The Olive Garden soup, salad, and breadstick combo is an iconic appetizer menu item, and it is often offered as a “limitless” deal across locations in the U.S. However, amid a major Cyclospora outbreak in the country, which has affected vegetables and fresh produce, certain Olive Garden locations have stopped serving salads and some vegetable-based side dishes.
As one can imagine, this has caused confusion and outrage for some customers.
An Olive Garden server on TikTok, who has to break this information to customers, recently posted a video showing how the conversation usually goes down.
How Are Olive Garden Customers Reacting To No Salad?
The clip, which has gotten over 27,100 views, shows creator Keira (@floluhwuh) acting out both roles of the server and the customer.
“I’m gonna show you what an average experience is as a server at Olive Garden right now,” she says.
In the skit, Keira greets the customer and asks whether they want to start with drinks or appetizers. The customer asks for salad and breadsticks.
“Okay, so actually, right now, because of the outbreak, I cannot sell salad or broccoli,” Keira says as the server. “So I can start you off with a soup, if that’s okay.”
The customer is immediately confused.
“What do you mean you can’t sell me salad?” the customer says. “This is Olive Garden. I always get a salad here.”
Keira’s server character explains that because of the outbreak and a “huge recall” on salad, she does not have any to sell.
“Well, that’s stupid,” the customer says. “Can I get, like, a discount then? Because I can’t get my salad.”
Keira says no and explains that the customer can get soup instead, which is complimentary with the entree.
“I don’t want a soup. I want my salad,” the customer responds.
Then, when the customer tries to order chicken Alfredo with broccoli, Keira has to break the news again.
“I can’t sell broccoli,” she says. “It’s the same thing. Just cause of the outbreak.”
The customer then asks for a manager.
“And then they leave you nothing,” Keira says at the end of the skit.
The Outbreak Is Affecting Most Of The Country
More than 7,000 cases had been confirmed or were under investigation across 34 states since May, as per a recent CNN report.
As far as the source goes, federal investigators have traced a five-state outbreak to shredded iceberg lettuce served at some Taco Bell restaurants. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Taylor Farms recalled iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico, including shredded lettuce products with “Best if Used By” dates from July 18 to August 3.
However, investigators have not publicly confirmed exactly how that lettuce became contaminated. Irrigation water, sewage exposure, or handling could all be possibilities, but none of those have been confirmed as the cause.
Should Olive Garden Customers Be Warned?
In the comments, some viewers thought Olive Garden should warn customers before they sit down.
“Should have a sign posted at the door so you aren’t breaking the bad news,” one commenter wrote.
Keira said that apparently was not the approach corporate approves of.
“Corporate is saying it’s our job to tell them bc it makes it more personal between us and our tables,” she replied.
Another Olive Garden worker said some customers were taking it better than others.
“All my tables were joking about it lmao, i had one table say they were trying to get skinny this summer,” they wrote. “Had to talk to a lot of tables that day.”
Someone else suggested Keira shouldn’t have to apologize.
“You need to stop apologizing and give more attitude tbh,” they wrote. “Its not like these people are going to tip anyways.”
@floluhwuh #olivegarden #outbreak #cyclosporiasis
♬ Piano famous song Chopin Deep deep clear beauty – RYOpianoforte
BroBible has reached out to Olive Garden via email and Keira via TikTok messages for comment.