Olive Garden may not be the most authentic Italian restaurant out there, but we love
it nonetheless.
On the surface, Olive Garden may seem pretty straightforward, they have an interesting
past.
It's time to discover these interesting facts you never knew about Olive Garden.
You may not think of breakfast when you think
of Olive Garden, but there's an interesting connection there.
Specifically, the connection between Olive Garden and breakfast cereal giant General
Mills.
But this isn't about Lucky Charms and Cheerios.
General Mills is also responsible for the creation of Olive Garden.
Back in 1970, General Mills entered into the restaurant industry when they bought Red Lobster.
As Red Lobster became a success, General Mills decided to expand upon their restaurant endeavors
and open up Olive Garden.
Although Olive Garden became a thriving business, General Mills eventually decided to get out
of the restaurant industry.
In 1995, Olive Garden, and the other restaurants owned by General Mills, were spun off into
a new independent company owned by stockholders called Darden Restaurants Inc.
Some restaurants start out as small, independently
run businesses that naturally turn into chain restaurants over time.
That wasn't the case for Olive Garden.
When General Mills started the restaurant it was with the intentions of turning it into
a chain.
The first Olive Garden opened its doors in 1982 in Orlando, Florida and by 1989 Olive
Garden had already opened up 145 locations.
With over 100 location openings in less than ten years, Olive Garden's business was thriving,
turning it into a popular dining staple among Americans.
Whether it's the comforting all-you-can-eat salad and breadsticks or the familiarity of
the dining experience, business is apparently still thriving for Olive Garden, with over
800 locations throughout North America.
The first rule most people are taught when
cooking pasta is that you have to salt the water.
By adding a pinch of salt, the pasta is able to soak it up during the cooking process,
which enhances the overall flavor.
This is a fundamental step that is looked down upon when skipped, and Olive Garden found
that out the hard way.
They faced some serious backlash when shareholder Starboard Value called them out on skipping
the crucial ingredient, which was one of many complaints during a 300-slide presentation.
So what was Olive Garden's reasoning for not salting?
The pots.
Apparently, the company claimed that adding salt would ruin the warranty on their pots.
Putting that to the test, Huffington Post conducted their own experiment to see if this
was true.
According to their experiment, if you add salt to the water when it's boiling it can't
react to the oxygen in the water, thus saving the pot.
Sounds like Olive Garden could use a little cooking advice here or there.
With unlimited breadsticks as an option, do
you ever wonder just how many breadsticks Olive Garden serves in a year?
In 2014, they served about 675 million.
That may sound like an astounding amount of bread, but that equals out to about three
breadsticks per customer, per visit.
"I love bread."
While the customers may absolutely love them, not everyone in the company is happy about
the number of breadsticks being served.
Starboard Value, the same investor that was unhappy about the lack of salt in the pasta
water, felt that serving a whopping 675 million free breadsticks is too much.
They were also not pleased with the quality of the breadsticks themselves, stating that
after seven minutes, the breadsticks went stale which resulted in massive quantities
of food waste.
While they recommended serving one breadstick per customer, the unlimited breadsticks are
still being offered for now.
Were you a fan of Olive Garden's Pastachetti ? What about their Soffatelli?
While these may sound like delicious authentic Italian dishes, Olive Garden made them up.
While the chefs responsible for these creations may (or may not) have taken inspiration from
Italy, you won't find these dishes anywhere but Olive Garden.
Unfortunately for Olive Garden, customers weren't fans of the unfamiliar dishes featuring
gourmet sounding ingredients.
In fact, the lack of consumer interest in the menu items was partly to blame for two
quarters of disappointing sales.
Due to the failure of these menu items, Olive garden decided to get back to the basics with
traditional Italian dishes and promote actual Italian food with familiar names their customers
would recognize.
The Olive Garden Culinary Institute of Tuscany
does in fact exist in Italy, but it's not what its name makes it out to be.
What they suggest is a type of cooking academy where Olive Garden chefs are trained, is more
along the lines of a retreat for managers.
An anonymous Reddit poster who claimed she attended the institute as an employee explained
that it is nothing more than a hotel that Olive Garden reserves for managers and chefs
during the off season.
While Olive Garden employees do have access to the hotel's kitchen if they choose to utilize
it, there is no school there.
Most employees spend the entire time sightseeing rather than training.
The Redditor wrote: "The only time we saw the 'chef' was when
she made a bolognese sauce while taking pictures with each of us to send to our local newspapers."
Millennials may take the blame for killing
the chain restaurant industry, but one chain restaurant they aren't killing is Olive Garden.
Along with avocado toast and rosé wine, millennials apparently really love Olive Garden.
According to Food and Wine, Olive Garden's sales have soared while other restaurant chains
are taking a big hit, and part of that is due to their faithful millennial clientele
about 30 percent of their patrons are millennials.
So while competing chain restaurants like Applebee's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and TGI Fridays
are seeing sales plummet, Olive Garden's business continues to thrive.
"Olive Garden?
I gotta admit I’ve never been to the Olive Garden.
" "...oh man."
So what is it about Olive Garden that attracts millennials?
Perhaps it's the beloved chicken Alfredo, or the unlimited salad and breadsticks.
Whatever it is, millennials love it and that is good news for Olive Garden.