Oops, they did it again. Olive Garden is under fire once more after a customer alleged the use of hot dog buns instead of its standard breadsticks.
But are the breadsticks really different? You be the judge.
What happened to Olive Garden’s breadsticks?
Olive Garden is beloved for its Americanized takes on Italian food, affordable prices, and, of course, the endless soup, salad, and breadsticks deal.
But part of the restaurant’s salty trinity is in jeopardy as yet another customer accuses the chain of replacing the breadsticks people love with a much less appetizing counterpart—hotdog buns.
In a viral video with more than 1.5 million views, Rachel (@rachelresells) noticed that something was off with the breadsticks sitting at their table.
“Are Olive Garden breadsticks just warmed up hot dog buns????” she asked in the text overlay.
Judging from the half-eaten bread sitting in the basket, it seems she, or whoever Rachel was dining with, at least tried the breadstick before having a hot dog accusation.
This is a kinda white-gold vs. blue-black dress situation. If you look at the carb vessels long enough, you can see a case to be made that they look like normal breadsticks or incognito hot dogs.
Commenters react
But it seems the consensus is clear in the comments section.
“Idk where you are but my olive garden breadsticks do NOT look like that,” the top comment, with more than 27,000 likes, read.
“Your Olive Garden is BROKEEEE,” a person wrote.
“Maybe the ran out and improvised with some hot dog buns?” another explained.
“If they’re good I don’t give a damn,” a commenter stated.
Is a breadstick the same as a hot dog?
A hot dog bun and a breadstick are not made equal. As food writer Dennis Lee so aptly described in his newsletter (while on his journey to sneak a hot dog into Olive Garden):
“The thing about a regular hot dog bun is that it’s spongy and squishy and easy to eat, while an Olive Garden breadstick is chewy by nature—which is a weird texture pairing for a hot dog. But then again, the OG stick has a garlicky and buttery flavor, which is fun.”
A long-held debate
This isn’t the first time Olive Garden breadsticks have been compared to hotdog buns.
In fact, this is a trend that pops up every few years, involving cutting breadsticks in half and using them as hot dog buns. While it sounds ludicrous, the breadstick’s length lends itself quite nicely to this substitution.
Some even prefer the bread stick’s more buttery flavor over a store-bought bun’s more mild taste and texture.
Olive Garden scaling back on breadsticks?
In 2014, investors tried to get the restaurants to scale back on how many breadsticks they served per table, according to the Daily Meal.
It was so serious that they emailed Olive Garden’s executives a nearly 300-page presentation on why fewer breadsticks would make the company more profitable, decrease food waste, and (allegedly) improve customer experience. Despite being 294 pages long, the word “breadstick” only appears 47 times in the document.
@rachelresells why am i just now noticing this? #olivegarden #food #eat #glizzy #sticks ♬ original sound – Rachel
The Daily Dot reached out to Rachel for comment via Instagram and TikTok direct message and to Olive Garden via email.
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