On January 12, Olive Garden, the food chain known and loved for its breadsticks and praised on social media for having steaks “better than Texas Roadhouse,” will open two new locations.
Alexandria, Louisiana, will host one of the locations. According to KALB, a local outlet, the well-known chain will move into a location that formerly housed another Italian restaurant chain, Johnny Carino’s, which had announced in March that the restaurant would be demolished and closed.
Later in January, Piqua, Ohio, a city north of Dayton, will host another Olive Garden.
Olive Garden expands nationwide with new Ohio restaurant
According to local outlet WDTN, the Ohio location will provide a full menu and service in addition to reintroducing some dishes that have not been available on the chain’s menu since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The returning dishes include Ravioli di Portobello and Braised Beef Tortellini, and the location will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Five managers who relocated to the city for the chain are going to run the new eatery. “We have a highly engaged group of leaders,” Alyssa Choiniere, the Olive Garden director of operations, told WDTN. “Every one of our managers has moved to Piqua, not by force… they want to be there.”
About 53 miles northeast of downtown Dallas, in Greenville, Texas, the chain recently opened another location. Furthermore, according to the chain’s website, more Olive Garden grand openings took place in Morganton, North Carolina, Jacksonville, Florida, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Russellville and Siloam Springs, Arkansas.
Olive Garden’s new menu
After testing a new menu at 40% of its locations, Olive Garden announced earlier in December that it would be implementing it across all of its restaurants.
According to Rick Cardenas, president, CEO, and director of Darden Restaurants, which runs Olive Garden, the Lighter Portion section of its menu will be present in all of its locations and will “give all of our guests more options.”
January is when the new menu will go live across the entire system—a little earlier than the chain had anticipated.
The menu offers a number of dishes that are already available at Olive Garden, like:
- Fettuccine Alfredo.
- Cheese Ravioli.
- Spaghetti & Meatballs.
- Chicken Parmigiana
But at a lower cost and in smaller portions than before. However, the meals include unlimited breadsticks and an unlimited first course of soup or salad.
Balancing growth and affordability
For many eateries and even shops in the food industry, 2025 has been a challenging year. Several companies have shut down or even declared bankruptcy. Maple Street Biscuit Company is shutting down 14 locations in 2026, and Jack in the Box plans to close up to 200 restaurants because of the decline in consumption. These are just a couple of the many affected.
The majority of them explain that inflation has been challenging for the sector in the past few years, especially after COVID-19.
Yet, Olive Garden is expanding because of its continued success compared with many other casual dining chains. Customers’ loyalty is a major factor in how well it does, especially because the food costs a reasonable price and the portions are generous.
Darden Restaurants, the company that owns Olive Garden, claims that this tactic keeps the chain competitive even with rising wages and food costs across the restaurant sector.
The new January locations also show an increasing trend of large restaurant chains moving into pre-existing buildings instead of starting from scratch because this way, they can save time and money.
As Olive Garden keeps expanding and updating its menu, it is trying to grow without becoming too expensive so customers across the U.S. continue to choose it.
