Olive Garden is adding another layer to its popular Never Ending Pasta Pass promotion, offering a $300 version that lasts for 52 weeks.
The Italian division of Orlando, Fla.-based Darden Restaurants Inc. has added to the offer, which usually sells out within minutes. The sales of both the new and the traditional Pasta Pass will be open for 30 minutes at www.PastaPass.com beginning at 2 p.m. EDT Thursday.
This is the fifth year for the Pasta Pass offer, which began in 2014.
This year Olive Garden is selling 1,000 Annual Pasta Passes, which allow holders to access 52 weeks of unlimited servings of pasta meals, for $300. That is in addition to 23,000 Never Ending Pasta Passes, which offer eight weeks of unlimited access to the Never Ending Pasta Bowl promotion, and sell for $100. The company offered 22,000 passes last year.
“We have the most passionate fans who look forward to Pasta Pass and Never Ending Pasta Bowl throughout the year, and they’ve made it clear that eight weeks just isn’t long enough,” said Jennifer Arguello, Olive Garden executive vice president of marketing, in a statement.
“We listened,” she added, “and we’re excited to give our guests more of what they’ve been asking for – an Annual Pasta Pass that extends our Never Ending Pasta Bowl promotion year-round.”
The Never Ending Past Bowl promotion is Sept. 24 through Nov. 18.
“For less than $1 a day, 1,000 lucky recipients of an Annual Pasta Pass will receive 52 weeks of unlimited pasta, homemade sauces, pasta toppings, soup or salad and breadsticks,” the company said.
For those not buying the passes, the Never Ending Past Bowl promotion starts at $10.99. Guests can join the social-media conversation with #PastaPass.
Olive Garden has more than 850 restaurants.
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected]
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless