Does Olive Garden Have a Gluten-Free Menu?

Celiac.com 11/29/2023 - We get a lot of questions about which restaurants and restaurant foods are gluten-free. One question we've seen a lot recently is about Olive Garden. Does Olive Garden offer a gluten-free menu?

Olive Garden does not offer a menu that is strictly gluten-free, because they don't test all products to ensure that they are gluten-free to below 20ppm.

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However, Olive Garden does offer a menu for gluten-sensitive patrons. They also have a dedicated page on their website, where you can check their policy and practice regarding gluten-free items.

According to Olive Garden's website:

Gluten Sensitive Diet
"At Olive Garden, we aim to ensure we have a range of options to meet our guests varying health and wellness needs including Gluten Sensitive choices."

What is the gluten-free pasta made out of?
"The gluten-free pasta uses brown rice flour as the primary ingredient, giving it an even better pasta texture."

Do you have special handling procedures for gluten-free pasta?
"Our gluten-free pasta is cooked and held separately until ordered. At that time it is added directly to the sauté pan to avoid cross contact with other pasta or pasta water."

What does gluten-sensitive mean?
The menu items we call "gluten sensitive" are our menu items that are made without gluten-containing ingredients. We do not claim these items are "gluten free" because we have not chemically analyzed them to confirm if they meet the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) definition of "gluten free" (20 parts per million of gluten). While we do have processes and procedures in place to minimize cross-contact with other gluten-containing foods, these items may not be suitable for our guests who are highly sensitive to gluten.

Please know that our "gluten free" pasta does meet FDA's formal definition of gluten-free." For this reason, if you have celiac disease, or have any medical sensitivity to gluten, it's best to look elsewhere for gluten-free Italian options. 

Olive Garden's Gluten Sensitive Menu items include:

• Zuppa Toscana
• Famous House Salad without croutons
• Grilled Chicken Parmigiana
• Herb-Grilled Salmon
• 6 oz Sirloin
• Rotini Pasta with Marinara
• Rotini Pasta with Meat Sauce
• Grilled Chicken with Rotini Pasta & Marinara (kids)
• Rotini with Marinara (kids)
• Rotini with Meat Sauce (kids)

As most celiacs know already, eating out involves the risk of cross-contamination, so be sure to discuss this with a staff member if you decide to eat at Olive Garden.