“They could go to Panera for a fraction of the price” Have you been to Panera? It’s $22 for a half sandwich / soup, and you can bus your own table when you’re done 😂

Title: Why Olive Garden is struggling. Most people: ‘Well there’s a pandemic but okay, shoot...’

When I was little, I hated olives. My parents would threaten to take me to Olive Garden for dinner if I misbehaved because I thought Olive Garden had nothing but olives on the menu.

CNBC: Why is Olive Garden struggling? Anyone who has ever eaten at Olive Garden understands that it’s basically fast food quality meals and fast food quality service in a slightly nicer than fast food looking building.

Coming from a lower middle class upbringing I remember thinking this place was fancy eating haha

I could care less about Olive Garden struggling, they’ll survive. It’s the Ma and Pa shops that I’m worried about. Why isn’t there a strong relief effort on their behalf.

Panera isn’t a fraction of the cost?? lol it’s literally like $20 for a cup of soup/half sandwich

Their quality has gone down a lot compared to when I was a kid

People found out that most of OG menu can be easily cooked at home at 1/5 the price.

Olive Garden and other “casual” restaurant chains are overpriced and serve pre packaged microwaved slop. Mom & Pop is the way to go.

If you've ever eaten lasagna at an olive garden, there is a good chance that you had my 3rd-grade teacher's family's recipe. When I was in her class, she entered the recipe into a national contest seeking the best lasagna. She won, they took her recipe, and she was awarded one free dinner at Olive Garden lol!

It’s fast food quality at dine in speed. I’d rather go to a local business than support some multimillion dollar company.

They are struggling because I can cook their food at home or go to a local Italian restataunt that’s way better

This year a lot of people started cooking from home and people realized that you can make authentic Italian food that tastes better at home for cheaper than what Olive Garden offers.

I remember when OG used to be one of the top places to go before the high school dances. That’s when they had the building styles before the “Tuscany” models. It was a more classy look. Had strung lights in a courtyard area. The pasta was still made fresh on site. It was a fairly nice joint to go to back in the early 90s

Why Olive Garden Is Struggling The Food sucks oh wait sorry The unnecessarily expensive Food sucks

Why Olive Garden is struggling Why Americans love Olive Garden 🤔

As a fellow American of Italian descent, lemme just say, Olive Garden is as Italian as Panda Express is Chinese.

The last time we went (for a to go order), we got their salad, which is pretty large. But it’s all lettuce. “Olive” Garden puts maybe two olives, a couple tomato slices, a couple pepperoncini and a few onion slices in it. Nothing like the marketing video you showed in this video of their salad. In response, we decided to have our own “Un-Olive Garden Night” at home, made our own Italian dishes, but we did buy a bottle of their salad dressing and one order of breadsticks. We made our OWN salad which was far better and not skimped out like theirs. This was for 7 people. Cost? $25. In the restaurant that would have been $150. AND it was way better tasting. THAT is why they’re failing.

This video could’ve been 10 seconds long simply saying “Because they are nasty”. Short and sweet.

Big chain restaurants just serve frozen, mass produced food. I love where I live because we have a lot of locally owned restaurants who put a lot of effort into their food and it’s delicious

they claim to send their “chefs” each year to school in Tuscany but then they serve up weird American versions of low quality “Italian” food at high prices.

The “pasta” is frozen garbage. I swear every time I’ve gone back, the quality of the food has seemed even worse.

I use to go all the time with my family but with this pandemic I challenged myself to make my fav dishes and my families so now I just make them instead of going :,)

When the company refuses to talk to CNBC, it’s never a good sign...

Olive Garden will survive. Sadly, many of those amazing local italian eateries won't

The Olive Garden in Mobile, AL is doing great! I don’t eat there but when I pass by it’s always packed, even on weekdays.

Olive Gardens are always packed where I am.... even in this pandemic 💀. How the hell should they be struggling

Their food just isn’t fresh 🤷🏽‍♀️ Too high priced for the low quality.

