Olive Garden is debuting a new dessert, just in times for those mid-summer night outings.
The national chain is introducing a Chocolate Caramel Lasagna dessert, an interesting twist on a classic Italian dish.
Featuring layers of chocolate, caramel, vanilla-soaked sponge cake, and creamy custard topped with chocolate shavings, this lasagna will appeal to all sorts of dessert lovers.
On the Wreckless Eating YouTube channel, Matt Zion reviewed the Chocolate Caramel Lasagna. Although he said the lasagna was “Boom Shakalaka good,” he also felt that the cake took away from his overall enjoyment of the dessert.
"Texture-wise, [the cake] throws it off," Zoin said. "But it’s got a good flavor, very chocolatey, you do taste the caramel … I think I expected a little more from the picture of it that I saw on the menu."
Over the past two years, Olive Garden has made several changes to increase its sales and the overall quality of its restaurants.
"We’re just running better restaurants today," said Gene Lee, chief executive officer of Olive Garden, as reported by Fox News. "I don’t think we should discount the importance of ensuring we’re properly staffed, our teams are properly motivated, simplifying the operation, reducing the size of the menu, processes and procedures."
In addition to improving their staffing procedures, the Orlando, Florida-based chain has also concentrated on encouraging to-go customers to come to the restaurants.
"We benefit significantly at Olive Garden because food travels so well, especially when we put it in bulk containers," said Lee.
Carryout orders have increased over 40 percent in the past two years, which is 10.5 percent of total sales throughout the country. The restaurant also added large-order delivery services to improve its catering options.
Although the restaurant has been successful with its Never Ending Pasta Pass, company executives believe the key to the restaurant’s success has been its simplicity.
"One of the things we’re focused on now is trying to keep things simple," Lee explained. "Doing simple things every day is really hard. That’s what’s given us the biggest lift at Olive Garden. We’re not relying on promotional activity to drive business."