What’s better than free breadsticks? Breadsticks with free (or heavily discounted) wine, of course.
Over the past week, rumors have circulated online that Olive Garden offers 25-cent wine samples to guests ages 21 and older. Some content creators have shared their experiences at their local Olive Garden locations, but understandably, some are skeptical.
“I haven’t been inside of Olive Garden for years because I don’t like the quality of their food, but okay, Olive Garden did something with this 25-cent wine tasting. I was able to taste all the wine I was interested in,” a content creator who goes by Kay’s KK said in a recent TikTok video. In her video, she shows that she tried six wine samples for a total of about $1.60.
So what’s the deal – does Olive Garden offer wine for just a quarter?
Does Olive Garden offer 25-cent wine samples?
It’s complicated.
Olive Garden does offer complimentary 1-ounce samples of wine to guests 21 and up with their meal. In some states, this sample is free. But in other states, where free alcohol samples are not permitted, these start at 25 cents, Jaime Bunker, Olive Garden senior vice president of marketing, told USA TODAY.
The samples aren’t a full glass, though. In comparison to the 1-ounce sample, a traditional glass of wine is 5 ounces, according to New York-based wine retailer Millesima.
How many 25-cent wine samples is one guest limited to?
Guests are welcome to a “few” wine samples with their meal, Bunker said. She did not specify the exact number of samples a guest is limited to.
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Olive Garden offers 25-cent wine samples. What to know
