The end of Olive Garden’s Never Ending Pasta Bowl deal may have already happened.
Unlimited pasta was last served at the Orlando-based chain in 2019.
“As we look forward, we don’t know if we’ll bring and when we’ll bring Never Ending Pasta Bowl back because we have a never-ending abundance every day with our never-ending first course,” said Rick Cardenas, chief operating officer of Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants. Olive Garden is known for its unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks.
Cardenas will become Darden’s CEO in May with the retirement of Gene Lee, the company revealed Friday.
In 2019, unlimited servings of pasta started at $10.99. A $100 pass that allowed 24,000 customers to eat unlimited pasta for nine weeks also sold out in what the company described at the time as “milliseconds.”
The first 50 customers who completed their transaction were able to upgrade their pass for another $400 to get the deal for life.
Never Ending Pasta Bowl did not take place in 2020 because of the pandemic, Darden spokeswoman Jessica Dinon said. She added there have been no changes to the lifetime pass.
On an earnings call Friday, executives praised Olive Garden, which has nearly 880 restaurants, for improving sales by 5% in the quarter that ended Nov. 28 compared with the same period in 2019.
“We’re really proud of the fact that we comped over two years ago without Never Ending Pasta Bowl running,” Cardenas said.
He attributed Olive Garden’s success to productivity.
“We just got better at serving the guests when they came in the restaurant,” Cardenas said. “Our to-go business stayed strong, which is a very productive business for us.”
The promotion’s “profitability wasn’t as high as the guests that we’re doing today,” Cardenas said.
“We decided to reduce that, the dependency on Never Ending Pasta Bowl, this year because we didn’t need to drive volume into our restaurants,” he said.
In addition to Olive Garden, Darden also owns LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze and Eddie V’s.
