Thursday, December 14, 2006

How to get more for your money at Olive Garden?

How to get more for your money at Olive Garden?

If you are by yourself...

Well, you know how each pasta dish includes a soup or a salad and bread sticks? Order any pasta dish and select either soup or salad. When the bread sticks and soup or salad arrive, finish it and ask for a refill. When the pasta comes, don't eat it. Continually ask for more bread sticks and soup or salad until you are full. Then, ask to take home your uneaten pasta. Guess what?? Dinner is already taken care of for you.

If you are with someone else...

The same applies. Each of you order a pasta, but make sure only one of you chooses soup and the other selects salad. That way, you can have the soup and then ask for a refill, but for your friend, and your friend can the salad with you, or vice versa. When the pasta comes, don't eat it. Continually ask for more bread sticks and soup or salad until you are full. Then, ask to take home your uneaten pasta. Guess what?? Dinner is already taken care of for you both.

Other tips...

Never go on Saturday, Sunday or Dinner, unless they are offering the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl special where you can have unlimited pasta for under $8.00. Otherwise you get charged more for the same pasta you can have during lunch.

If they offer the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl special where you can have unlimited pasta for under $8.00, go for it, even if you think you can't eat more than one serving. It's cheaper than most other items on the menu anyway.

Further, this goes for all restaurants, drink water... don't pay $3.00 for a soda you can get for 25 cents at a vending machine. Also, by the time you dessert is offered to you, you should be full...

In addition, if you havent gotten one of those no-annual fee credit cards that offer you points for every dollar you spend, feel free to do so, and you save about one ot two percent every time you go out.

Lastly, since you saved all that money and if you think service was good, you could consider tipping the server a little extra. It's amazing how an extra dollar can brighten somebody's day.

A final word... I would deeply appreciate it if this does not get reposted somewhere else without permission. Thanks!

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm wondering how often this will work though. It's probably because of people like this that the prices are so high on some things to begin with.

I've worked in food, and it's a pain to keep bringing people the free stuff while the food that they payed for isn't being touched.

Why don't you just suggest that people go in, get the free breadsticks and salad, then tell the server they're not hungry anymore and leave?

Anonymous said...

"I've worked in food, and it's a pain to keep bringing people the free stuff while the food that they payed for isn't being touched."

You get paid to the job and when the customer is happier, you get more gratuties.

"Why don't you just suggest that people go in, get the free breadsticks and salad, then tell the server they're not hungry anymore and leave?"

The breadsticks and salad come after ordering the meals. Even if they come before ordering, one should not go to a restaurant and not pay. But the restaurant actually gets paid in my post. In the restaurant's perspective, everything is pre-made anyway, so in most cases, they would have nothing to lose. However, they can gain a lot of happy customers. Always, in the service-industry, service first, hence the name service-industry. In all situations, customer comes first, because it is the customer who is indirectly feeding the entire company.

Anonymous said...

Nice article there man. I think the waiters and restaurateurs will get mad after seeing this but as far as i am concerned this is an excellent way to get maximum out of the situation. The restaurants charge extra many times unnecessarily like inflated prices of the same dish at dinner times. Good suggestions , thanks keep em rolling :-)

LennyP said...

Let me guess. After having the waiter spend the entire meal bringing you free food, for that extra savings, you don't tip them either. The word for this is not frugality. It is called being a deadbeat mooch.

Anonymous said...

There's a difference between frugal and cheap. You better make sure that you tip more than the standard amount for all the extra running around you're making the waitstaff do.

Anonymous said...

I never thought of this before. I particularly the concept of bringing your entree home after eating all the goods. As a typically small eater, even at the higher priced options this would pay out in spades for me as far as groceries down the line! Great tip!

Padawan said...

You come up with some very good points there. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what the waiting staff think, the restaurant has policies on what it's patrons can and can't get away with so why not take advantage of it?

Just to play devil's advocate, though, I would say that I am frugal in other areas so that I can relax when I go out to eat, but obviously other people may not be able to afford that luxury.

Padawan said...

You come up with some very good points there. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what the waiting staff think, the restaurant has policies on what it's patrons can and can't get away with so why not take advantage of it?

Just to play devil's advocate, though, I would say that I am frugal in other areas so that I can relax when I go out to eat, but obviously other people may not be able to afford that luxury.

Olly said...

That's a great article, very helpful information. I'd definately try that out for sure if there were some of the restaraunts round here.

Unknown said...

I love this!

Maybe this is a way to take care of the feeding of the homeless!

Creative solutions on free food!

Anonymous said...

"There's a difference between frugal and cheap. You better make sure that you tip more than the standard amount for all the extra running around you're making the waitstaff do."

When you really think about it, you only need a refill on the salad all of what, two times? Three times if you are just starving? As you are always refreshed on breadsticks (whether you ask for them or not) throughout the meal, you are really not adding more legroom, but rather adding an extra object in transport.

I've used a similar tip myself but not to be frugal (or resourceful as I see it), but merely because I simply LOVE Olive Garden's salad and breadsticks. I go just for them and always request my meal in a togo box. Not to have a dinner later that night, but because I simply want the breadsticks and salad. This concept is well known in the suburbs! =P Nice tip.

Anonymous said...

i heart the olive garden. :)

Anonymous said...

i like the story

Anonymous said...

i dont have an olive garden near me

Anonymous said...

i love this stuff

Anonymous said...

great article, man!

Anonymous said...

This is just way too overboard for me. This is a great way to save a lot of money and take the full advantage of what's provided for free but you got to have thick face to do this. Not to mention that I definitely won't want to come back to the same restaurant again.

Anonymous said...

fun article
i am looking forward to yo next post

Anonymous said...

nice article.
i shall try this next time i go to olive garden.

Anonymous said...

DUDE!

That's a great article with A LOT of very helpful information. I think I will try that tactic and get hella food for cheap.

Anonymous said...

That's real smart haha ive never thought of that .. Very nice article =]

scatterhaiku said...

i like the tip on going with the bread and soup, and letting the pasta wait. :) i think that done in moderation, it makes for a good frugality tip, and yet you're still able to go back to the same place after. :)

Anonymous said...

The people that do this should try putting themselves in their servers’ shoes. Do you think it's fair that I run my butt off bringing you bowl after bowl after bowl of soup or salad for a measly $2-3 tip just so you can save a bit of money? Want to know the best way to save money? DON’T EAT OUT!!! If you are relying on cheap tricks like this to save money STAY AT HOME AND COOK FOR YOURSELF – trust me, your olive garden server will thank you.