File. An order of breadsticks from a Darden Restaurants Inc. Olive Garden location is arranged for a photograph in Tiskilwa, Illinois, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015. Darden Restaurants Inc. is scheduled to release earnings figures on Sept. 22.
A mystery is unfolding over a single Olive Garden breadstick.
On Nov. 16, a TikTok user posted about an unfortunate extra they received with an order of breadsticks at the popular pasta chain.
“Guys, why is there letters on my Olive Garden breadstick?” the user asked. The post consists of a single picture: a hand holding a half-eaten breadstick with the letters “O” and “K” as well as the number “6” in black printed text on its side.
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The image-based TikTok quickly went viral, amassing more than 4 million views and thousands of comments.
“I’ve worked there and I’ve never seen this before 😭,” wrote one user, and another asked, “How did it happen though?”
“They’re from frozen bags so the label must’ve like gotten on that one,” one user posited.
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Other commenters who claimed to be former or current employees also thought the text was part of the coding on plastic bags that the sticks come in.
“it’s like when you do the tongue tattoos with fruit rollups the print stuck onto the bread but just a thought,” one hypothesized.
Others chimed in with similar experiences they had while eating out at restaurants.
“THIS HAPPENED TO MY FAMILY WHEN I WAS A KID!!!” one user wrote. “they gave us a pizza w receipt ink on the cheeze we could literally read it all😭😭 we got free dessert.”
“One time I had a price tag on the bottom of my egg bite from starbucks,” another said, and when the original poster asked them if they ate it, the user replied, “I was hungry what can I say.”
Neither the TikTok user nor representatives for Olive Garden immediately responded to TODAY.com’s request for comment.
But the official Olive Garden account commented the following on the TikTok: “We are concerned to see this. Can you please send an email to social@olivegarden.com with your full name, and the location you went to?”
Four days later, the TikToker and Olive Garden seemingly got in touch over email. Even though every Olive Garden entrée comes with a never-ending first course of soup or salad and breadsticks, the chain gifted the TikToker with a $100 gift card for the error.
The user uploaded a second TikTok to their account on Nov. 20, four days after their breadstick blunder.
“Thank you olive gardens,” the TikToker wrote over a screenshot of an email from Olive Garden.
Commenters lauded the chain for its response. One wrote, “Now that’s good service,” and another said, “Olive Garden don’t play AROUND.”
“How do I get numbers on my breadstick?” someone else asked.
For now, this mystery surrounding the unlimited carb remains unsolved.
This article first appeared on TODAY.com. Read more from TODAY here:
