Olive Garden accused of boxed wine dupe

A diner’s post has gone viral on TikTok after suggesting that eponymous restaurant group Olive Garden misleads customers by trying to pass off boxed wine as bottled.

A video has received almost a quarter of a million views in just 24 hours after it appeared to show open boxed wines behind the counter at an Olive Garden branch, while empty bottles of wine sat on the top of the counter.

“So, I noticed when we were at Olive Garden, they poured our wine from the bottle, but then we saw the boxes, and then they were keeping the empty bottles, so obviously they’re filling the bottles with the boxes!” said @witchdoct0r777 on TikTok.

Calling it “the Olive Garden scandal”, the diner preceded to zoom in on both the boxes and bottles of wine and demand that any staff who work at Olive Garden to “confirm or deny this”.

One Olive Garden staff member responded via the social media platform explaining that the boxed wines were, in fact, used for Sangria.

“As someone who works at an Olive Garden the box wine is for sangrias 🙂 just because you see them in the same room doesn’t mean they are connected,” they wrote.

Another Olive Garden employee appeared to corroborate this by writing: ““Red box is for the berry sangria, and white is for the watermelon and green apple sangria.”

Others had different theories for why the empty bottles might accumulate on the counter top, ranging from it being a recycling station to a sign of over-zealous management keeping tabs on staff.

“Some managers count the bottles at the end of day, to make sure the bartender wasn’t over pouring for a tip,” one user wrote.

At the time of writing, Olive Garden had not yet issued an official response.

This article was originally published by the drinks business and has been shared with permission.

Leave your reply

Most Recent Stories

French Michelin Guide sees influx of new stars

Yesterday's launch of the 2024 Michelin Guide for France saw 62 restaurants gain stars, bringing the country's total number of starred establishments up to 639.

What to drink at Morchella

Coming from the team behind Perilla, newly-opened Exmouth Market wine bar promises a European-focused list.

Wine List Confidential: Stem and Stem

Douglas Blyde stops and smells the roses at restaurant and florist Stem and Stem in the City of London. Fittingly, he finds dishes "accented in chlorophyll hues", and a "bouquet menu" that "borrows the language of a wine list".

Sommelier training reshapes the brain, study reveals

It's official: sommeliers are smarter. A new study investigating brain response to tasting wine found that sommelier training doesn't just refine the palate, but reshapes the brain itself.

Fine wine collection gathering dust in abandoned Somerset hotel

Valuable bottles of fine wine have been left languishing in an abandoned hotel, shrouded in dust, since the venue ceased operating during the Covid pandemic.

Most Recent Stories

French Michelin Guide sees influx of new stars

Yesterday's launch of the 2024 Michelin Guide for France saw 62 restaurants gain stars, bringing the country's total number of starred establishments up to 639.

What to drink at Morchella

Coming from the team behind Perilla, newly-opened Exmouth Market wine bar promises a European-focused list.

Wine List Confidential: Stem and Stem

Douglas Blyde stops and smells the roses at restaurant and florist Stem and Stem in the City of London. Fittingly, he finds dishes "accented in chlorophyll hues", and a "bouquet menu" that "borrows the language of a wine list".

Sommelier training reshapes the brain, study reveals

It's official: sommeliers are smarter. A new study investigating brain response to tasting wine found that sommelier training doesn't just refine the palate, but reshapes the brain itself.

Fine wine collection gathering dust in abandoned Somerset hotel

Valuable bottles of fine wine have been left languishing in an abandoned hotel, shrouded in dust, since the venue ceased operating during the Covid pandemic.