I took my native Italian husband there last time we were stateside, just to get his review. It was *not* pretty; he still drags Olive Garden calling it things like Olive Garbage 😂

LOL I remember I asked for roasted garlic on my pasta, the hostess said "we don't have garlic , just whatever comes in the bottle or can" her exact words, any Italian Nonna would react in horror. You get better pasta at Trader Joe's.

According to them, every damn food chain is struggling.

Their quality has gone way down. Most of the food taste frozen and microwaved.

I used to love OG. But their quality went down a lot in the last decade. I can get much better pasta at Costco

I made their zuppa Toscana from scratch and it tasted exactly like olive gardens. So I'm just gonna start cooking more food from restaurants now.

Olive Garden promoted me and cut my hours in half. Im glad this business is going out. Worked here for 9 years and was promised growth and now its about time they were suffering.

full service $20+ pasta that I can make at home for $5 max... right...

Olive Garden calling itself an "Italian Restaurant" is an insult to Italian restaurants.

In what universe are people still going to Olive Garden? We need to support small mom and pop spots with better ingredients and real cooking.

Olive Garden used to be my favorite restaurant until I found out they microwave their food #Gross

I’ve worked at Olive Garden for three years. Started as a busser, then a server, now I’m a to-go specialist and plan to work my way up and up. We’re definitely not hurting lol. Darden is a billion dollar company. It’s not real Italian, no. Does our pasta come in a box like every other massive chain? Yup. However, all four soups are made fresh every day. All sauces are made in house as well. I’m not saying it’s absolutely amazing. You’ll definitely spend about 50 dollars for a meal for two people, but that’s just like any other restaurant. And most people don’t finish their whole plate and take about half home, along with bread, salad they didn’t finish, etc. A nice home cooked meal is always gonna beat anything. But we still get people spending a grand on our catering instead of cooking themselves. Were good over here 👈🏻

They’re struggling cause the only thing good there is the breadsticks...

“I am not going back to that restaurant.” -Cleveland Brown, “Family Guy”

The title and the thumbnail don’t add up

When a company like Darden acquires a restaurant like Olive Garden, they do so for the profits. The end up watering down the menu and milking the reputation that restaurant has built. Inevitably it becomes crappy food and profits get drained. Restaurants are the best at that moment just before they sell to companies like Darden and Landry's

The bread IS like hotdog buns 🤣

Today, both wife and I cook for our family and when we do eat out, we'll spend a little more and eat at genuine family-run restaurants. Break the Chain!

A Florida man created Olive Garden.

Why Olive Garden is struggling? The same reason everyone is struggling right now.

I have not been to an olive garden since pre pandemic but the last few times I felt service was a lot worse.....waiting for orders to get taken, waiting longer to get the food. Bringing out 2 breadsticks instead of a basket.....they cut back on those unlimited breadsticks so by the time they would bring more you are ready to go.

Will never forget...my friend n I took our mom's to eat...both my friend n I ordered the Chicken Marsala...both of us had food poisoning by that night!

Olive Garden is struggling because the food tastes like reheated left-overs. Every few years I end up in one of their restaurants and I am always disappointed in the food. And the staff seems to only be able to follow the corporate script. Ask a question they haven't rehearsed and they don't know how to respond.

3:46 Panera's prices are a fraction of Olive Garden's? Might want to double check your numbers.

"Now all restaurants are Taco Bell. They were the only one to survive the franchise wars." -Demolition Man Scary when Science Fiction is becoming fact.

The air conditioning is always too damn high in there. I wanna eat ravioli not freeze to death ☠️

Why Americans "love Olive Garden" Why Olive Garden is struggling WTF 🤔🤨

Dr. Sheldon Cooper: “I don’t want to go to Olive Garden. They treat me like family... I don’t want to treated like family.”

