Pasta lovers likely shouldn’t be holding out hope for the return of Olive Garden’s Never-Ending Pasta Bowl. The beloved deal, which sees customers scoring unlimited servings of their favorite pasta combinations, has been absent since 2019, and according to the Italian restaurant chain’s leadership, isn’t likely to return due to its “negative impact.”
The fate of the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl was teased during a Q2 earnings report on Monday, Dec. 20. During the report, Rick Cardenas, CEO of Darden Restaurants, Olive Garden’s parent company, shared some positive news for the chain’s sales. According to Cardenas, and as reported by Business Insider, Olive Garden sales were up 5.2% over the same period in 2019 and 29% over 2020. That good news isn’t necessarily good news for the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl, though, with Cardenas revealing that “we don’t know if or when we’ll bring it back.”
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Addressing the possibility of leaving the promotion in the dust, Cardenas noted that current sales are beating the last time the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl was brought back to the menu. During that period in 2019, sales were dipping, but the promotion only prompted a 1.5% increase in sales. Cardenas explained that moving forward, Olive Garden was choosing to “reduce dependency” on deals like the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl, as “we know [Never-Ending Pasta Bowl] was a negative impact over the years.” Cardenas added that Olive Garden has “never-ending abundance every day with our never-ending first course,” referring to the chain’s never-ending soup, salad, and breadsticks.
The Never-Ending Pasta Bowl was first introduced more than 20 years ago and has become a fan-favorite promotion over the course of the following years. Under the deal, diners headed to Olive Garden have the chance to eat endless amounts of pasta for just $10.99. The deal is so popular that in 2018, Olive Garden introduced the Never Ending Pasta Pass, which allows holders to have unlimited accesses to Never Ending Pasta Bowl for eight weeks for the price of $100. It was also available in an Annual Pasta Pass, allowing customers the chance to eat their way through their share of pasta for an entire year for just $300. The deals, however, have since phased out, and the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl has been absent since 2019.
While fans will ultimately have to wait to see if the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl ever makes a return, they can rest easy knowing that never-ending breadsticks don’t seem to be at risk. In fact, Olive Garden just launched a new Christmas-themed breadstick promotion, encouraging people to leave out breadsticks for Santa instead of cookies. To take part, Olive Garden fans can order “breadsticks for Santa” from the Olive Garden website starting at $4.29. The breadsticks come with unbaked along with instructions on how to prepare them at home.
