FOOD NEWS
Where Was The Very First Olive Garden Built?
By Kalea Martin
Olive Garden has opened almost 900 locations through the years, and the popular franchise started with one location in 1982 in Orlando, Florida, at 7653 International Drive.
Although General Mills Restaurants, the company responsible for creating Olive Garden, was originally based in Minneapolis, the idea for the restaurant was conceived in Orlando.
A former server who claims to have worked there two years after it first opened shared in a Reddit thread that the restaurant's setup was completely different.
The former server wrote that the restaurant even had a second floor, saying, "What a chore carrying a huge tray of heavy pasta dishes up a long, steep staircase."
According to another former employee's comment, the biggest difference in the menu was that the pasta was made from scratch in-house.
They also said unlimited soup and salad didn't exist, but according to Thrillist, all-you-can-eat-free breadsticks were offered from the very beginning.
Unfortunately, the original Olive Garden no longer exists. Judging by older pictures, the original building was heavily renovated and is no longer recognizable.
