Endless breadsticks, secret menu hacks and a pasta school that may or may not be real—Olive Garden has more secrets than a bottomless bowl of Alfredo. Here's what the chain doesn't want you to know.
18 Secrets Olive Garden Doesn’t Want You to Know
Updated on Mar. 13, 2025
The Tuscan Cooking School isn’t what it seems
Olive Garden may have started in sunny Florida in 1982, but it has always leaned hard into its authentic Italian branding. One of the most famous claims? That it sends employees to a prestigious Olive Garden cooking school in Tuscany, Italy, to master the art of Italian cuisine. Sounds fancy, right? Well … don’t pack your bags just yet.
Former Olive Garden server Dana Anquoe, who worked at the chain until 2015, says the “Culinary Institute of Tuscany” wasn’t exactly a boot camp for breadstick artisans. Instead, the company allegedly sent only franchise owners and regional higher-ups on what was mostly a promotional trip. They did meet with an Italian chef, but they also did a lot of sightseeing.
As to whether this still happens, that’s a mystery even to Olive Garden employees. “I’ve never heard of that happening,” says current server Marshall Owens. So is this an elite pasta academy or just a glorified business retreat with extra Chianti? We’ll let you decide.
There are no “chefs” at Olive Garden
According to a 2011 social media post from a former manager, those lucky enough to attend the Culinary Institute of Tuscany were taught by an official Olive Garden chef, given a fancy chef’s coat and encouraged to share their wisdom with their restaurants back home. Sounds impressive—except for one tiny detail.
“There isn’t a ‘head chef’ or really even any chefs in the restaurant,” says Anquoe. “The kitchen is staffed with line cooks who do all the food handling and cooking.”
Believe it or not, cooks and chefs are two different things. Line cooks do some basic cooking (more on that below), but they aren’t crafting recipes or whipping up pasta from scratch.
That said, franchise owners are trained in every part of the restaurant, Anquoe adds, “so if they needed to jump in and cook, they could.” Technically, your fettuccine Alfredo could be prepared by a business executive in a crisp white coat—just don’t expect them to toss the pasta while talking with an Italian accent.
There’s a formula for how many breadsticks you get
Olive Garden’s breadstick policy isn’t just “take as many as your heart desires” (though, let’s be real, that’s the dream). According to Anquoe, the first basket follows a strict equation: one breadstick per person, plus one extra for the table. After that, it’s one breadstick per person per refill—unless you ask for more. (There are people who don’t ask for more?)
So how many breadsticks do people usually eat? According to Owens, the average diner goes for two or three, but he once had a customer polish off more than 50 breadsticks in one sitting. “He just loved the breadsticks that much, I guess,” Owens says.
The restaurant almost limited the breadsticks
Olive Garden’s bottomless breadsticks are legendary, but in 2014, they almost went extinct. Investors, concerned about the chain “losing hundreds of thousands of dollars” in free bread, put together a 300-slide presentation (yes, 300 slides) arguing that the restaurant should start rationing those garlicky treasures.
Thankfully, Olive Garden took one look at the PowerPoint snoozefest and said nope—and the policy remains in place to this day.
The breadsticks are good only for seven minutes
If you’ve ever tried to take your breadsticks home, only to find them sadder than a microwaved leftover, there’s a reason for that. Owens and former employee Enrique Macias confirm that breadsticks stay good for about seven minutes after hitting your table. “When they’re warm, they’re amazing,” Owens says. “But I’ve eaten way too many cold breadsticks, and at that point, they just taste like … well, stale, cold bread.”
You can ask for an extra order of free breadsticks to go
Technically, Olive Garden’s “unlimited” policy applies only while you’re at the table—but there’s a little-known breadstick backdoor. According to Macias, most servers will sneak you free breadsticks to go if you ask nicely. “We routinely did this—it was an easy way to make people happy,” he says.
That means you could leave Olive Garden with a warm bundle of garlicky goodness in your purse, ready to enjoy in the comfort of your own home. Just don’t wait longer than seven minutes, or reheat before you eat!
You can’t dine on free breadsticks alone
Thinking about turning Olive Garden into your personal all-you-can-eat free breadstick buffet? Nice try. Servers have seen it all—and they’ve got a system in place to stop the freeloaders.
“We were told not to bring breadsticks until after a table had placed an entree order,” says Anquoe. “Ordering just an appetizer, drink or dessert wouldn’t cut it.”
That said, enforcement varies. “It really depends—I’d give people free breadsticks if they asked for them,” admits Macias. If you’re feeling bold (or charming), you might just get lucky.
You can get freebies through the rewards program
Don’t sleep on the Olive Garden rewards program. Members get a free appetizer and dessert on their birthday, plus access to rare coupons and promotions. “Typically, Olive Garden doesn’t do a lot of coupons, but when they do, that’s where you’ll find them,” Anquoe says.
Bonus: Rewards can be used at any of Olive Garden’s sister restaurants, including Yard House, Bahama Breeze, LongHorn Steakhouse and even Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Because nothing says “fine dining” like Olive Garden–funded filet mignon.
