How "Unlimited" Are Olive Garden's Unlimited Breadsticks?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 พ.ย. 2023
- Weird History Food is getting the family together and going down to get the History of Olive Garden. Originally called "The" Olive Garden, everyone's favorite destination for unlimited breadsticks and salads was actually a creation of corporate behemoth General Mills. So how has Olive Garden stayed so popular and relevant for decades? Let's carb-load this video on the OG
#olivegarden #foodhistory #weirdhistoryfood - บันเทิง
My mom used to work at the Olive Garden in the late 1980s… I literally grew up eating Olive Garden almost every day with all the leftover breadsticks, spaghetti, etc. she would bring home every night at the end of her shift.
Would you still eat it?
You lucky son of a gun!
Free food doesn’t mean good food
@@loganking1957 what MORMANS Don't eat OG
Nowadays they make you trash all the leftover food usually....sad.
The food at Olive Garden isn't something that'll wow you, but no matter what Olive Garden I have traveled to, I meet really great people working there. They're either very helpful since I have trouble grasping glasses and silverware (stupid illness) or they'll make sure I don't have to travel far to get to things. Some even go ahead to make sure I can grab the bathroom door. This has been EVERY. Olive Garden. I don't ask for this. This just happens. I don't think this is in their training. It's always just wonderful people.
It makes me comfortable eating at an Olive Garden because that means the food isn't going to make me sick and the staff isn't going to make me feel like I'm a freak in a wheelchair. It's one of my "safe zones" I can eat at. I don't have many of them. We can joke about the place all we want, but in the end... I am just really grateful it exists and continues to thrive.
You're not wrong, I've had the same experience. The staff are friendly, happy (outwardly, at least), and always go above and beyond, no matter what location I go to.
I'm very jealous, every Olive Garden I have been to gave me food poisoning. I wish I could enjoy it.
@@Lomhowbased
They tend to have excellent hiring practices.
I served and bartended at an Olive Garden for almost 3 years. At one point I become a certified trainer, training the new servers as they were hired. It is no coincidence that Olive Garden has consistently friendly and helpful staff! The training process is very extensive. They actually do teach and encourage different ways to talk to people, and respond appropriately to guest concerns. Olive Garden employees will do just about damn near anything for you, because that’s what they’re trained to do!
As an employee there we do the one per person plus one to keep them from going stale and wasting them. If we bring out a ton they get hard and people ask for fresh ones. We’ve always had that ratio as long as I’ve worked there since 2015. It’s completely unlimited it’s just to make sure we’re not being wasteful
It may also have something to do with the outrage several years ago about uneaten breadsticks being sent back out to new tables. But many restaurants do that so they don't waste the bread.
Y'all are just skimping to save bread money. Lol.
I have to give a shout out to the waitress at the Olive Garden in Athens, Georgia. I wish I remembered her name. I was going through a hard time, caring for my FIL who was dying of cancer. It was my one night off in seemingly forever.
I guess I looked… well… bad. The waitress sat down across from me and asked if I was okay. I burst into tears. This super kind woman sat and talked to me between every stop at a table. She listened to me cry and talk about this person I loved who was dying.
Her kindness was so appreciated, so unexpected. I’d say they really did make me feel like family, except that my own family was never so kind.
Love this, and can definitely relate to alot of your story. Lovely but also a bit sad that many times strangers are more kind, understanding, and caring than our own loved ones/family members.
@@jencrecelius3565 I should’ve been more clear. This was my father-in-law dying, and my (remaining 😢) in-laws and husband are wonderful. My sister-in-law cared for him for 1 1/2 years. I just moved in for the last few months. We hadn’t yet switched to hospice (he wasn’t ready to give up), but he needed someone there at all times. I couldn’t leave my SIL to do it after a long day at work (she’s a surgeon). So I only ran out on errands for things like prescriptions. Shes the one who insisted I just GO.
When I said “my” family, I mean my parents/siblings. My poor husband got a completely raw deal when it came to in-laws. On the plus side, both my parents are dead, so we don’t even have to think about it and choose not to help. 😆
Wow! Did not expect the show to start off with General Mills creating the restaurant.
