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Olive Garden is well-known for family-friendly dining that offers accessible Italian-American favorited. Olive Garden is also one of the most common sit-down dining restaurant franchises in the United States.
Jump ahead to these sections:
- Olive Garden’s Senior Discount Policy
- 3 Other Quick Tips for Saving at a Restaurant
They offer starters, pasta, flatbreads, and soups, alongside a wine and co*cktail menu. Their style is upbeat and fun, casual while still making for a special night out. Trying to save money while still getting a taste of Olive Garden’s signature twists on Italian food?
Here is some useful information about the senior discount at Oliver Garden or getting other good deals.
Olive Garden’s Senior Discount Policy
Olive Garden offers quite a lot of specials, but they don’t have one dedicated Senior Discount policy across their stores. While there may be local franchises that do a senior-related promotion, the deals they offer tend to be for all ages. You'll need to call your local Olive Garden to determine whether they've got a localized discount.
That being said, you can get many of the same kinds of discounts that other restaurants offer only to seniors. Just pick carefully when you eat at Olive Garden, and sign up for their email newsletter. Check out some more money-saving tips below.
3 Other Quick Tips for Saving at a Restaurant
Even without a consistent senior discount at Olive Garden, you and your family can eat for a fairly reasonable price. You can enjoy options off the Olive Garden menu for less money using these tips.
Join the eClub
Olive Garden uses their eClub, an internet-based program, to keep Olive Garden fans informed of new promotions. Signing up gets you a free appetizer, which can definitely bring down the costs, and they also send a special offer on your birthday.
Finally, the eClub is linked to the Olive Garden phone app. This app is where you can get points for each visit to each restaurant, building up to rewards and discounts over time.
Try an unlimited promotion
At various times, Olive Garden offers well-publicized promotions like “endless pasta." This dish promotion is where those with a big appetite can order multiple plates of a particular dish for one low price.
For instance, the ‘never-ending stuffed pasta’ discount was an option offered. It allowed you to pick a filled pasta and a sauce and eat as much as you want for $11.99. These promotions vary by location. It’s best to call your local restaurant ahead of time if you know that you want that promotion.
There is one unlimited promotion that is widespread among Olive Garden restaurants. It's the soups, salad, and breadsticks lunch. This entrée allows guests to have as many breadsticks, bowls of soup, and bowls of salad as they like for a low price. If you enjoy their various soups, this can be a good way to fill up on nutritional and tasty food.
Lunch Favorites and Early Dinner Duos
While Olive Garden doesn’t have an overall senior discount, they do have some specially-priced menus for lunch and for early dinner. The specials, called "Lunch Favorites" include a variety of smaller portioned meals. They're offered only at lunchtime, many for under $10 at some locations.
Early Dinner Duos are offered from 3 to 5 p.m. and let you pair either soup or salad with a popular dish for a low price, more comparable to lunch than to dinner. Not every senior citizen likes an early dinner, but it doesn’t hurt to be able to drive home from the restaurant before dark.
Lastly, Olive Garden restaurants offer a ‘take-home entree’ option where a prepared $5 portion of pasta can go home with you. If you love leftovers as a source of easy-to-make food the next day, this may be an economical option.
Eating Well for Less at Olive Garden
Olive Garden offers a wide range of pasta dishes, meat dishes, and of course, their famous breadsticks. Not everything can be made allergen-friendly, but the menu does offer a few options for allergies, sensitivities, and dietary preferences, like vegetarianism and veganism. You’ll find that portions are generous, so a little willpower in the moment often yields enough leftovers for another easy meal on a different day, increasing how much money you can save.
Saving money is just one part of comprehensive long-term planning, and Cake has resources for you to make a great plan for your own future. Get started today.
Sources
- “Specials” Olive Garden. Darden Restaurants. olivegarden.com/specials
