I got one. They sold all 21,000 in less than 1 minute.
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Anyone else get one?
How many times have you been so far? How is it???
It starts October 3rd. I plan to go for lunch on the first day. Now I have a meeting that evening from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. and there is an Olive Garden within a mile of the meeting. Blah to the meeting, but yeah in that I can go twice the first day without a food only trip from home. I wasn't sure if I should go before or after my meeting. My wife chimed in that I should choose BOTH, so that is my plan for day 1. Three visits, with hopefully 3 orders of pasta taken home to the family.
My pasta pass started yesterday, and I went 3 times as planned. Here is how it went, what I ate, what it cost and what I got to take home:
HOW IT WENT AND WHAT I TOOK HOME
I was the first pass holder at the first location at 11:05, as expected. Waiter did not know about the program and the manager had to look it up. This was completely expected and was not at all an inconvenience for me. In short, they got it right, except that the pass should also include unsweetened tea as well as coke products. I was only offered coke products, which was what I wanted anyway. I left with my portion of cheese garlic fettuccine Alfredo with grilled chicken breast, 2 bread sticks, and 3 mints.
Second meal was at 4:30 at another location. I was the waiter's first pass, but the restaurant had seen 6 of them so far that day. Pretty uneventful and still very nice. My 10 year old daughter told my her lunch request for the following day before I left home. Left with my portion of Spaghetti with cheese garlic Alfredo and chicken Fritta, 2 bread sticks and 1 mint.
Third meal was at 8:45 at the same location at the second. We had a 15 minute wait. There were plenty of tables, but not enough servers staffed to seat the entire dining room, which was perfectly fine for me. It was a Monday. This time I arrived with 4 friends I attended my meeting with. Three had a drink at the bar while we were waiting while I waited for my free coke. Only 1 other person enjoyed a free coke product at the table. Meal was otherwise uneventful and again very nice. I enjoyed the company very much, AND my family was not responsible for any additional bill. I left with 1 complete portion(less 2 bites) of chicken gnocchi soup and my portion of corkscrew pasta with 5 cheese marinara and shrimp fritta and 1 mint. I forgot my bread sticks :(
WHAT I ATE
Meal 1. 4 servings of salad, a few bites of the Alfredo, a sip of wine(free) and 2 coke zeros. I got the low fat dressing on the side. 1 portion lasted for all 4 servings. I treat this as 2 servings of low-fat dressing salad and 2 servings of no dressing salad. 477 total calories.
Meal 2. 4 servings of salad, 2 bread sticks, 2 coke zeros, and a few bites of the spaghetti Alfredo. Salad prepared like last meal. 857 calories.
Meal 3 1 bowl of Pasta e Fagioli, 1 bowl of Zuppa Toscana, 2 coke zeros, a sip of wine(free) and a few bites of the corkscrew pasta marinara. 517 calories.
Total calories with morning decaf, 1828. I played basketball for 40 minutes and took a 2 mile walk, so I was allowed 2090 calories for my 2 pound loss per week goal. Therefore, I was UNDER by 262 calories for the day according to my Lose It app.
A few comments about what I ate
The salad was every bit as good as the regular dressing. I could not tell the difference. Less was just fine with me.
WAY too much coke zero, but I have a problem turning down "free" stuff. I will try to work on that in 7 weeks :)
I felt like I consumed HUGE amounts of food(because I did). Calories show it was where I should have been. Still felt like a LOT. I understand they are pretty fussy about portions.
I can say I would go again 3 times in 1 day, but by no means would I make it my regular routine. I see I can go twice in a day and still consume 1 full portion of pasta with salads prepared how I did today. I could see doing this a few times the next 7 weeks. Most likely I will go only 1 time in a day. I will plan to consume about 75% of my daily calories on a 1-visit day. An example might be 2 bowls of soup and 1 serving of pasta, while hopefully taking home a soup and pasta for later.
WHAT IT COST
The costs surprised me, because I did not know the meat was an add-on. It was still included in my pass. Each meal rang up at around $16-$22 depending on the add on meat of the meal and how many soda's were deducted (1 or 2).
So far I have spent $109 and you see what I ate, and what I took home. I will average the meals to be rung up at $17 per meal. This would show a total of $51 and $109 spent. On paper, I paid for half of my pass on day 1.
I do NOT value each meal as a $17 value. No way I buy a $2.54 soda, and no way I add $5.00 for some breaded shrimp. In the past we would sometimes go to their soup and bread stick lunch for $8. I think that is worth that cost on rare occasion. The meat and pasta is easily worth $5.00 per portion to me, so I feel like I got about $39 worth of take-out food value for the day.
As far a cost of ingredients, that is tough, because there was a LOT of food that I ate and took home. I am guessing about $7 per meal, or $21 out of the $109. Not bad for day 1 :)
As far as Olive Garden is concerned, I did not see the entire bill with my friends, but with 3 drinks, 1 appetizer, 1 soup, and 2 meals, they took in an estimated $65 from my friends. There is NO way we would have gone there without the pass program. I bet they did OK too.
BONUS TIP
There is a funny quirk when paying. The first meal the waiter knew exactly what to do, and so I was able to pass the information along to the rest. You can pay gratuity using a gift card. You can not do that with a zero balance on your bill. The manager must ring up a $0.01 transaction so you can put the gratuity on the card. You can not use the machine at the table, because you can only tip a percentage of the bill, or a penny. The waiter must take the $0.01 bill and your gift card and return with the receipt for you to total the tip and sign. They then adjust the card value when you leave.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE PROGRAM AFTER 1 DAY
I think the pasta bowl program is OK for an additional $2 compared to the soup deal at lunchtime, but not worth the add-on meat items. All meat seemed to be about a 3-4 oz. portion. The fact that they are included in my pass is really where I deem the pass very worthwhile for me and a nice touch. Next trip is not planned yet, but I see myself going a few times per week.
They do not have a 0 calorie, 0 caffeine coke product option.
I have always been a little annoyed that it has always been soup OR salad, instead of soup AND salad. When going with my wife for the $8 lunch, I would get soup, she would get salad, and they were always find if we shared. With 1 meal at the table, you can not do that. Oh well.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to my children make their lunches this morning. They were very excited about the Alfredo, soup and bread sticks. My 10 year old tried to put the entire portion in her lunchbox. She is 60 pounds soaking wet. I had her cut it in half, and she still will not finish it. They want me to go again today, but no plan yet. There is a real value to hear their excitement regarding their preparation, and are discussing taking their friends for a soda party. I consider this value priceless :)
I will post occasionally with updates.