God created light, General Mills took care of the rest
I remember getting the all you can eat pasta at my local olive garden in high school. They wouldn't tell me what the record at that location was until I was done, so I kept pushing through. At 13 bowls, I was told I fell 1 bowl short of beating the record. If only I hadn't also eaten breadsticks I could have managed it darn it!
This man could narrate a documentary on paint drying and I'd listen because he would still find a way to make it entertaining...😊
When I click on a video and he’s not the narrator, I immediately jump ship.
The science behind paint is actually really interesting just saying
true
I would love a video about the history of bricks.
@@lakrids-pibeask Wendover!
Just enough sass, just enough humor, just enough facts to keep me watching...bravo, you've found the formula.
I just needed to tell you that the Never Ending pasta bowl began in 1995, not in 2012. I went to Olive Garden often with my aunt as a special treat during my childhood. I was positive it began prior to the new millennium, so I looked it up and it began in 95. It appears it went away for a few years in the early 2000s and then returned in 2012
Thank you for commenting this!!! I was thinking, there is NO way it started in 2012, I remember it from when I was a kid!
I would really love it if you would do a rise and fall of ponderosa. My mom worked at one when I was a kid and I absolutely loved that place. It was great!!! Ponderosa steak house. One of the greats gone too soon
My family went there too. It was always delicious, especially their buns. We didn't have alot of money, so it was always special when my parents took us .
I second the motion
That and Bonanza, miss those places.
I loved both Ponderosa and Bonanza. Couldn’t figure out what seasoning was on those steaks!
Yes please. Used to go to Ponderosa all the time.
Man I love this guy. My two favorite subjects in one channel. History and FOOD ❤😂
As a Millenial, the only reason I ate anywhere decently during college was the unlimited breadsticks. Go in, get the cheapest item on the menu, and just load up on bread.
Was it healthy? No.
Was it affordable during the worse economic time in America since the Great Depression? Yes.
"decently"? - lol full of fat and carbs.
Why not go to the store and get a loaf of bread?
@@MikeFarnhamGalaxysEdgeGrouppretty sure they don't care haha
As a broke college kid in the 2000s, Olive Garden was the one place you could take a significant other out to someplace semi-nice as a freshman or sophomore without having to hit the parents up for a loan after 😂
haha loser
To me, OG has always been a place for good memories. Me and my daughter went throughout her whole life to get soup, salad and breadsticks w a side of Alfredo sauce to dip. To go w girlfriends to eat and catch up. Family dinners, etc. You don’t go for Michelin star quality, you go for a fun time w loved ones.
As a New Zealander who’s never been to an olive garden this story was actually extremely interesting as you always heard about this place from TH-camrs etc.
I went a few times to olive garden in a few different states. I really don't care for it.
I'm used to eating real Italian foods. Growing up in nyc, there's a lot of real good mom and pop Italian places.
True story. My best friend and i were hungry around lunch time, and spied the local olive garden. We decided we wanted moderately priced Italian food, and went in. We both ordered, and waited. First bowl of salad and basket of bread sticks arrived. We ate both.
The waitress came back and asked us if we wanted more, and since our entrees had yet to show up, said "yes please."
Ate the second bowl of salad and second basket of bread sticks.
Waitress came back again, and asked us if we wanted more. We asked after our entrees, and were told "not sure, the kitchen is slow today." Asked for more salad and bread sticks.
Ate both again. This time when the waitress came around, we just asked for more bread sticks. Our entrees eventually came, and we ate the bread sticks by dipping them into the marinara sauce. Ended up asking for doggy bags, as we filled up on free salad and bread sticks.
That will teach them to be slow in the kitchen!
Smosh olive garden skit was perfect to use in this video. Ian getting cheese all over his mouth by shayne was top tier comedy.
I was solely responsible for soup salad and breadsticks for 2-3 years at an OG and there were so many times where I was the only person in the restaurant making food as lunches frequently attracted hordes of value seekers.😂😂😂.
