A TikTok user who posts as Rose (@tvgirl5673) shared a video of a meal built around Olive Garden’s Never-Ending Pasta offer. On-screen text in the clip reads, “olive garden never ending pasta is a scam bowl gets smaller after the first.” The video later showed her reacting to a refill that she said looked smaller than the first servings.
Rose said in the video, “Guarding Never-Ending Pasta. Let’s see how much we could eat.” The clip opened on a half-eaten bowl of Zuppa Toscana soup, with a glass of water and a salad bowl visible behind it. She then showed a full white bowl of fettuccine in a creamy, orange-tinted sauce and identified it as her “First bowl of pasta.”
The video cut to another first serving, this one spaghetti with marinara sauce and two large meatballs, with another person’s hands in the frame. Rose said, “First one as well.” An empty bowl appeared next. She said, “First bowl down. Let’s see what I’m gonna get next,” as the camera moved to an Olive Garden menu under the heading “Pasta Bowl.”
Olive Garden Never-Ending Pasta Bowl offer lists a set price, pasta shapes, and sauces
A later bowl in Rose’s video held rigatoni in a creamy sauce with herbs. She said that serving looked smaller and asked, “This can’t be because why is it so small?” The clip briefly placed the empty first bowl beside the second bowl. Rose’s video had gained 2.5 million views, 162,100 likes, and more than 1,000 comments.
USA Today reported that Olive Garden brought the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl promotion back nationwide beginning Monday, Aug. 31, and that the company said it would run through Nov. 22. In a news release, the company said the deal lets diners get all-you-can-eat pasta, plus unlimited soup or breadsticks, starting at $14.99. The promotion has sparked mixed reactions, such as when a woman’s winning pasta combo came with a regret.
Olive Garden said it added two limited-time items for the promotion: a Spicy Alfredo Sauce and Crispy Shrimp Fritta as a protein topping. The menu listed pastas as fettuccine, spaghetti, angel hair, and rigatoni. Homemade sauces listed were Spicy Alfredo, Alfredo, meat sauce, five cheese marinara, traditional marinara, and creamy mushroom.
Endless toppings listed for an added $4.99 were Crispy Shrimp Fritta, Crispy Chicken Fritta, meatballs, and Italian sausage. USA Today also reported a separate Never-Ending Pasta Pass. The company said passholders could pay $100 for unlimited pasta during the promotion’s 13-week run.
Olive Garden said only 10,000 passes were made available. They were released on July 16 on a dedicated Pasta Pass website and were no longer available to purchase. Passholders and EClub members were able to start a week earlier, beginning Aug. 24.
Jaime Bunker, Olive Garden’s senior vice president of marketing, said guests still asked about the pass years later, and that bringing it back recognized that loyalty. The promotion’s scarcity drove intense interest, as when one woman scored one of just 10,000 Olive Garden pasta passes and set out to see exactly how far it could go.
Bunker said the pass celebrated “abundance and incredible value.” Olive Garden first offered the Never-Ending Pasta Pass in 2014. The last time it was offered was 2019. The company has said the promotion sells out within minutes each time it goes on sale.
Viewers discussing Rose’s video mixed skepticism about the “scam” label with comments about price, waste, wait times, and different pasta shapes. One commenter said it was still unlimited and wrote, “scam” and you can order as much as you want.
Another pointed to the listed price and wrote, “It’s $15 for NEVERending food like what more do you want.” A further comment asked, “How is it a scam when it’s still… unlimited…”
Some viewers tied smaller, later bowls to waste. One wrote, “It’s also to prevent food waste, ppl will order more and more, then end up wasting a full plate.” Another said they preferred the change and wrote, “I like that they get smaller. It allows me to get more variety.”
Other comments described service and menu differences. One wrote, “Its a scam they take forever to bring the next bowl and my waiter was so rude.” Another said the second order was a different pasta and wrote, “The second order was not the same pasta…every pasta has a different serving size and plate.”
Published: Sep 8, 2026 06:30 am