For the fourth year in a row, casual Italian chain Olive Garden has launched its never-ending pasta bowl promotion, a move meant to attract price-conscious consumers beleaguered by inflation, experts say.
The promotion, which began Monday and runs through Nov. 16, offers consumers unlimited pasta, soup or salad and endless breadsticks for $13.99, a price point the chain has kept the same since 2022, according to Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, the chain’s parent company.
It’s also an example of how some large chains, including Costco and Chili’s, are using low-price promotions as a strategic draw to maintain brand loyalty and foot traffic, with the hope that customers might spend more, industry observers said. Costco’s $1.50 hot dog and drink combo, which has been in place since 1985, or Chili’s “3 for Me” deal, which gives consumers a choice of starter, entree and beverage starting at $10.99, are also examples of businesses using promotions or marketing to entice customers fatigued by the higher price of goods caused by inflation.
Value and more bang for their buck are what today’s consumers are looking for, industry experts said. At the same time, eateries are dealing with higher overhead costs.
The costs of food and labor for the average restaurant have gone up roughly 35% in the past five years, according to the National Restaurant Association. As a result, the average menu price has increased by 31% between February 2020 and April 2025, according to the group, which cited aggregated Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Jaime Bunker, senior vice president of marketing for Olive Garden, said in a statement, “We’re all about giving our guests more of what they love at a great value, and Never Ending Pasta Bowl is a perfect example of that.”
The nationwide chain operates four restaurants on Long Island — in Bay Shore, Centereach, Valley Stream and Westbury — according to the Olive Garden website. The company saw approximately $5.2 billion in sales in 2024, an increase of roughly 0.8% over the previous year, according to figures from Technomic, a restaurant industry research firm based in Chicago.
Coming out of a period of high inflation, restaurants have to do more to attract business, said Rich Shank, senior principal and vice president of innovation at Technomic.
Shank said amid inflation, many fast-food chains have increased their prices — a move that has made casual eateries like Olive Garden and Chili’s a better deal in the eyes of the consumers.
An estimated 93% of quick-service restaurants, a category that includes fast-food chains like McDonald’s, Subway and Taco Bell, raised their prices in 2024, according to a November report from credit rating agency TransUnion.
Some chains, like Olive Garden, are using price increases to their advantage by promoting cheap eats to bring customers through the door. From there, casual-dining chains can sell customers on other higher profit-margin items like alcohol, Shank said.
“Brands that are able to put out an offer that consumers are willing to spend money on, they have a chance of success,” he said. “But it’s not guaranteed.”
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