I can't believe the amount of people I had to train that just couldn't comprehend how to make a salad to save their lives lol
Handful of lettuce
Sprinkle of onions
2 slices tomato
2 olives
That's it! 😂😂
I saw someone cut themselves on a tomato slicer which still baffles me to this day how someone could pull that off
I've heard that their food comes in plastic bags and is heated up in a water bath. Is that correct?
@@BELCAN57 As a line cook, though not at Olive Garden, I can verify that it wouldn't be a problem at all if it was sous vied. The issue at that point would be the quality of the product that was frozen in the first place.
I love the Olive Garden! It's like eating in the kitchen of a delightful Italian stereotype!
Can I just add that it's a tragedy that the combined restaurants folded? The thought of "Unlimited Soup, Salad, and Cheddar Bay Biscuits" got me feelin' a certain way.
I took my Italian friend to Olive Garden. The next day I went to start my car: It exploded.
Far from Italian
The Biscuits are unlimited you fool
When I hear this narrator I feel home. Happy weekend.
I worked for Olive Garden when I was 16 in the mid 80's. We had a professional saucier that would come in weekly to make all the sauces. All our pasta was made in house daily. I came into work after just less than a year to to see all our hand made stuff being thrown in the trash. And everything was boil in bag premade crap after that.
I quit that day.
Doubt
@@WoodenFilms You doubt that they worked at an Olive Garden?
Olive Garden definitely changed their recipes as the company grew in size changing to prepackaged ingredients.
I remember this happening to Pizza Hut. I used to love 90s Pizza Hut when they were an actual sit down restaurant with a salad bar. Pizza Hut's ingredients now also come prepackaged, as this keeps costs down but also lowers the quality of the food.
@@WoodenFilms Your intelligence? Yes, we all doubt that...
@@Facetiously.Esoteric I doubt about quitting that very day.
i worked at Olive Garden from 2010-2014. We had a morning prep cook that prepped all of the Soup and Sauces for the hot saute station. I believe they still do. But yes, they use the Barilla box pasta for their pasta dishes. There are no Chefs and no cooking experience is needed to work there.
The endless soup and breadsticks were around before the makeover. Soup, Salad and breadsticks(S/S/B,) all you can eat WAS $4.95 when I started in ‘96
On the show Will & Grace there is an episode called "I Never Promised You An Olive Garden."
They would hang out with a couple that would go to Olive Garden and talk about how it was better every time.
I have the same experience they do!
This Narrator will forever be the GOAT
Anything is pastable...I love the OG for what it is. Nothing more nothing less. 🍝
I am from Canada. I MISS Olive Garden. They all closed down in Ontario. Please come back to Toronto Olive Garden!! YOU ARE GREATLY MISSED!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rise and Fall of Dog n Suds. It was a drive UP place, way before there were drive thrus. They put a tray on your car window, the waitress brought your food to your tray. I loved it as a kid!!!
Do one on the Golden Coral please. They should have a monthly membership.
I know it's not real Italian food, but it's still a fun place to go with friends/family and enjoy some decent Italian inspired food.
I worked as a server through college. I started out at Macaroni Grill and was the opera singer. Then I went to Carrabba's, always having a lower opinion of Olive Garden. Then I worked omy last server gig there and discovered that their servers did not have to do side work.... WTF, I wish I had been more open-minded.
Olive Garden is quite consistent too. And they usually have great staff. When I was going away to college, my parents took me to Olive Garden before they left town. The waitress was so nice, and at the end of dinner she packed up my food, and sent me back to my dorm with extra soup, salad, and breadsticks so that I could "eat well in the dorms". What a gem.
Haven't been called Gen Y in a long time, feels good, thank you. Also I wanna give a shout out to Lee Roy Selmon's Steakhouse for having the best pre-dinner bread option in the form of their bbq-butter basted dinner rolls. One of the new times I tried to replicate something from a restaurant at home.
YAHOOOO it's our narrator! Keep it weird, friend! (The editing is also top-notch and pretty hilarious!)
"When you're here, you're family.... but we're still gonna charge you for the food."
