That's dedication: Man eats at Olive Garden 100 times in 6 weeks
When Alan Martin purchased one of Olive Garden's limited edition Never Ending Pasta Passes for $100, he had no idea he would end up addicted to the taste of unlimited pasta, soup, salad, and those glorious breadsticks.
Since the promotion started six weeks ago, Martin, a pastor in North Carolina, has eaten at his local Olive Garden twice a day — so far, he's consumed $1,600 worth of food, with the goal of hitting $1,800 by the end of the deal. On Wednesday, he celebrated his 100th meal, selecting a gluten-free rigatoni with spicy meat sauce and meatballs. "I try something new every time," he told Today.com.
Martin says he has always been a fan of the chain and would visit often with his family, but it wasn't easy to eat Olive Garden twice a day during the first week. By the second and third week, though, he started to crave it, and now? "It's hard eating other food," he said.
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Surprisingly, Martin says he hasn't gained any weight, as he watches his calorie intake and weight lifts when he's off the Olive Garden clock. With his pass expiring on Nov. 9, Martin will soon have to get used to dining in the real world again, and that's already causing a bit of a dilemma. "I have no idea what I'm going to eat for lunch Monday," he said.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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