Sarah Schmalbruch / INSIDER
Olive Garden is a massive chain restaurant in the US, widely known for its unlimited salad and breadsticks. In less than 40 years, it’s grown from one Florida location to almost 900 stores throughout the world.
But there are many things you might not know about the chain, even if you’re a regular customer. Read on for more surprising facts about Olive Garden.
They’ve been ranked the number one Italian chain restaurant.
George Sheldon/Shutterstock
It has long-held the position of the top Italian-themed restaurant in America, according to Restaurant Business, with Carrabba’s consistently trailing at number two. It’s also consistently been one of the top-performing casual dining restaurants overall.
They used to share buildings with Red Lobster restaurants.
REUTERS/Keith Bedford
Before being sold off in 2014, Florida-based Red Lobster was a sister company to Olive Garden. There were even attempts to combine the two into one building, similar to fast food combination restaurants, but they have all since been closed due to under-performance.
The look of the original restaurant models resemble a Tuscan farmhouse.
Al Bello/Getty
In an effort to immerse you in the look, feel, and taste of Italy, the restaurants were modeled after a farmhouse in Chianti, Italy, according to Eater. They even offer a regional Tuscan menu in honor of the area that inspired their restaurant.
A spokesperson for Olive Garden noted that the newer prototype for the restaurants doesn’t quite fit this mold, though.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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