Olive Garden Will Soon Serve Up Breadstick Sandwiches The chain is adding chicken parm and meatball breadstick sandwiches to the menu. And yes, they come with unlimited breadsticks.
By Kate Taylor
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Olive Garden is famous for its unlimited breadsticks. Now, the side is going to become the main event.
The restaurant chain plans to start serving breadstick sandwiches, including chicken parm and meatball options, beginning on June 1, reports the Associated Press. As with all Olive Garden dishes, the meal will come with unlimited breadsticks.
According to the Associated Press, the breadsticks used for sandwiches will be shorter and wider than traditional breadsticks.
Related: With New Board, Things Are Finally Looking Up for Olive Garden
In October, hedge fund Starboard Value gained control of the board of Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Olive Garden. Starboard had previously criticized the devolution of the chain's breadstick, calling the offering "lower quality," "similar to hot dog buns" and "just one example of food waste" due to servers' overzealous approach to the unlimited service.
The new board has promised to cut unnecessary costs and go back to the basics in terms of food quality. Starboard CEO Jeff Smith, who first revealed the breadstick sandwich idea in an interview on Wall Street Week on Sunday, and the rest of the board have apparently latched onto breadsticks as a fundamental with the potential to help turn the company around.
Related: Blizzard, You Say? These 5 Companies Used the Social-Media Hype to Their Advantage.
