Olive Garden’s never-ending soup, salad, and breadsticks deal has been one of the chain’s signature draws for years.
According to one server on TikTok, however, the deal greatly disregards the servers’ experience.
In a recent video, which has garnered over 466,200 views, TikTok creator Madeline (@madelinefarted) performed a skit imagining Olive Garden’s CEO coming up with the unlimited soup deal. According to her, they had very little sympathy for the servers who have to keep refilling bowls.
Why Does She Say The Olive Garden Deal Is Bad For Servers?
“What’s a way that we could really f— over our servers and waste their time?” she says, pretending to be the CEO. “We could make our bottomless soup and salad twelve dollars and fifty cents,” she says.
According to Madeline, the issue is that servers still have to keep running back and forth for refills during busy shifts, even though the final bill may not be high enough to lead to a substantial tip.
“The servers are gonna run around the restaurant like crazy,” she says. “Dinner rush and only make, if they tip 20%, a two-dollar and five-cent tip?”
In the skit, she says the idea sounds great from a corporate perspective.
“Yeah, no, that sounds honestly great,” she says. “Yeah, I think that’s good.”
She then brings up another offer she deems unfair to servers.
“Not only that, but we’re also gonna advertise that we have free water and a free slice of lemon,” she says. “And that no ice is an option.”
“Free, bottomless, refillable water,” she concludes. “That sounds perfect.”
Why Is Tipping Such A Big Deal For Servers?
In the U.S., tipping is a major part of how servers make a living wage.
Under federal law, employers can pay tipped workers as little as $2.13 an hour, as long as tips bring them up to the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
Oregon, where Madeline appears to work, is different. The state does not allow employers to use tips as part of a worker’s minimum wage. That means tipped workers in Oregon must be paid the full state minimum wage before tips. Depending on the area, that minimum is at least $14.05 an hour and can go up to $16.30 in the Portland metro area.
Even so, tips are still important for Oregon servers. According to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, a single adult with no children in Oregon would need to make about $26.46 an hour to meet basic needs.
So even in a state with stronger wage rules for tipped workers, many servers still rely on tips to make the job worth it.
She Is Not The Only Olive Garden Server To Complain
Madeline is not the only Olive Garden server online to complain about the chain’s endless deals.
On Reddit, one server said endless soup, salad, and pasta bowl customers can take up a lot of time without bringing in much money.
“Yall endless soup and salad and pasta bowl people waste all our time for barely any money,” the server wrote.
Another person who said they worked at Olive Garden complained that some customers order the cheapest unlimited option, ask for repeated refills, take up the table for a long time, and still leave a small tip.
Just like Madeline, the server was especially frustrated by customers who order water with extra lemon, multiple soups, salad, and breadsticks, then tip only a few dollars after a long meal.
A third Olive Garden worker said the endless refills were one of the hardest parts of the job, especially while still learning the restaurant’s flow.
“The endless refills takes up more than half of my time and has me running around for sometimes little to no tips,” they wrote.
Servers And Customers Weighed In
In the comments section, viewers understood why the deal might be frustrating for servers, even if customers love it.
“As a bottomless soup lover, i’m sorry,” one user wrote.
“And no auto gratuity and party’s over 10 have to have atleast 2 servers who can’t take any other tables,” a server added.
One commenter suggested Olive Garden change how the deal works.
“Hot take Olive garden should just make it like a buffet style for customers can get up and get it themselves,” they said.
“As a server i will never work at olive garden,” a fourth wrote.
BroBible has reached out to Olive Garden via email and Madeline via TikTok messages for comment.