When our favorite menu items seemingly take their leave—whether just for a season or indefinitely—we may forgive, but we never forget. This is why you won’t have to look far to find a Southerner waxing poetic about discontinued items like Barber’s Original French Onion Party Dip, carrot-raisin salad, Chili’s famous Paradise Pie, or red-eye gravy at Cracker Barrel. Chances are, we might even be able to tell you the last time and place we enjoyed such a marvelous thing.
Such is also the case at Olive Garden, where menu items at the Italian-inspired casual dining restaurant come and go to make way for new things, but the sentimentality never quite leaves us. And if we plead loudly enough, turns out, we might just enact change.
The chain recently announced that—after seven Change.org petitions and thousands of messages sent to their Guest Relations team—they will be bringing back two of their most-requested, fan-favorite dishes: Braised Beef Tortelloni and Ravioli di Portobello.
Braised Beef Tortelloni.
Credit:
Olive Garden
“For years I have been getting the Braised Beef Tortellini from Olive Garden,” one passionate petition, the largest of the bunch, read. “They took it off the menu, then later brought it back…but finally removed permanently. I have been waiting for backlash from the public…I hope there are others that miss this dish and support my petition.”
A second petition mentioned the nostalgic tie that the braised beef had for many, with “fond recollections of enjoying this dish on celebratory family dinners.”
And as for the Ravioli di Portobello, fans have written extensively about its prominence in childhood memories and the gaping loss they feel at mealtimes. “For as long as I can remember when going to Olive Garden, I’ve ordered the same thing: Ravioli di Portobello…a dish I’ve ordered since I was a child,” one petitioner shared.
Another spoke on behalf of the group, summing up the sentiment: “After speaking with a lot of [Olive Garden] fans, I have learned that we all have one thing in common…it was our favorite dish. Please do the right thing. The people have spoken.”
Ravioli di Portobello.
Credit:
Olive Garden
The two comfort-food classics are now back on menus nationwide through March 22, 2026, so you can enjoy as much Braised Beef Tortelloni (slow-braised beef, roasted mushrooms, and asiago-filled tortelloni in a creamy marsala mushroom sauce) and Ravioli di Portobello (portobello mushroom-filled ravioli in a creamy sun-dried tomato sauce) as your heart desires. And of course, they’re served with Olive Garden’s never-ending breadsticks and unlimited soup or salad.
There’s free food involved in this homecoming story, as well. As a way of saying thank you—or in keeping with the theme, grazie—to their biggest fans for supporting the return of these menu items, Olive Garden is giving away a free entree to every person who signed a petition or contacted their Guest Relations team asking about the Braised Beef Tortelloni or Ravioli di Portobello.
We hope other companies will continue taking cues from fans. This summer, McDonald’s brought back Snack Wraps after a decade away; this fall, Chili’s heard the outcry from fans about their Skillet Queso; and we won’t soon forget the now-defunct Cracker Barrel remodel.
Power to the people, y’all!
Dining and Cooking