Taking a cue from rival Olive Garden, Fazoli’s is debuting Monday its first Infinite Pasta Pass.
The deal is a more conservative version of Olive Garden’s popular Never Ending Pasta Pass, which this year was upgraded to a $300 pass for 52 weeks of free pasta.
Beginning Monday, Dec. 3, Fazoli’s is selling 500 endless pasta passes for $50 each. The pass is valid for one pasta meal a day from Dec. 31 and running through Feb. 24.
According to Fazoli’s website, pasta dishes at one Southern California location normally cost between $6.99 to $8.99.
Passes will be available to purchase through Dec. 9, but CEO Carl Howard said he suspects they’ll sell out quickly.
“It won’t take but an hour to sell out,” he told Nation’s Restaurant News in a phone interview Friday.
Howard said he’s been following the Olive Garden pasta pass campaign since it launched in 2014.
“We saw the success of our competitor trying a similar type of promotion,” he said.
The Lexington, Ky.-based fast-casual brand finally decided to take the plunge with its own copycat promo tied to the holidays.
“We thought it would be a great Christmas gift,” Howard said.
Olive Garden’s promo typically occurs around late summer and has evolved over the years.
In previous interviews, Howard has said Olive Garden is a key rival as its customers tend to seek out Fazoli’s when they’re looking to save money on Italian cuisine. Like Olive Garden, Howard said Fazoli’s will assess the promotion this year, and modify it, if necessary, in subsequent years.
Fazoli’s pass will be stored on the brand’s mobile app, allowing the chain to notify consumers each day about their free pasta meal during the promotion period. The pasta pass is good for dine-in, carryout or drive-thru orders.
It is valid for a free pasta dish, and choice of sauce and toppings. The entrées include endless breadsticks.
The 500 passes will be available for purchase Dec. 3 at Fazolis.com/InfinitePastaPass.
Fazoli's owns and operates more than 215 restaurants in 28 states.
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