Olive Garden facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Olive Garden

Formerly	The Olive Garden (1982–1998)
Type	Division
Industry	Restaurant
Genre	Casual dining
Founded	December 13, 1982; 42 years ago (1982-12-13) in Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Founders	Blaine Sweatt Mark Given Gino DeSantis Dave Manuchia
Headquarters	1000 Darden Center Drive Orlando, Florida 32837
Number of locations	900+
Area served	United States Puerto Rico Guam Aruba Brazil Canada Costa Rica Ecuador El Salvador Mexico Panama Philippines Kuwait Saudi Arabia
Key people	Dan Kiernan (president)
Products	Italian-American cuisine
Parent	General Mills (1982–1995) Darden Restaurants (1995–present)

Olive Garden is a popular American casual dining restaurant chain. It is known for serving Italian-American cuisine. The company is part of Darden Restaurants, Inc., which has its main office in Orange County, Florida. Olive Garden is a very important part of Darden's business.

The Olive Garden restaurant in Times Square, New York City, 2003

The Story of Olive Garden

Olive Garden first started as part of a company called General Mills. The very first Olive Garden restaurant opened its doors on December 13, 1982. This first location was in Orlando, Florida. It was founded by Blaine Sweatt, Mark Given, Gino DeSantis, and Dave Manuchia.

By 1989, there were 145 Olive Garden restaurants. It was one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains for General Mills. The restaurants quickly became popular. Olive Garden soon became the largest chain of Italian-themed restaurants in the United States.

A plate of chicken scampi from Olive Garden

In 1995, General Mills created a new, separate company called Darden Restaurants. Olive Garden became part of this new company. In 1998, the restaurant chain changed its name from "The Olive Garden" to simply "Olive Garden." They also introduced a new slogan: "When you're here, you're family."

Growing and Changing

In 2011, Darden Restaurants announced plans to open more than 200 new Olive Garden locations. They also planned to expand into new countries, especially in the Middle East and Asia. This was a big step for the company.

Olive Garden also started to offer online ordering in 2014. They also introduced smaller lunch portions for customers. By 2018, Olive Garden was the largest casual-dining restaurant chain in the United States based on total sales.

How Olive Garden Advertises

Olive Garden has used different slogans over the years. Their first slogan was "Good Times, Great Salad, Olive Garden." This was when they focused on offering unlimited salad. Later, when they added unlimited soup and breadsticks, the slogan changed to "When you're here, you're family." In 2013, the slogan became "We're all family here."

Never Ending Pasta Bowl

In the fall of 2013, Olive Garden started a special promotion called the "Never Ending Pasta Bowl." During this event, customers could eat all the pasta they wanted for a set price. It was very popular, and the restaurant served over 13 million bowls of pasta!

In 2014, they added the "Never Ending Pasta Pass." This pass allowed customers to eat unlimited pasta for seven weeks for a single price. Only a limited number of these passes were sold online. This "Pasta Pass" promotion has continued every year since then. In 2019, they even offered a "Lifetime Pasta Pass" to a very small number of lucky diners.

The Tuscan Institute

Olive Garden's advertisements sometimes mention a cooking institute in Tuscany, Italy. While there isn't a formal school, Olive Garden does send some of its managers, trainers, and cooks to Tuscany each year. They stay in a rented hotel and visit a local restaurant to learn more about Italian cooking.

Where You Can Find Olive Garden

Olive Garden restaurant in Fair Lakes, Virginia

Newer Olive Garden restaurants are designed to look like a farmhouse in the town of Castellina in Chianti, Tuscany. This design is inspired by a real farmhouse on the grounds of the Rocca delle Macie winery. This farmhouse is also home to the Riserva di Fizzano restaurant, which is connected to the company's Culinary Institute of Tuscany.

As of February 13, 2022, there are 922 Olive Garden restaurants around the world.

The interior of an Olive Garden restaurant in California, Maryland

Olive Garden restaurants can be found in many countries outside the United States:

Olive Garden restaurant at Tocumen International Airport, Panama City, Panama

Country	Details
Aruba	The first Olive Garden in Aruba opened on June 21, 2022.
Brazil	Olive Garden opened its first restaurant in Brazil in 2014 at the Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo. There are now several locations in São Paulo and Campinas.
Canada	You can find Olive Garden restaurants in cities like Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, and Langley.
Costa Rica	There are 3 Olive Garden locations in Costa Rica.
Ecuador	The first Olive Garden in Ecuador opened on March 22, 2022, in Guayaquil. There are now two in Guayaquil and one in Quito.
El Salvador	There is one restaurant in San Salvador, at La Gran Vía.
Mexico	As of March 2024, there are 13 Olive Garden locations in Mexico. You can find them in Greater Mexico City, Cancún, Guadalajara, León, Querétaro (city), and the Monterrey metropolitan area.
Panama	There are 5 locations in Panama as of 2024, including two at Tocumen International Airport.
Philippines	Olive Garden opened its first restaurant in the Philippines in 2020 at Ayala Malls Manila Bay. There are also locations at Mall of Asia and The Verve, BGC Taguig.
Saudi Arabia	There is one restaurant in Jeddah.

What's on the Menu?

Olive Garden serves many kinds of Italian-American dishes. These include different pasta dishes, steaks, and salads. The company is famous for its breadsticks, which are a big part of its lunch menu. Olive Garden also says that its soups and sauces are made fresh every day in each restaurant.

In June 2010, Olive Garden started offering smaller dessert portions called "dolcini." These were similar to the "mini-indulgences" offered by its sister restaurant, Seasons 52.

Animal Welfare Efforts

Olive Garden's parent company, Darden, has made promises about how the animals used for their food are raised. In 2016, Darden announced that by 2018, they would stop using eggs from chickens kept in battery cages in their U.S. restaurants. They also promised to stop buying pork from farms that use crates for pigs by 2025.

In 2022, Darden expanded its promise to include all Olive Garden locations, both in the U.S. and internationally, by 2027. Darden also announced in 2019 that by 2023, they would stop buying chicken from farms that use certain types of antibiotics. These steps show their commitment to improving animal welfare.

See also

In Spanish: Olive Garden para niños

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