I respect the fact he acknowledged that anything given to Jimmy Fallon is a waste
If they do away with unlimited breadsticks there’s no reason to go to Olive Garden
That clip of the guy pouring cheese into the other guys mouth made my day! 😂
4:13 You never know what cheddar biscuit is gonna be your last tbh
I absolutely love their fettuccine alfredo. The salad and bread sticks are also great but something about their fettuccine alfredo is different than most places. More flavorful
This! Especially with chimken
Yeah this restaurant is on my to do list when I visit America
Someday
WHY???? Do something fun, like BucEe's, or Five Guys, or In N' Out ... the list goes on.
I moved from Atlanta to Columbus, OH in Feb 2022. The first weekend I lived here, I knew no one and nothing about the area. I decided to go to an OG and eat my dinner at the bar. A few minutes later a couple sat down next to me, both people ordering the unlimited soup. One member of the couple proceeded to berate his spouse for an entire hour, while scarfing down bowl after bowl of zuppa toscana. The spouse never said a word, just gingerly sipping on spoonfuls of minestrone. It was the most bizarre thing ever.
Why would you watch them do that? I don't know but that seems kinda weird and a little sad. But hey, who am I to judge anyone else in a world where everyone around me is being a little judgemental, and I'm normally fine in the real world. 😮
I actually have the model of TV in the intro. I bought it new in 1993, and still have it hooked up to a VCR, a PS1 and sometimes the Atari! 😆
"when you hear those simple words, you either walked on to your own episode of intervention or...." im absolutely dead 💀💀💀
This is a great channel. I love the topics and the narrative is top notch!
A+ video!
LOVE IT! Love Olive Garden too!
Breadsticks and soups are cheaper to make than salads too.
The Never Endng Pasta Bowl started in 1995 and you got a menu with a number of pasta types and sauces from which to choose, and then you could choose meat toppers (like chicken breast, meatballs, or sausage links) for an extra $$$. Unlimited salad AND breadsticks were the deal from Day 1. Further, in the beginning, the breadsticks were made fresh in the entryway in a booth to one side of the door. A "chef" would make the dough, roll out and cut the sticks, put them into a brick oven, and then dress them with the garlic butter. Wait staff would buzz in and out constantly to get refills while everyone waiting for a table would watch (and smell) the work, increasing sales through "appetite enhancement"…
I’m Italian-American, grew up in northern NJ, & dined regularly at mom & pop Italian restaurants, so I refused to go anywhere near an Olive Garden for most of my life. Since I caved a few years ago & started visiting the local OG, I have to admit their eggplant parm is one of the best I’ve ever tried. Also, I got a lot of takeout from OG during the pandemic, & think the breadsticks actually taste BETTER a few days later.
Not sure how I stumbled upon this video, but it was well done; great research and great presentation.
Olive garden is what i and probably many ppl call it "Fast Food Italian". If you like olive garden. Good on ya hope you keep enjoying it. But if i want good italian food ill have my nana make me some. Also love the narrators voice! 😁😎👍🏼
Olive Gardens breadsticks and Red Lobsters cheddar bay biscuits are S-tier food items
What is S-Tier food items? I'm kinda curious about the background on that ??? Just wondering....
They lost me at 1 breadstick at a time' it may technically be unlimited still but it doesn't feel like it anymore' no one wants to shout to get a waiters attention just to get a single breadstick.
JUST IN TIME FOR STIXMAS!!!!!!
They don't always do that they brought 4 to my table last night for me and my date
I went by myself with my toddler and brought out a basket of 6-7 breadsticks, we ate maybe 3? 1 at a time is dumb, but I kind of get it! It’s wasteful.
I love to go to Olive Garden with my son. In our family only he and I like it. I can and do make most of thier fare at home but sometimes it's nice to just go have someone else make it. I make a really good version of the Pasta Fugoli. I make spaghetti sauce from scratch as well it's amazing as pasta topping, lasagna filling and pizza sauce. Alfredo is very simple to make at home as well.