I left Olive Garden at Coral Springs after eating Chicken Scampi. The Chicken Scampi, which I mentioned to the staff, was a "no go" and I stated that it had too much sauce for the first time. For the first time in all my years eating at Olive Garden, the Chicken Scampi was full of sauce. I have been a customer since 2007 or earlier. I noticed that when I went into the bathroom and checked on my throat, the right side of my throat had swelling and not the left side. It began to hurt when I swallow while I was finishing the Chicken Scampi. I also had raspberry lemonade to drink. I ate the Chicken Gnocci soup prior to the Chicken Sampi and had no reactions! This is the first time I have ever in my life time sat down at a restaurant and had a reaction! I have been watching this Olive Garden branch in Coral Springs and I notice sometimes the Chicken Scampi meal is weird/different from what I am used to at times! If you changed the recipe for the Chicken Scampi please let your customers know! I do not know if all that sauce is to mask a new ingredient during this covid season! Please check the roster for the staff and chef during the lunch hour of Thursday, July 29, 2021. I left around or after 3:00 PM! I am still a faithful customer to Olive Garden because I know Olive Garden and I know the quality of workers you have hired in the past. I also know that its mostly young people, which I have reported to the president that are giving problems in the area. I already mentioned that there needs to be a draft for the young people in America and for Veterans to take their place at these jobs that they mess with people or hate working at for whatever the reason may be. There needs to be training in respect, empathy, discipline and love. Young people cannot exist in America if they have hatred towards other people and playing around with diseases! Please note that I have witnessed near this area, young people messing with the orange juiceat McDonald's and the straws at McDonald's have been dirty. I am a person who encourage and teach young people to be productive! I am not against the young people but there are too many bad apples! I took two Benadryls, two Tylenols, gargled with salt water and hydrogen peroxide. I noticed that the right side of my tongue reacted to the peroxide with white foam moreso than my left side so I am aware there is something there after having that meal. My throat feels a little better now and its around 4:56PM EST and I will update you if all goes well after 24 hours! Yes, I was tested for covid and it was negative but if all does not go well I will test for covid again. Also, I will let you know of any medical expenses resulting from this meal! Again, I am not against Olive Garden and I support this business but I am aware of the changes in staff and the difference in the meal service at the location in Coral Springs, Florida! Thank you for years of quality service in other areas such as New York City, Georgia, etc!

Even pre-pandemic, people weren’t going to Olive Garden, Chili’s, etc. for the food. They went because they could go to a “sit down” restaurant for a relatively cheap price and everyone in the group could find something they like due to the large menu. Take away all that and you might as well just make a frozen meal.

They are struggling so much they now have LIMITED breadsticks!

WHY THEY ARE STRUGGLING?? SERVE LESS FOOD, DON'T HAVE MEAL DEALS, PRICES GONE UP, DON'T SERVE THERE SPECIALS ALL DAY, (stop at 2pm) I WAS 5 MINS LATE & THEY WOULDN'T SERVE IT TO ME SO I LEFT . HAVEN'T BEEN BACK OVER 3 YRS. I DROVE 25 MILES

Olive Garden used to be one of my favorite restaurants but the quality of their food has gone way down!... 😞

As someone who works at Olive Garden, even with the pandemic, Olive Garden is not struggling. At least the location I work at and the ones near me

Because their food is terrible. There, saved you 11 minutes.

The title:😫😔😣😓 The thumbnail: 😄🥰😛😊 U ok CNBC?

Used to work there, it’s basically a very pricey frozen meal. Bread sticks are not fresh. Soups are not fresh, sauces are not fresh. It’s all frozen.

It almost look like "Demolition Man" scenario, where only Taco Bell exists.

Cost too high and taste has gone tasteless just tried again last month thinking my tastebuds off .No food was BLAND in Manhattan Kansas. Sad

"Tuscan style" LMAO

All of my friends and I once thought these places were cool, but now ... no way and never. We have all pivoted to locally own restaurants. This naturally occurred as we explored local beer breweries. Since most of the brewers also featured local business restaurants and food trucks...