If you split the bill, you can use two coupons at once
Want to double-dip on discounts? Olive Garden’s system allows only one coupon per bill, but there’s a simple workaround: Split the check. “Our system only lets us apply one coupon per transaction, so if multiple diners have rewards or coupons, they should ask for separate checks,” Anquoe says. “Some servers will be nice and do it automatically, but it’s better to ask up front.”
Yes, it requires a little extra math, but when it means twice the discounts, it’s worth it.
The best time to eat is weekdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
If you want the best bang for your buck, aim for weekdays between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. This is when Olive Garden offers its Early Dinner Duos—a special that includes a small entree, unlimited soup or salad, and breadsticks for just $8.99.
But if you ask Macias, the real pro move is going right when the restaurant opens (usually around 11 a.m.). “It’s less crowded, and the food is fresher,” he says. Because nothing kills an endless pasta buzz like having to wait 45 minutes for a table.
The pasta water is unsalted
In the world of Italian cooking, not salting pasta water is basically a crime—but Olive Garden deliberately skips this step. Why? According to several social media posts, it could void the warranties on their specialized pasta cookers.
Yes, you read that right. It’s not about taste—it’s about pot warranties. But considering the sauces and other goodies tossed in with your pasta, you probably can’t tell the difference.
Some of the food is frozen, including the breadsticks
Not everything at Olive Garden is made fresh daily. While the soups and sauces are made in-house, many appetizers and all desserts arrive frozen.
Even the famous breadsticks? Yep. “We would get the breadsticks parbaked, so we just had to heat them up in our ovens,” Anquoe says.
The good news? The pasta is always made to order, and the restaurant uses microwaves only for heating dipping sauces and warming desserts. Everything else is grilled, pan-fried or deep-fried.
The menu is not entirely authentic
The menu is “Italian-inspired”—which is corporate speak for “not exactly what Nonna makes.” In 2012, the restaurant admitted that some of its menu items aren’t exactly traditional. For instance, you won’t find Tour of Italy or Chicken Alfredo in any centuries-old Tuscan cookbook.
That creative freedom works in the chain’s favor, though. “They make some really delicious seasonal specials that mix a variety of cuisines,” says Anquoe. Her personal favorite? Shrimp Fritto Misto, a lightly fried shrimp and veggie dish that actually exists in Italy.
You can seriously customize your meals
One of the things Macias says he wishes more customers understood is how much you can customize your meal—”the options are almost limitless.” Olive Garden has a huge menu, but you can easily finagle it to create your own dish if you can’t find what you want to eat. For example, it is possible to order discontinued items like Chicken Fettuccine Florentine or non-menu items like Italian sodas—if the restaurant has the right ingredients on site. Other swaps, such as changing ravioli fillings or sauces, are little-known hacks that could make your order even better. And no, doing so isn’t a rude restaurant habit.
Fish lovers can order seafood on the cheap
One budget-friendly way to customize your meals and increase your intake of protein and healthy fats is to order a side of salmon. “It’s the same size as the entree salmon, but it’s only, like, $8—way cheaper than the entree, and you can add it on to any meal,” Anquoe says.
Adults pay extra for kiddie meals
Once upon a time, sneaky diners discovered a loophole: ordering a kids’ meal to get a cheaper entree, plus unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks. Well, Olive Garden caught on. “You can still order a kids’ meal, but now you have to pay extra for the sides,” Anquoe says. So unless you’re really craving four bites of mac and cheese, it’s not the savings hack it used to be.
You can bring your own wine (but you probably won’t want to)
If you have a very specific bottle of wine that just has to be paired with your pasta, good news—you can bring your own wine to Olive Garden. The catch? The restaurant will hit you with a corkage fee of around $7 just to open it.
Before you go lugging in a bottle from your pantry, consider this: Olive Garden is very serious about wine. “They’re really proud of their wine program,” Anquoe says. With more than 25 varieties ranging from “light and sweet to dry and full-bodied,” you might find your new favorite on the menu.
Not sure what to pick? You can order a wine flight with three small pours for a small fee. That sounds way classier than smuggling in a bottle of Two-Buck Chuck.
If you don’t tip, your server has to pay the difference
This isn’t just an Olive Garden thing, but it’s a huge secret servers want you to know: If you don’t tip, your server might lose money on your meal.
Here’s how it works: Servers make as little as $2.13 per hour in some states, and they’re expected to make up the difference between that and minimum wage in tips. But at the end of the night, they also have to tip out 10% of their sales to the kitchen staff, bussers and hosts—whether they got tipped or not.
“So if you stiff us, we still have to pay the tip-out from our own pocket,” Anquoe explains. “That means we literally paid for you to eat here.”
Next time you’re debating whether to tip, remember: That unlimited breadstick magic doesn’t happen for free.
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Sources:
- Dana Anquoe, former Olive Garden employee with five years of experience; phone interview, March 5, 2025
- Enrique Macias, current Olive Garden employee with two years of experience; phone interview, March 5, 2025
- Marshall Owens, current Olive Garden employee with four years of experience; phone interview, March 4, 2025
- The Guardian: “Olive Garden investor cries ‘too many breadsticks and not enough wine'”
- Time: “Olive Garden Admits Making Up ‘Authentic’ Italian Dishes Like Pastachetti”
