Couple Names Baby After Olive Garden

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t fallen in love with Olive Garden’s breadsticks and endless soup and salad, but one couple loves the restaurant so much that they have chosen to name their daughter after it.

Justin and Jordan Garton recently announced that they will be naming their firstborn after their favorite restaurant, the father-to-be taking to Twitter to make the announcement writing “We spent the first part of our lives loving [Olive Garden], now we get to spend the rest of our lives loving Olivia Garton.”

To be fair, the name wasn’t chosen with the intention of honoring the beloved Italian restaurant. The expectant parents were searching for a name to honor Jordan Garton’s Italian heritage and had thought over several options, including “Olive,” before settling on “Olivia.”

“When we first said it out loud together, it was so beautiful, and we both knew at that moment that was the right name for her,” Jordan Garton told Food and Wine. “We didn’t directly name her after Olive Garden, but I can say there was an intentional connection. As we went through a few more names, we considered ‘Olive.’ We both got a kick out of the pun ‘Olive Garton,’ given our history with the restaurant, but we wanted it to be a bit more subtle. Kids can be cruel, if you know what I mean, and Olivia rolled off the tongue a bit better with her middle name: Michelle.”

The two picked up a fondness for Olive Garden after they hit a bit of a rough patch and were struggling to afford groceries. They purchased Never Ending Pasta Passes and ate at Olive Garden almost every day for six weeks, during which time they became friends with some of the staff.

Baby Olivia Garton is expected to arrive on Dec. 6, and her parents are already planning on celebrating her arrival with, you guessed it, Olive Garden.