- Olive Garden, the Italian restaurant owned by Darden Restaurants, was founded in Orlando in the ‘80s and quickly found a loyal fanbase in part because of its “never-ending” first course, which includes unlimited breadsticks. While unlimited breadsticks have now become a staple of the company’s brand, the dish was actually first offered as a way to occupy customers after long wait times to receive their meal.
Olive Garden’s unlimited breadsticks are beloved by its loyal customers more than any other menu item, but few know the treasured appetizer was originally adopted to keep them busy.
The breadsticks have been a staple of Olive Garden’s Italian-style fare since 1982, when the first restaurant was opened on International Drive in Orlando. An immediate success, the restaurant enjoyed a far better crowd than expected on that first day, but food took longer than expected to leave the kitchen, an Olive Garden spokesperson told Fortune.
On the restaurant’s second day, it was just as busy, and the restaurant team made a decision that would later become a staple of the brand: to give the customers refills on breadsticks, for no extra cost, while they waited for their meals to arrive. While alarm bells rang and kitchen staff struggled to make enough sauce, customers munching on free breadsticks were satisfied.
“It made guests really happy, but it also helped the kitchen catch up since servers could get them themselves,” Jaime Bunker, Olive Garden’s senior vice president of marketing, told CNN.
Soon after, the company added soup and salad for customers purchasing an adult entrée to enjoy in the restaurant.
“Olive Garden’s Never-Ending First Course was born,” the spokesperson said.
While the breadsticks have always been popular with customers, the way Olive Garden managed them wasn’t always a hit with investors. In 2014, hedge fund Starboard Value released a 300-page presentation criticizing Darden and Olive Garden. In the document, the investor said servers were bringing out too many breadsticks at once and claimed the breadsticks had declined in quality so much as to be compared to hot dog buns. After a proxy battle, Starboard replaced Darden’s board of directors and made significant changes to the company’s restaurants including Olive Garden, but kept the unlimited breadsticks as a staple.
More than 40 years later, the company’s bottomless breadsticks go hand-in-hand with the brand’s identity and are a big part of why customers have made Olive Garden one of Darden Restaurants’ most profitable brands, said Fordham University adjunct professor of Hospitality Marketing Stacy Ross Cohen.
Olive Garden accounted for $5.21 billion in sales in fiscal 2025, making up about 43% of Darden Restaurants’ revenue for the year, and 47% of its total segment profit over the same period. Of all the company’s brands, which also include Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and LongHorn Steakhouse, Olive Garden has the most non-franchise locations at 935.
Customers have come to expect the breadsticks and keep coming back in part just for the experience, Ross Cohen told Fortune.
“The breadsticks are something that make people feel recognized. They make them feel important. They feel cared for,” said Ross Cohen, who is also CEO of marketing agency Co-Communications.