Olive Garden famously boasts that guests are treated like “family” when they stop by for chicken parm or chocolate lasagna. But some diners are clearly much closer “family” than others — specifically the 50 people who have been granted all-you-can-eat pasta for the rest of their lives.
During a 2019 promotion for Olive Garden’s sixth-ever “Never-Ending Pasta Pass,” the restaurant offered a one-off deal for select customers: The opportunity to buy a “Lifetime Pasta Pass” redeemable for unlimited pasta, all the time, and for the rest of their lives.
“The Lifetime Pasta Pass includes a lifetime of unlimited servings of guests’ favorite pastas, homemade sauces and toppings, accompanied by unlimited soup or salad and breadsticks,” Olive Garden explained of the 2016 promotion.
The Lifetime passes, however, came at a significant initial cost.
In order to qualify for the offer, Olive Garden fans first had to purchase that year’s standard (seasonal) Pasta Pass for $100, which itself was redeemable for all-you-can-eat pasta between Sept. 24 and Nov. 23, 2019. Then, if they were among the first 50 buyers to opt-in for the “Lifetime” add-on, they were charged an additional $400.
That may seem steep, but the Lifetime Pasta Passes offered their owners unlimited pasta, year-round, and with no expiration date aside from their own inevitable deaths. (At the time, Olive Garden estimated the passes would pay for themselves on the 45th visit.)
A representative for Olive Garden told Nexstar that all 50 passes were indeed purchased in 2019, and remain active.
“We absolutely do have 50 Lifetime Pasta Passholders – and their passes are still valid!” the company’s rep said.
These passholders were also the first and only to purchase Lifetime Pasta Passes, and the company has no current plans to extend the offer to additional guests, the representative confirmed.
The best Starbucks ground coffee deals on Amazon
Olive Garden, meanwhile, still sells its seasonal Never-Ending Pasta Passes in limited quantities (and the company is hosting an additional giveaway right now). Restaurants will also offer diners the chance to try a Never-Ending Pasta Bowl between Aug. 31 to Nov. 22, once per visit, for $14.99.
Anyone still hoping to earn special passes for unlimited chain-restaurant fare can try their luck elsewhere: McDonald’s infrequently gives away its fabled “McGold Cards,” and Chipotle has been known to hand out renewable “Celebrity Cards” for free food, albeit mostly to celebrity superfans.
“This is my most prized possession,” Olivia Rodrigo once wrote of her unlimited Chipotle pass.
SavorNation is reader-supported and may earn an affiliate commission.
