Pasta Pass 2017

Benvenuto! I am going on a Never Ending Pasta Pass Journey at Olive Garden.

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I have been at work all day, unfortunately during Olive Garden’s hours of operations. Here’s a snap of my leftover fettuccini with the fancy alfredo that I heated up for dinner!

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Here’s a tidbit from my first Pasta Pass meal

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Day 1 of Pasta Pass

Hello, friends.

Yesterday was my first day with my Never Ending Pasta Pass. I visited TWICE and honestly my body hated me for it.

For lunch, I got angel hair with five cheese marinara and meatballs. The meal was deeelish. I did not get a refill on my pasta, only on my meatball. Of course I ate some breadsticks and some salad (OG salad dressing is BAE) and left feeling a little more than full. We left at about 1pm.

We went to dinner to celebrate my wonderful friend Lily who is moving to IRELAND tomorrow (!!!) with the whole staff at the theater at 7pm. This was only 6 hours after leaving, and let me tell you: I was not hungry. I didn’t feel like I needed any more food. But I have a pasta pass, so I ate. I got the fettuccini with the fancy asiago garlic alfredo and the crispy chicken fritta. This was good. The sauce was not as flavorful as I’d hoped, but I enjoyed it. I had significantly more breadsticks because we waited a while for our food (party of 14 is a lot to accommodate) and a good amount of salad. I brought home the rest of my pasta.

I hated myself yesterday. I ate so much pasta. My stomach hated me before I went to bed. My stomach hated me when I woke up this morning. My stomach is still recovering. 

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Walking up to Olive Garden for the first meal

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Look what arrived yesterday!

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Welcome to Pasta Pass 2017

Dear Readers, 

My name is Mollie and I am excited to bring you along on my Never Ending Pasta Pass journey. For those of you unfamiliar with Olive Garden’s Never Ending Pasta Pass, the concept is simple: eight weeks of unlimited visits to the Never Ending Pasta Bowl over the course of eight weeks. Please feel free to visit the Pasta Pass FAQ page if you have additional questions.

My journey started on Thursday, September 14 at about 1:55pm, five minutes before the Never Ending Pasta Pass went on sale. I had the page open all day, watching the timer on the website tick down the hours before the sale began, but I really started to pay attention five minutes before. I watched the timer in between editing Six Show Subscription letters for work. At 1:59pm, my attention was fully on successfully getting the Pass. Last year, the Passes sold out in one second, and I knew this year would be no different. 

I clicked on “BUY” still not an active link, every second leading up to 2:00pm. I clicked on it so many times in the final second. My cursor showed a spinning wheel. I panicked. I sent a snapchat to my story so everyone would know my plight. I was redirected to another page. I did it. I got the Pass.

I closed my computer, told my office mates, and moved to a different desk. When I reopened my computer, I saw an email sitting in my gmail account. My card had been declined? That wasn’t possible. Well, anything is possible but this was just not probable. I checked my account, no issues, and searched the fine print of the email for the customer service number-- I had only EIGHT MINUTES to correct my credit card information or my Pass would be surrendered. Each and every time I updated my card, it would not accept it. It kept saying that I needed to correct the fields in red, but there were no fields in red! I was irate. As a veteran of the Lilly Pulitzer After Sale and BBC America Doctor Who World Tour, I know how these things go. You lose your spot, even by accident or by the fault of the company, you don’t get it back.

I needed to get in my car to dog sit. I didn’t have time to deal with this. I called and called the customer service number but I kept getting put on hold and hung up on. It took me over an hour to reach a real live human. They took my information and said I’d get a call back. They did not know when the call would come, or if I would truly obtain my pasta pass. I was feeling optimistic, but did not want to get my hopes up.

I got back to work, and a few minutes later I got an email saying that my Pass had been secured, and it would arrive in the mail in a few days. I am over the moon. My Pass is coming. The Never Ending Pasta Bowl begins on Monday, September 25.