Will Olive Garden Ever Cut You Off From Its Unlimited Breadsticks?

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"Simpsons" fans will recall Homer successfully suing the in-universe seafood joint, The Frying Dutchman, after getting cut off from an all-you-can-eat buffet. The plotline left viewers wondering whether real-life restaurants have unspoken caps on endless offerings. Olive Garden ranks among chain restaurants with the best all-you-can-eat deals. The franchise is known for its unlimited breadsticks, but could patrons end up like Homer Simpson? It's possible, but unlikely.

Olive Garden lacks any official statement on breadstick limits, so you have to rely on anecdotal evidence. In Reddit threads of workers revealing what it's really like to work at Olive Garden, the question of breadstick cut-offs comes up frequently. Plenty of servers shared stories of consumers eating massive quantities of breadsticks, with one user saying they served 27 breadsticks to a table of four people. Another user chimed in to claim that, at their location, the manager did not allow them to cut people off.

However, people reportedly have been cut off for breaking one key rule: no stuffing spare sticks in your purse, bag, or any other outside container. An Olive Garden employee revealed that their manager reportedly chastised a table of women caught hiding breadsticks in their purses. Another staff member claimed they only ever stopped serving breadsticks if customers hoarded them in hidden boxes. So, as long as you're not ordering breadsticks and immediately squirreling them away beneath your table, you're unlikely to be refused service.

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While you won't get outright cut off from unlimited breadsticks, you might get fewer per basket. On Reddit, one customer stated, "I've never been 'cut off,' but one time I went to Olive Garden with my family and got four rounds of breadsticks, and on the fourth round, they brought out only one singular breadstick for the whole table." Another Reddit user claimed the standard is one stick per person plus two extras for your first fix and four sticks per basket thereafter.

Among the untold truths of Olive Garden is that unlimited breadsticks were once a cause of internal strife. In 2014, a hedge fund company recommended reducing breadsticks per guest, claiming servers often overfilled baskets. While Olive Garden obviously did not end unlimited breadsticks, they did enforce certain limits. Baskets come with one breadstick per person plus one or two bonus sticks, and refills nix the extra sticks. So, Olive Garden breadsticks are indeed unlimited, and it's tough to get cut off, but expect the number of sticks per basket to shrink the more you order.