A TikTok creator who posts as Lindsey | Pasta Pass Girl (@itslikelindsey) said in a TikTok video that she had been waiting weeks for the first day of Olive Garden’s Never Ending Pasta Pass. The clip, which had gained 25,000 views, showed her in her car holding a red envelope marked with pasta shapes and a “Viva Pasta” sticker. She said it contained a card with her name, a pass holder, and a “Pasta Passport” booklet.
She said she could go as many times as she wanted and get as many bowls of pasta as she wanted, and that she wanted to see how many bowls she could get over the next 13 weeks. Olive Garden commented on the video, “First day of many!”
Inside the restaurant, she showed chicken gnocchi soup, then a bowl of rigatoni with five-cheese sauce and a bowl of gluten-free rotini with meat sauce. A receipt on screen listed those items with a total of $0.00. Back in the car, she said she had only two pastas at lunch and that she needed to bring cash tips because the check is zeroed out.
Olive Garden sold 10,000 $100 passes for 13 weeks of unlimited pasta
In a Day 2 TikTok, Lindsey said she had done the math and that lunch and dinner every day would mean 182 free visits. She said a goal of 100 visits seemed more realistic. She said she still had not caught the server from the first visit but would tip her. She showed salad plus spaghetti with five-cheese sauce and sausage (labeled Bowl #6) and gluten-free rotini with meat sauce (Bowl #7). On-screen stats read Day 2, Visits 3, Bowls 7.
In a Day 3 TikTok video captioned that she was “basically on the schedule,” she said visit number 5 was on the books. She showed salad, angel hair with meat sauce (Bowl #11), rigatoni with Alfredo (Bowl #12), and gluten-free rotini with meat sauce (Bowl #13). On-screen stats read Day 3, Visits 5, Bowls 13. She said she needed to get her appetite back so she could return for dinner. According to her videos, she had 12 visits so far.
USA Today reported that Olive Garden announced on July 13 that the Never-Ending Pasta Pass was returning after six years. The paper said the pass first appeared in 2014 and was last offered in 2019, and that the company has said it sells out within minutes. The chain’s public image has also been shaped by other incidents, such as when an Olive Garden server received a $700 tip on a $32 bill but was allegedly fired over a policy.
USA Today quoted senior vice president of marketing Jaime Bunker saying guests still asked about the pass and that bringing it back recognized that loyalty. The source also said Olive Garden described 120 pasta, sauce, and topping combinations and two new items: spicy Alfredo sauce and crispy shrimp fritta.
According to Mashable, the passes went on sale Thursday, July 16, at 2 p.m. ET at PastaPass.com for $100 plus tax, with the window closing once all 10,000 were claimed. Mashable said each pass unlocks 13 weeks of unlimited dine-in pasta with homemade sauces and protein toppings, plus unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks, lasts from Aug. 24, 2026, through Nov. 22, 2026, and cannot be shared.
Mashable said the public Never-Ending Pasta Bowl promotion starts Aug. 31 at $14.99 per person, and that pass holders get a week of unlimited pasta before that. USA Today said the bowl deal runs Aug. 31 to Nov. 22 for all diners, and that passholders and EClub members can use it beginning Aug. 24.
Some viewers focused on tipping after the first video showed a $0.00 check. One commenter, identifying as a past server, wrote, “Love this for you but as a past server yikes. You couldn’t run your card for a penny to tip? This is a great example of corporate greed while screwing over the staff.” Another commenter wrote, “Girl you should’ve just ran your card to tip her while you were there. When you go later she probably isn’t gonna be there. SMH.”
Lindsey told BroBible she scored a pass through a “combination of timing and luck.” She said, “I knew they were only releasing a limited number, so I was ready when they went on sale and somehow managed to snag one. I still can’t believe I actually got it!” For the chain, the Pasta Pass excitement contrasts with employee concerns, as one server recently called out the deal for creating a nonstop workload for little money.
Published: Aug 31, 2026 08:40 am