CINCINNATI (WKRC) – Olive Garden announced you may soon be able to order its iconic pasta straight to your front doorstep.
For years Olive Garden has been resistant to the popularity of delivery apps like Doordash and Uber Eats, and only offered delivery on its website for catering orders with a $100 minimum. This decision persisted even through the pandemic, when many other businesses benefitted from the third-party delivery services.
The folks at Olive Garden seem to have changed their mind, since the company announced on Thursday that it was entering “an exclusive multi-year delivery partnership” with Uber Eats.
“Guests have been asking us for home delivery options and they continue to show they are willing to pay for the convenience,” said Rick Cardenas, the CEO of Olive Garden’s parent company Darden.
Rather than hiring its own fleet of drivers, Olive Garden plans on outsourcing delivery orders to Uber Eats drivers, but customers will still have to order through the Olive Garden website and app.
A press release said “an initial pilot of first-party delivery” would be offered at a limited number of locations later in 2024, and if it does well, the company said delivery could be offered at over 900 of its locations by May of 2025.
“On-demand delivery is increasingly a core expectation for consumers,” said Sarfraz Maredia, the Vice president of Delivery and Head of Americas at Uber Eats. “People also expect a great experience, especially when its from a brand they love like Olive Garden, and that doesn’t change whether it’s at the restaurant or at home.”