NRN senior food editor Bret Thorn breaks down what you should be watching in the industry this week. Connect with him on the latest menu trends and news at [email protected] and @foodwriterdiary. RELATED: • Olive Garden debuts breadstick sandwiches • Darden's Jeff Smith on breadsticks and activism • More food and beverage news
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Olive Garden turned heads Monday when it did something that, in retrospect, might have been as obvious as Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Tacos. The 834-unit casual-dining chain took its popular breadsticks and made sandwiches out of them.
The Signature Breadstick Bun Italian Meatball Sandwich is made with meatballs and Alfredo and marinara sauces, and starts at $6.99. The Signature Breadstick Bun Chicken Parmigiana Sandwich is a breaded, fried chicken breast topped with Italian cheese and marinara sauce, and starts at $7.99. The permanent menu additions come with Parmesan garlic fries, unlimited breadsticks and a choice of soup and salad.
Olive Garden’s unlimited breadsticks made headlines last year, when activist investor Starboard Value LP accused management of giving away too many breadsticks, suggesting that it limit distribution to one breadstick per person, plus one additional breadstick, and only provide more upon request. Starboard also complained of a decline in the quality of the breadsticks.
In October 2014, Starboard’s slate won all 12 seats on Darden’s board of directors. Now that it’s in charge, it seems intent on putting the breadsticks to better use.
Early reports indicate that the sandwiches are pretty good, if messy.
Olive Garden apparently sent some breadstick sandwiches to Eater’s headquarters. Jarret M found that the breadsticks, “known for being delightfully abundant and equally buttery,” paired well with the chicken. However, the meatball sandwich, made with two meatballs sliced in two, was found wanting, as the meatballs were “dry and lacking in flavor.”
Stefanie Tuder of Good Morning America was more fulsome in her praise.
“How do they taste? Pretty darn good,” she said. She preferred the meatball sandwich, “which had both Alfredo and marinara sauce commingling for a creamy tomato sauce that flavors the soft, spiced meatballs.” She thought the breaded and fried chicken would have been better, and contrasted more with the soft breadsticks, if it had been crunchier.
Tuder is no stranger to Olive Garden. In fact, she was one of 1,000 people to score a Never Ending Pasta Pass last year.
Hayley Peterson and Ashley Lutz, writing for Business Insider, preferred the chicken, but they found both of the sandwiches messy and unsuitable for eating on the go, especially the meatball sandwich, which they noted was too heavy for a midday meal.
The sandwiches won’t be the last menu item using breadsticks at Olive Garden, according to The Associated Press, which reported that they will be toasted into crostini and used in an appetizer in August.
Grub Street saw the crostini as just one step in making Olive Garden an “All-Breadstick-Everything Restaurant,” and suggested that the obvious next step would be breadstick pizza.
