{"id":1373,"date":"2025-12-20T16:44:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T16:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/?p=1373"},"modified":"2025-12-20T16:44:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T16:44:13","slug":"olive-garden-adds-lighter-portions-to-cut-entree-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/?p=1373","title":{"rendered":"Olive Garden Adds Lighter Portions To Cut Entree Prices"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-journey-body=\"standard-article\">\n<ul data-node-id=\"0\" class=\"css-kw9lqy emevuu60\">\n<li data-node-id=\"0.0\">Olive Garden is rolling out a new &#8220;Lighter Portions&#8221; menu section nationwide by the end of January 2026.<\/li>\n<li data-node-id=\"0.1\">The section features smaller versions of popular entrees priced at $13\u2013$15, compared with typical entree prices of $16\u2013$23.<\/li>\n<li data-node-id=\"0.2\">Darden CEO Rick Cardenas says the test improved perceptions of affordability and increased return visits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr data-node-id=\"1\" class=\"css-18pb4rg emevuu60\"\/>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"2\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">Olive Garden is planning a 2026 menu update designed for anyone who still wants Chicken Parm but would also like their dinner bill not to be a jump scare when it hits the table.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"3\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">During Darden Restaurants&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/earnings\/call-transcripts\/2025\/12\/18\/darden-dri-q2-2026-earnings-call-transcript\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/earnings\/call-transcripts\/2025\/12\/18\/darden-dri-q2-2026-earnings-call-transcript\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"earnings call\" data-vars-ga-product-id=\"e8cae980-92ac-4f69-8710-aade8fcdaf16\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-node-id=\"3.1\" class=\"body-link product-links css-1i7jlb0 emevuu60\">earnings call<\/a> on Thursday, December 18, CEO Rick Cardenas discussed a new menu section called &#8220;Lighter Portions,&#8221; which is being rolled out across Olive Garden locations, with the goal of reaching all restaurants by the end of January 2026. <br data-node-id=\"3.3\"\/>The idea is simple: smaller versions of familiar, fan-favorite entrees at a lower price point. Reports say the items in the new section will generally land around $13 to $15, compared to the chain&#8217;s typical entree range of about $16 to $23. And the menu pulls from classics like Chicken Parmigiana, Fettuccine Alfredo, Five Cheese Ziti al Forno, and Lasagna Classico.<\/p>\n<section data-embed=\"editorial-link\" data-lazy-id=\"P0-16\" data-node-id=\"4\" class=\"embed\">\n<aside class=\"css-1fm2v8u e94w1mj9\">\n<h6 class=\"css-18s47pf e94w1mj7\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" data-theme-key=\"title-design-element-before\" class=\"css-0 eagam8p0\"\/><span class=\"css-8lle59 e94w1mj5\">Related Story<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\" data-theme-key=\"title-design-element-after\" class=\"css-0 eagam8p1\"\/><\/h6>\n<\/aside>\n<\/section>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"5\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">Cardenas said the early results have been strong. On the call, he noted that Olive Garden has seen &#8220;a double-digit increase in affordability perceptions&#8221; from guests ordering from the Lighter Portions section, along with &#8220;higher frequency among these guests,&#8221; meaning they&#8217;re coming back more often. He also shared that 40% of locations had the section in place last quarter, with another 20% added early in the third quarter, and the rollout timeline was accelerated. <\/p>\n<section data-embed=\"watch-next\" data-lazy-id=\"P0-17\" data-node-id=\"6\" class=\"embed\"\/>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"7\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">There\u2019s also a second reason this move is landing right now: portion size. Cardenas acknowledged that smaller entrees can appeal to diners who specifically want less food, including people using GLP-1 medications. And in a detail that feels very telling, Darden isn\u2019t planning a big promotional push for the new section. &#8220;Currently, we\u2019re not\u2026 thinking about marketing it to our guests,\u201d Cardenas said, adding it\u2019s already performing well &#8220;the way it is.&#8221;<strong data-node-id=\"7.1\"><br data-node-id=\"7.1.0\"\/><\/strong><\/p>\n<section data-embed=\"editorial-link\" data-lazy-id=\"P0-18\" data-node-id=\"8\" class=\"embed\">\n<aside class=\"css-fcvumo e94w1mj1\"\/><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Olive Garden is rolling out a new &#8220;Lighter Portions&#8221; menu section nationwide by the end of January 2026. The section features smaller versions of popular entrees priced at $13\u2013$15, compared with typical entree prices of $16\u2013$23. Darden CEO Rick Cardenas says the test improved perceptions of affordability and increased return [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}