on a very personal level, though.

This one elderly woman told me she was tipping me more specifically because I remembered she didn't want cheese for her soup refills.

Not complaining or anything, it just felt odd that that would be something that was worthy of an extra tip.

I also always make sure to bring a fresh block whenever I take the grater and question how my coworkers can just take random graters that look like they have basically no cheese left. I make it a point to never run out at a table and so far only 1 that I can remember came close to taking the entire block.

That's also a go-to joke when they bring up the cheese, usually asking if I made sure I have enough.

This particular waitress I overheard also stopped grating on her own, rather than "say when" so it definitely seemed like something she hated doing. And even though I'm the customer and have every right to, it would've felt rude to ask her to continue when she clearly didn't want to. So yeah maybe it's an isolated incident but I had to ask because I'm pretty sure the conversation of the cheese grater comes up at the table every time I've ever been at an Olive Garden lol

I'm ready to slop up that pasta.

Kradek posted...

Yeah, I see plenty of cooks actually cooking the foods, but there are times they use the microwave. The lasagna is an example, which I don't know if that's just cause it's frozen or cause they're melting the cheese for the aesthetic, however the noodles at least are cooked.

I'm texting my friend who used to work there. He was a waiter, but even he knew the policy that Olive Garden had regarding "microwaving" but he did tell me that all the food there had to be cooked fresh so at minimum those foods in the bags to "microwave" had to be fresh.

From what I understand, pasta is cooked. It's lasagna that is microwaved.

Kradek posted...

No we didn't.

Trust me, I wish what you were saying was true lol.

But a shit ton of people getting endless refill of pancakes did lead to waiting times.

Hey, I'm sorry. But the two times I've tried to do the endless pancakes I was lucky to get one refill. It was slow at night and clearly the waitress was just ignoring us. Maybe the kitchen was behind or something, but couldn't even get drinks refilled.

I've never been. I kind of want to go.

TerraSeeker posted...

I've never been. I kind of want to go.

Is there one close by to you?

Fuck you, Olive Garden!
I've relayed my Olive Garden/Sarah Hyland traumatic experience to CE before. Fuck that place

Its shocking how trashy people love Olive Garden, this cuts across all races. Shit is packed every night.

Ruvan22 posted...

Is there one close by to you?

Yeah, but I'm poor.

I love all you can eat, but some restaurants suck at it. I remember going to Applebee's when they had some all you can boneless wing or other chicken thing going on. After the initial serving they would literally bring you two pieces. It was like ten bites of food, at best, so I ate it faster than the kitchen could do the refill. I left with out even eating as much as I wanted because I spent more time waiting for the food than eating it.

Red Lobster has a phenomenal all-you-can-eat. Especially with the dragon shrimp, which is way too good. It literally is cheaper to get the all-you-can-eat and order two different shrimps from there, even if that is all you eat, than ordering the pick-two.

KiwiTerraRizing posted...

Its shocking how trashy people love Olive Garden, this cuts across all races. Shit is packed every night.

Nothing wrong with Olive Garden, cool out

i ordered 4-cheese spaghetti (for some reason) and it literally looked like a pile of bloody fluids on my plate. i love spaghetti but this looked so fucking gross! tasted like lasagna i guess :/

the spinach and artichoke dip that was served was actually rotten, the server agreed. with a "dont worry didnt charge you for that" not a "omg so sorry your entire meal is free"

so, needless to say, i am literally never, ever. ever. ever going to love garden again <3

get fucked olive garden you are the worst

Olive Garden was gourmet shit when I was young (poverty lol). Still tastes good, but not as good as my alfredo.

LoveLikeJazz posted...

Nothing wrong with Olive Garden, cool out

Its microwaved, a frozen meal is the same quality but cheaper.

same quality? I can actually eat some frozen dinners. I can't say the same for rancid appetizers and pasta that literally looks like a giant pimple exploded on my plate.

KiwiTerraRizing posted...

Its microwaved, a frozen meal is the same quality but cheaper.

Well I don't even get pasta when I go anymore tbh, I get the grilled chicken margherita and it has always tasted fresh and unlike anything I can easily make at home. I enjoy it.

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