Olive Garden customer tries to order Chicken Alfredo with Create Your Own Pasta hack. It backfires

Photo by@tannerx55/TikTok Tada Images/Shutterstock

Restaurant “hacks” are a popular topic of discussion on TikTok. In some cases, these hacks allow one to order a specialty item that might not be available on the menu. For example, last year saw the rise of the Waffle House sandwich, a viral trend that had customers ordering several different items to make one cohesive sandwich (and annoying staff in the process).

Then, there are the hacks that allow customers to get more for less. To offer an example, several users have noted that one can get cheaper meals from restaurants if they simply order a children’s meal for takeaway.

In the discussion areas of these tips, it's common to find individuals questioning their feasibility in practical application. However, a user on TikTok has gained over 1.5 million views after attempting, and ultimately failing, to execute a cooking hack at Olive Garden.

Why is this Olive Garden customer upset?

In his video, a TikTok user named Tanner (@tannerx55) displays a lady consuming a plate of pasta. The lady appears distressed.

“I ordered the exact same thing when we came here. Do you remember?” she asks the person filming the video. “And they let me do it. But this time, ‘No, you can’t do that. That is not an option.’”

In the caption and the text overlaying the video, Tanner offers a little more information about what exactly happened here.

“POV: the waiter at Olive Garden didn’t let her ‘hack’ the system and she won’t let it go,” he writes in the text overlay.

The caption clarifies, “She tried to get chicken alfredo with the ‘create your own pasta’ meal and the waiter wouldn't let her do it.”

What is the Olive Garden hack?

As described in the caption, it seems the woman tried to cut costs by making a chicken alfredo pasta using the 'make your own pasta' feature.

Looking at the restaurant’s online menu, while prices may vary by location, a sample Olive Garden location in Wisconsin lists the cost of a Chicken Alfredo at $19.99.

Nonetheless, if you decide to make your own pasta, it only costs $12.99.

In other words, it seems the problem here isn't that the woman in the video was attempting to secure a cheaper deal, but rather that her initial request couldn't be fulfilled through the "make your own pasta" feature.

As mentioned on the website, the only condiments included in this package are Creamy Mushroom, Classic Marinara, Five Cheese Marinara, and Beef Sauce.

While this hack might not have worked, there are plenty of other Olive Garden hacks that servers insist one can use on their next trip to the restaurant.