Absolutely love Red Lobster 🦞❤
I was not expecting to see Smosh clips in this video LMAO
Post Malone always looks like the guy who passes out at a party and spends the rest of the night being written on like a living guest book. Personally I've never been one for The Olive Garden - wait times too long, too noisy inside and the food was just middle of the road. Far too many local mom & pop options in my area with much, much better food.
The bread sticks aren't that good anyway. Cheddar biscuits from Red Lobster however are fantastic
Hey, that was Katina DeJarnett at 7:50. Professional speed eater. StG, it feels like every week you guys either raid my library or my YT history. 🤣 Keep it up!
Makes me feel like I’m watching food network 15 years ago. Love it
$4.25 for some spaghetti and meatballs that actually tasted good. Those were the days *sigh*.
The breadsticks/ alfredo sauce for dipping and the famous salad with that home made dressing....my favs😋
Initially, when unlimited breadsticks premiered, they'd give you a good amount. Over the years, they started skimping on those things. They were all like, "stop eating so much bread; we have other people eating here." They never said that, but that was the vibe. I remember they would once bring out this big old basket of breadsticks, then that number shrank every time you visited until this one time they brought me like two pieces of bread wrapped in that little napkin. Also, that waiter would disappear after the second refill. You wouldn't hear from him ever again. Ha, ha. I started eating healthier and haven't eaten there in like ten years. It's funny to think about now.
Im absolutely laughing my ass off at the Jimmy Fallon "Wasted Gift" comment.
The last and final time I went to Olive Garden, the waiter told us that “the manager went to go get more breadsticks and should be back in two hours if you still want them.” He also brought me my drink at the end of the meal with my check.
Let's not forget there was also Romano's Macaroni Grill, which is another CLEARLY competing restaurant chain to this. Wasn't that owned by Chili's, I seem to remember? Then there's Carabba's, which I believe was owned by Outback. Seems there's lot of these kinds of chains of restaurants that are all based on the Olive Garden/Red Lobster idea.
Carabba's isn't bad, actually. Macaroni Grill is okay too. Those would never be my first choices but they're not bad
Is it just me did the breadsticks get super salty a couple years ago? I haven’t been in a while because the prices were getting out of hand.
Yeah, I noticed that too, though I also haven't been for a few years. My guess is they intentionally added salt to make them less desirable in order to reduce the number of "unlimited" bread sticks they served...
Or to increase drink sales.
It fully depends on the person salting the breadsticks. Sometimes too much, sometimes too little 🤷♂️
@@bubzilla6137Theres no grand scheme. 🤦♂️ It all depends on who’s salting the bread before they go into the bread warmer.
The turnaround at those places is insane. I trained people on bread there and we had a lot of people walk off when it got too busy quite often. It seemed like every month I had to train a new bread person.
The line cooks had a new guy just about every week too but you typically knew the first day if they were sticking around or not. Hell, most people walked out before the end of the dinner rush😂😂😂
Olive Garden aka the Italian Dennys
i love this channel !
The new jack swing was a nice touch when introducing the 80s period of olive garden
What about the fact that a lot of their dishes are served from giant frozen trays that are just portioned and microwaved days and days later…
Hey still tastes fine.
Like I’ve been to Italy and ate at a couple 5 star restaurants and it literally tasted just like Olive Garden so maybe it’s a shared technique lmfao
Lol at 8:42 I wasn’t expecting to see my local Olive Garden / Red Lobster combo (that is now just OG) from my small town
Bread is very filling, so unlimited bread sticks is an advertising gimmick, since one can only eat so much bread before feeling stuffed.
Zuppa soup, salad & bread sticks…. In that order 😂
1:43 I made cocktail sauce from the tomatoes in the garden, it turned out really great!
I knew a guy in high school who tested this. The limit he got was 85 breadsticks.
*goes onto TH-cam absolutely plastered and reads the thumbnail* :”Well let’s FUCKIN find out then!”
i used to work maintenance at knead dough baking company IE "turano" i highly suggest not eating the bread sticks. watching the packaging and production made me open my eyes to restaurant breads and all other business that have unlimited options.
good luck all of you
(I wish they would bring this one back to the menu): my favorite Olive Garden menu item was the Lobster Cannelloni with Shrimp
In the early days, OG seemed pretty good. Then as time went by, it didn't feel so special, & I began to feel the food was only "ok" for a big price. Maybe I just got older & wiser. I eat at home a lot now. When I do eat out, I choose carefully.
