Olive Garden Announces Its Annual Unlimited Pasta Pass

The restaurant chain ups the ante on all-you-can-eat carbs.

By Ethan L. Johns
August 21, 2018

Image: Olive Garden

How much pasta could a pasta eater eat if a pasta eater could eat unlimited pasta?

That is the hundred-dollar question surrounding the release of Olive Garden’s Never Ending Pasta Passes, which go on sale to the general public on Thursday at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. This year, in addition to the standard pass, the chain has made an annual pass available for those who want 52 weeks of unlimited pasta.

The release of the Never Ending Pasta Pass has become something of an event in the world of casual dining, coinciding with the start of a bottomless pasta bowl promotion. Last year, the 22,000 passes available sold out in less than one second.

This year, Olive Garden has made 1,000 more passes available to ravenous rigatoni eaters, for a total of 23,000. Each pass costs $100 for eight weeks of unlimited pasta, unlimited soups or salads and unlimited breadsticks.

And in a move that’s bound to bust at least a few guts, Olive Garden has added 1,000 annual passes, which will give the linguini-loving holder an entire year of free pasta. How much for an entire year’s worth of meals? $300. If that’s not a great deal, we don’t know what is.

Will you be able to handle an entire year of pre-paid pasta? Well first you actually have to get your hands on one of the passes. Happy clicking!


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About Ethan L. Johns

Ethan is the Food News Writer at Genius Kitchen. An expert on the Parisian bistrot, he likes bitters and salted butters, and is no fan of dessert unless it's made with fruit. His hobbies include reading up on the history of borscht and attempting to roll perfect couscous by hand. Twits & Instagram @EthanLJohns