Olive Garden Lunch Hours

What Time Does Olive Garden Serve Lunch?

Lunch runs from the moment the doors open until 3 PM, Monday through Friday. Across the 962 US restaurants we track, 953 list a separate lunch window in their official hours, and nearly all of them open at 11 AM, so the lunch service is four hours long at almost every location. Kitchens switch to dinner portions and dinner pricing at 3 PM sharp; an order placed at 2:55 PM still gets lunch prices.

The weekday lunch special, unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks, is listed by Olive Garden as available until 2:30 PM, while the lunch sized favorites run until 3 PM. Servers at most stores honor the later time for both.

What Is on the Olive Garden Lunch Menu?

Eleven items: lunch sized lasagna classico, chicken parmigiana, fettuccine alfredo, spicy alfredo fettuccine, five cheese ziti al forno, cheese ravioli, eggplant parmigiana, spaghetti and meatballs, shrimp scampi and plain spaghetti with marinara or meat sauce, plus the unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks meal. Every lunch entrée includes unlimited soup or salad and breadsticks when you dine in.

Typical US price = the most common price across our state sample. Prices are higher in California, New York and Alaska. Verify with your local restaurant before ordering.

Does Olive Garden Serve Lunch on Weekends?

No. Saturday and Sunday run the dinner menu from opening. The same smaller portions exist all week as lighter portions, priced a dollar or two above the lunch price, so a weekend lunch of lasagna is still possible at close to weekday cost. The soup, salad and breadsticks meal is available every day at the all day price of $12.99.

Olive Garden Lunch Prices

The soup, salad and breadsticks special costs $10.49. The lunch spaghetti is $11.49, and the lunch portions of fettuccine alfredo, cheese ravioli, five cheese ziti and eggplant parmigiana all share a price just above it. Lasagna, chicken parmigiana and spaghetti and meatballs lunch portions sit a dollar higher, and the lunch shrimp scampi matches them. Every price is roughly a third below the dinner version; the item pages list all three sizes.

Lunch Calories

Lunch portions run from 440 calories for cheese ravioli with marinara and 460 for shrimp scampi, through 500 for lasagna, 630 for chicken parmigiana and five cheese ziti, 660 for eggplant parmigiana and 800 for spaghetti and meatballs, up to 920 for fettuccine alfredo and 1,000 for spicy alfredo. Add a bowl of minestrone (110) and one breadstick (140) and most lunches land between 700 and 900 calories.

The $6 Take Home Entrée

When you order a lunch or dinner entrée in the restaurant, the checkout offers a second entrée for six dollars, boxed to take home. The options are a short list of classics such as five cheese ziti, fettuccine alfredo and spaghetti with meat sauce. Paired with the $10.49 lunch special it makes two meals for well under the price of one dinner entrée.

Holiday Lunch Hours

Lunch service follows the restaurant's holiday schedule. Olive Garden closes on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day; on other holidays that fall on a weekday, lunch runs as normal. On weekend holidays such as a Saturday July 4, the dinner menu is served all day. The full list is on the hours page.

How to Check Lunch Hours Near You

Open your city in the store locator; the weekly hours table on each city page shows the lunch window for every restaurant next to its full opening hours. A few mall and airport area stores shift lunch to 11:30 AM or end it at 2:30 PM.