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Why Olive Garden Is Struggling

Operator ZoneRestaurant Failures & Lessons/CNBC/10:49

When your average check hovers around $19 and labor costs are eating 30% of revenue, those endless breadsticks start looking less like hospitality and more like a death spiral. Olive Garden built their empire on volume and portion theater, but you can only squeeze so much margin out of microwaved alfredo before the math stops working. The lesson here isn't about Italian authenticity — it's about what happens when your operating model depends on customers who don't show up anymore.

— The Chef's Take

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