Olive Garden Doesn't Have A Rewards Program (But It Has Something Else)

Considering how many mainstream restaurants both fast-food and casual have reward programs, it wouldn't be too far off to think Olive Garden has such a system, right? Surprisingly, the chain actually doesn't have one in place– there's no "MyGarden" or "Olive Rewards" or anything of the sort, let alone an official system that allows customers to use any sort of points to earn individual discounts. Olive Garden — which, to be fair, does offer promotions and discounts — seemingly believes that it should offer all guests the best value possible, sans rewards. (For an example, look no further than Olive Garden's free unlimited breadsticks and salads.)

But this isn't to say Olive Garden doesn't have its own unique way of giving customers free promotions and offers. Instead of signing up for a reward program, all you need to do is sign up for the restaurant's Eclub. This is an online newsletter that tells subscribers about upcoming promotions, deals, and new items before any other newsfeed. This way, Olive Garden fans not only get exclusive first-hand knowledge about what's coming up but also get access to select promotions and offers, thus encouraging them to spend time (and money) at their local restaurant.

Olive Garden can boast all it wants about breadsticks and unlimited soup and salad, but at the end of the day, a chain that big requires more than just word of mouth to drum up business. That's where the Eclub newsletter comes in. But how can Olive Garden encourage people to sign up for it in the first place?

To better entice people to register for their newsletter, Olive Garden has not only made it completely free but also offers a reward to those who do. Should someone sign up for the Eclub, they can be eligible for a free appetizer or dessertthe next time they visit their local Olive Garden — provided they are a first-time member, of course. If that wasn't enough for you, Olive Garden will also give you a free dessert on your birthday if you're subscribed to the newsletter. The rewards you get seem to be worth it, as one Arizona customer on TripAdvisor noted that they enjoyed lunch for a "greatly reduced cost" thanks to being an Eclub member.

Oddly enough, Olive Garden actually did have something along the lines of an "exclusive pass" before. You may remember that, a few years back, Olive Garden experimented with something known as the "Lifetime Never Ending Pasta Pass," a subscription that offered customers — you guessed it — a metaphorical "lifetime" of never-ending pasta dishes.

You may have noticed that some restaurants and businesses have "premium" membership programs, where you pay a little bit of money to get access to exclusive perks and privileges. Olive Garden's Never-Ending Pasta Pass was very similar to those programs in design, in which customers pay a small fee (around $13.99) in exchange for a "lifetime" of free, never-ending pasta — at least on paper since the official time limit of the Never-Ending Pasta Pass is about nine weeks in total. But, in those nine weeks, customers can enjoy as much pasta from the Never-Ending Pasta Pass menu as they like.

The idea of ordering as much pasta as they like would sound like a very appealing concept to customers — and it certainly was a popular promotion — so why would Olive Garden not offer it all year round? According to Darden Restaurant's CEO Rick Cardenas (via Restaurant Business), Olive Garden didn't need the Never-Ending Pasta Pass to succeed. Cardenas' logic was that customers already enjoy unlimited breadsticks and salad for free, so why do they need to keep giving away pasta for free too? The last time the Pasta Pass was seen was in 2022 and, at the moment, it seems to be on hiatus. 

You may not be able to get free bottomless pasta or redeem any points for huge discounts at Olive Garden any time soon. But, hey, at least you still have plenty of breadsticks to chow down on, right?