Olive Garden's Unlimited Pasta Pass Is Back & You Can Get Unlimited Pasta for a Year

olive garden unlimited pasta pass 2018
Courtesy of Olive Garden

Dear Starch-Loving Public, unbutton the top button of your pants because Olive Garden's Pasta Pass is back. In honor of the chain's 23 years of business, it'll be selling 23,000 Pasta Passes, 1,000 more than it sold last year. 

The passes sell out almost instantly every year. Last year's haul of 22,000 cards was sold in just one second, according to Olive Garden. The $100 pass gets you unlimited pasta, homemade sauces, pasta toppings, soup or salad, and those warm, garlic-salty breadsticks for eight full weeks. You'll be full of noodles from September 24 through November 18. That is, if you're able to snag one of the carb cards before they're gone.

This year, the Pasta Pass situation will be crazier than bread at Little Caesars, because for the first time, OG is introducing an annual version of the pass. Only 1,000 will be made available (in addition to the 23,000 regular Pasta Passes), and they'll cost $300 each. Having that precious piece of plastic in your wallet entitles you to an entire year of never-ending pasta. Apparently, almost two months of never-ending pasta isn't enough for some Pasta Pass cardholders.

“We have the most passionate fans who look forward to Pasta Pass and Never Ending Pasta Bowl throughout the year, and they’ve made it clear that eight weeks just isn’t long enough,” Jennifer Arguello, executive vice president of marketing for Olive Garden, said in a statement. “So we listened, and we’re excited to give our guests more of what they’ve been asking for -- an Annual Pasta Pass that extends our Never Ending Pasta Bowl promotion year-round.”

The race to get your hands on the nation's deepest bowl of pasta starts on Thursday, August 23 at 2pm EST. PastaPass.com will have "buy" buttons for both passes available for 30 minutes or until they're gone, which means you'll probably have 29 minutes to stare at the "buy" button and wonder how it's possible you missed out. 

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Dustin Nelson is a News Writer with Thrillist. He holds a Guinness World Record but has never met the fingernail lady. Follow him @dlukenelson. dnelson at thrillist dot com