Olive Garden's Infamous Breadsticks Are No Match For This Fast Food Chain

Whether it's to whet the appetite or simply promote an atmosphere of hospitality, it's always nice to receive free bread at a restaurant. That is, as long as the bread itself is actually nice. When Chowhound ranked the free bread offerings from thirteen chain restaurants, sadly, many of the carbs in question received low marks for being stale and generally disappointing. This includes Red Lobster's famous Cheddar Bay Biscuits, which apparently are just not what they used to be. In a list liberally populated by rolls and loaves, just two of the options were breadsticks. Naturally, one of those breadstick offerings came from Olive Garden. The other, which ranked far higher on the list, was from Fazoli's.

This result may be surprising, as Olive Garden may generally be considered to be a higher quality restaurant than Fazoli's. The former is a casual restaurant, while the latter is considered a "QSR," or quick service restaurant. Olive Garden is also generally pricier than Fazoli's. For example, their chicken Alfredo is just over $20, while the chicken fettuccine Alfredo at Fazoli's is around $12. Nevertheless, the Yelp reviews considered in Chowhound's ranking faulted the Olive Garden breadsticks with being brick-hard and stale. On the other hand, the Yelp consensus for Fazoli's breadsticks was that they were well seasoned, fresh, warm, and buttery. Clearly, Fazoli's is doing something right. (But if you're craving an Olive Garden breadstick, Walmart has a good copycat you can make at home.)

Fazoli's, like Olive Garden, offers unlimited breadsticks. If you're ordering online, six of their signature garlic breadsticks will set you back $3.99. Their Family Meal Bundle for four includes a family-sized serving of both fettuccine alfredo and spaghetti, a whole pizza (cheese or pepperoni), and eight breadsticks. At less than $25, this means each of your four family members can eat their fill for about $6. Not bad at all, especially if the rest of their food is as good as their breadsticks!

A quick glance at their Instagram account shows that Fazoli's is rightly proud of their breadsticks. Their bio not only says "Fast. Fresh. Italian. Best Breadsticks," their feed is peppered with breadstick memes and promotions — including a photo of breadstick Christmas ornaments, and one with a Halloween trick or treat basket overflowing with them. With this kind of prominence, it seems safe to assume that Fazoli's will continue to aim to maintain high quality of this popular item.

Unfortunately, for those eager to try Fazoli's after all this, they're harder to come by than the larger Olive Garden chain. Olive Garden has more than 900 restaurants across the United States, while Fazoli's operates just over 200 locations across 28 states. Nevertheless, if you're a breadstick superfan, they may be worth the drive.