Is Olive Garden’s Never-Ending Pasta Bowl returning?

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KARK) – Fans of bowl after bowl of saucy, carby goodness could be in luck soon.

In an email sent to rewards customers Monday, Olive Garden seemed to tease the return of the Never Ending Pasta Bowl promotion.

The message featured a noodle-colored infinity loop and the words “The countdown is on” with a link pointing to a countdown on the restaurant’s website for Monday, October 3.

There is no other official word on the website, but posts on the chain’s social media platforms pointed to the Olive Garden TikTok page, which features just one video posted Monday of plates of rigatoni, spaghetti and meatballs and chicken fettuccine Alfredo, with the words “Something is coming.”

When one user asked on Twitter if the announcement was about the return of ‘Never-Ending’ pasta, Olive Garden responded, “Only one way to find out…psst, go check TikTok.”

A representative for the national chain did not immediately respond to Nexstar’s request for comment.

The longtime fan favorite has not been offered since 2019, and many restaurant industry reports speculated that the chain would discontinue the event following the COVID-19 pandemic.

During an earning call in 2021, the head of Darden Restaurants, the group that owns Olive Garden along with other fast-casual restaurant chains like Longhorn Steakhouse and Cheddar’s, noted that he was not sure it would ever come back.

“We don’t know if we’ll bring and when we’ll bring Never Ending Pasta Bowl back because we have a never-ending abundance every day with our never-ending first course,” CEO Ricardo Cardenas said, referring to the restaurant’s never-ending soup, salad and breadsticks.

Olive Garden first sold the promotion in 1995, and the annual offering brought in loads of fans looking for refills of their favorite dishes.

Other restaurant chains have slowly started bringing back similar promotions, like Red Lobster’s Endless Shrimp offering that is currently available across the country.