😃 Great videos !
I'm a Gen Z, and I still visit Olive Garden from time to time. Most of it is nostalgia, but the value of Olive Garden is actually pretty decent in this economy. $20-$25 for most entrees, with unlimited soup and breaksticks, big portions, is a deal. Not the best food, and I don't go in expecting an "authentic" italian experience, but it's a great change of pace. I usually have enough to bring leftovers back home. Nowadays I feel like I'm getting a terrible value at most restaurants and sometimes leave hungry, unless I spend a fortune.
I've noticed that the food as well as the service varies drastically from location to location.
I've never been to an Olive Garden and am not sure I ever will go. There were none in the area I grew up. In university, there was a local Italian restaurant I went to instead. Now, I'm not going to restaurants at all for financial reasons. Once I get my finances back in line and can start going again, I won't go because there are a number of local Italian restaurants in my new city.
Darden knows what's up with the free bread at its restaurants. They all have a cult following - cheddar bay biscuits, OG breadsticks, Longhorn's honey wheat bread, and now Cheddar's honey butter croissants. Too bad they changed the recipe of the croissants, they're garbage now. But overall Darden has made a great success of using cheap bread as a brand identifier.
Geriatric Millennial here. I grew up in an heavily Italian city and we never chose to go to Olive Garden over the better local places. It's fascinating to me that folks my age have some weird love of the place, but most haven't been spoiled by small local restaurants.
I’m Jimmy Fallon and I’m an actual living ‘Tickle me Elmo’ toy.
My pregnancy craving is there soup and salad! I love the fusilli soup yum 😋
Is it gourmet? Heck no. Is it comfort food? Yes!
Olive Garden is okay but I LOVED Buca De Pepo. There was one in Cincinnati, Ohio I frequented. Made a lot of new friends too. As Buca De Pepo. did a unique thing (that would never work today) Strangers were sat (if they agreed) with each other at gigantic tables. Everyone would order what they wanted but was served like you were all at mom's dinner table. Plates for everyone and huge pots of desired food. Which was encouraged to be shared amongst everyone. Shame that was not still available today.
Old breadmaker here. The fastest OG could pump out bread sticks is every 5 minutes due to the cooker timer. Not to mention delay in applying a dash of seasoning / transporting.
If you're an expert and can manage 6 trays within that timeframe. You're looking at 96 bread sticks every 6 minutes or so.
If you can somehow slam 16 bread sticks per minute.
You'll out eat the entire restaurant
Company standard has always been 1 per guest and one for the table on initial basket, one per guest on refills. Servers should ask if you want refills on everything that’s refillable. (Soup, salad, bread, dipping sauce, NA Beverages like coke)
Not the Smosh videos 😂😂😂😂
I have to vote for Old Spaghetti Factory instead of Olive Garden, because I love ones endless loaves of warm bread and butter. Although they are both equally average and yet still good in a nostalgic way.
Your soundtracks are 🔥
11:44 I remember that celebration, there were Planet Fitness hats everywhere.
That is the best casual gym!
Thanks for this! 🥖
As a Chyicagolander, I can definitively say that Olive Garden is the McDonalds of Italian restaurants.
I used to love olive garden, it was a real treat when i was in high school and younger,. But as the years have gone on, the quality has dropped and now the bread sticks are so salty that i can't even eat them. There are a few dishes i can stomach, but i actively avoid it if i can. Sad, because they used to be really good.
Best part of this video is the Katina cameo
I live just a few blocks away from the original location, it’s a Brazilian restaurant now. As a little kid I liked olive garden and I don’t really have any ill feelings towards the place even if it is a bit meh but I was surprised to learn it started in Orlando and that I live so close to ground zero.
Awesome and cool! ^_^
Me likey breadsticks!
Me likey breadsticks!
You're a big girl now, stop it. 😂😂😂