Olive Garden is bringing back two dishes that used to be popular among customers to its menu in an effort to improve its sales. Olive Garden has 900 locations and will soon offer Steak Gorgonzola-Alfredo and Stuffed Chicken Marsala again.
These dishes were once removed from the menu during the pandemic when the menu was reduced. According to Rick Cardenas, the CEO of Olive Garden’s parent company, Darden, the dishes will return with even better ingredients. This announcement was made at the meeting for managers in August, and it was met with a lot of excitement and applause.
Olive Garden is changing its menu after its financial results were not as good as expected in the third quarter. Sales at stores that had been open for a while decreased by almost 3%, and the number of people visiting the stores also dropped. This decrease occurred after the Fourth of July, and the total number of visitors fell by 5% compared to the previous year.
Company leaders in Darden mention that bad weather, more COVID cases, the Olympics, and political problems were to blame for the poor results. To boost business, the chain is improving some of its popular menu items and extending its “Never-Ending Pasta Bowl” deal for three more weeks.
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According to Cardenas, this promotion is a favorite among people, regardless of their income levels. He also said many more people are taking advantage of these deals than usual this year.
Customers who are fans of Olive Garden were upset for a long time because they could not get their favorite pasta, dishes, and breadsticks delivered to their homes. These dishes were not available for delivery. However, there was good news last week. Olive Garden now provides food through delivery services like Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Before this, the restaurant did not want to use delivery services because it wanted to keep a direct connection with its customers. However, things have changed now. They have changed their mind and signed a two-year partnership with Uber, and now they have Olive Garden To Go. This move made their loyal customers very happy.
One customer commented on Twitter, now X, “Great news for food lovers.” Another customer commented, “Now I can get my breadstick craving at home too.”
However, earlier this summer, Olive Garden upset some of its customers by raising prices even though it was not selling much food. In June, executives said that prices at Olive Garden and other restaurants owned by the same company, Darden, increased by 2.5 to 3%. The CEO, Rick Cardenas, also mentioned that they do not want to be like their competitors. They would not be offering their special deals to customers who are struggling with inflation.
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The CEO was referring to rivals like Chili’s. Chili’s has a deal where customers can get an appetizer, entree, and a drink for $11. Applebee’s is also another rival restaurant. It offers a 2 for $20 deal. These casual dining restaurants are now competing with fast-food companies, Which also have special offers to attract customers who are spending less on eating out because prices have been increasing for a while.
Fast-food chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s all offer a $5 meal with a burger, chicken nuggets, fries, and a drink. KFC also changed its menu. It also has a $5 meal but does not come with a drink.
Popular sandwich chain Jimmy John’s is also offering a $10 meal that includes a sandwich, drink, chips, and desserts like cookies or brownies. White Castle has reduced the price of its famous sliders to the cheapest in 10 years. It is offering ten sliders for $7.99, which is over 30% off the normal price. Even Starbucks joined in by offering a breakfast combo of coffee and food starting at $5.