My local Olive Garden is always packed even during Covid (December 2020)

Olive garden is BLAND and over priced in my opinion so I can see why they're struggling

The title and the thumbnail are contradicting each other.

I remember when we had Olive Garden in Canada. It was a gem in the small plaza of my neighborhood. That was 20 years ago. Now it's gone.

All large companies products and services are continually cheapened by middle management on a continual basis until you end up with something nobody wants. Their food used to taste better, and service everywhere in America has been on the decline for decades.

boycott any and all chains LOL olive garden just makes expensive airplane food

I thought this said olive _oil_ and I was like, "I buy plenty of olive oil!" lol 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️

Olive Garden fell of years ago imo. The last 3 times that I’ve gone there the food was subpar and the breadsticks were hard as bricks! 😩

Nice to see some good investigative journalism. Thank you

What's saltier, the pasta or the Olive Garden CEO losing money?

When I can’t use them dirty ass utensils to eat their food you know why

I am calling out Olive Garden Capitola California's branch. I have been there twice since it opened and let me tell you, both times the customer service was horrible. The first time we went, it was a large group. We were 7 people of which two of our friends never got there order. They gave me a wrong order and my friends order was still frozen. We left and my other friend never got her order. The second time that we went, I thought of giving it a second chance. The tables were empty there was only two tables occupied. They took forever to seat us and they left us at the table. No menus, they did not come to ask if we had been helped. We were sitting for an hour and no one ever came up to us. Ge got up and left. And still the restaurant was empty. We never went back.

The Olive Garden in SF CA was doing curb pickups but just closed for good

I haven't eaten at Olive Garden once in 20 years.

You get 75,346 breadsticks as an appetizer

Thanks for sharing this!

I'm proud to say I have never eaten at an Olive Garden,

Any town that has a real Italian restaurant is the reason it's struggling.

Sounds like Jared from Subway is out of prison and took up a narration gig 😂

Why is Olive Garden struggling? Because governors are forcing them to not have dine in and forcing people to not work so therefore unable to eat out.

i work for costco hub in nj. they catered olive garden for over 1000 workers. 5 cheese baked ziti or chicken parm. being gluten free i was stuck with a salad, but the food looked decent.

I don't understand why people like olive garden but then again I also don't understand how people like taco bell either.

I remember Olive Garden in 2004 being an actual restaurant experience. The food was made by a chef. The last time I went to Olive Garden was in 2012, and it was a completely different experience - they served us a microwave meal.

Thirty-five year food service vet here. Prebagged salad is loaded with potato whitener which is basically sulfur. Terrible stuff for human kidneys and livers. Can foods are loaded with preservatives, one of the most common is the same chemical as embalming fluid. Even if Olive Garden was the best tasting food in the world I’ll never eat it. I cook 99.9% of our meals fresh from scratch. It’s cheaper and it only takes one morning to prep fresh meals for 3-4 days. We cut our monthly food budget by 200 dollars doing this and avoiding restaurants.

Olive Garden is basically a joke restaurant. As a former employee, I can tell you, everything is frozen!!! The only thing not frozen is the pasta since we have to boil it, but yeah, frozen. I'm surprised Disney hasn't sued it over how Frozen it is. There are no real chefs, just employees who memorized the handbook and stuck around enough years to get promoted.

Short answer: food is nasty

Now that is winter, it is too cold to eat outside and with COVID-19 infections rising, some jurisdictions have ban indoor dining

Cheesecake Factory is my favorite restaurant! I know, no one asked me, lol!

I don’t go to Olive Garden anymore because you pay the same price for their takeout as you do for dine in, but with dine in the portions are much larger and worth the price, plus you can take advantage of the endless pasta and breadsticks. With takeout, you pay the same price for less food.

Had a great impression of the restaurant until I actually ate there for the first time. The quality is really lackluster and probably the worst pasta I ever had. Not surprised they are in bad waters.