Olive Garden servers are frustrated with a new uniform policy requiring white button-up shirts instead of black ones, per DailyMail.com. The change, implemented at several of the chain's 900 locations, includes an olive green apron and dark jeans. Servers, who handle sauce-heavy pasta dishes, say white shirts stain easily and cost too much to replace.
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"I've bought over 15 white shirts, and they're ruined quickly," a server posted on Reddit. A customer called the shirts "sauce magnets." Some locations haven't adopted the policy. An anonymous server told DailyMail.com, "My manager won't enforce white shirts. It's too unpopular."
A Pattern of Uniform Shifts
Olive Garden, famous for endless soup and salad, changed uniforms in 2013. Servers switched from white shirts with colorful ties to black button-ups. "Black is the opposite of white," said Dan Kiernan, then vice president, now CEO, in 2013. The return to white shirts has sparked backlash due to their impracticality.
Unlike Starbucks, where unionized baristas protested a new dress code, Olive Garden servers lack a national union. Starbucks' policy demands black shirts and waterproof shoes. Starbucks Workers United called it "restrictive" and staged a walkout at 100 stores. The union cited "bad faith bargaining" in a three-year contract dispute.
Olive Garden servers face challenges organizing. "We're not unionized," a server noted on Reddit. "Protesting risks firing or replacement." Darden Restaurants, Olive Garden's parent company, didn't respond to comment requests.
Darden's Financial Ups and Downs
Darden reported a 6.2% sales increase last quarter, with Olive Garden generating $5.2 billion from nearly 1,000 locations. However, Longhorn Steakhouse saw weaker sales. Bahama Breeze, another Darden brand, closed a third of its stores this week.
Servers' complaints highlight tensions in the restaurant industry over workplace policies. The white shirt mandate remains a sore point, with no resolution in sight.
"Last year, Longhorn SteakHouse, the corporation's other revenue gem, reported slightly weaker than expected sales to start the 2025 earnings season," DailyMail.com reported. "The corporation said its sales grew 6.2 percent compared to the same quarter last year.
"Olive Garden was a huge part of that sales growth, pulling in $5.2 billion from just under 1,000 restaurants."
