- My family of four tried a $60 family-style dinner deal from Olive Garden to see if it's worth it.
- The chicken and pasta portions were so large that we had leftovers throughout the week.
- Our meal was a great value, but I'd order something without breading next time to avoid sogginess.
Although my husband and I opt for independently-owned small businesses when we go out to dinner, if my teens are involved in the decision-making process, we usually end up at Outback Steakhouse or Chili's.
Since it's rare for the whole family to get together to go out to eat these days, we usually let our kids choose the restaurant, which means we eat at a lot of chains.
Dining out as a family of four can get pricey, so we've been experimenting with different chains' "meal deals" to see if we could enjoy the same food at a better value in the comfort of our home.
This time, we tried the family-style meals from Olive Garden. My family has dined at the Italian-American chain together before, and my kids visit it often on their own on dates or with groups of friends
So, we were curious to see how takeout compared to the dine-in experience — and whether our meal would feel like a great value.
It was fairly simple to order our meal online, but there were a few hiccups.
I headed to Olive Garden's website, chose my preferred pickup location, and clicked on the "family-style meals" section of the menu.
There were several options for family-style meals, from chicken fettuccine Alfredo to lasagna, most priced at around $50 to $70 and designed to serve four to six people.
I also saw a larger lasagna meal that served up to 12, as well as family-sized portions of appetizers like calamari and spinach-artichoke dip.
At checkout, I could also add things like dessert or drinks for an additional cost.
For our entrée, we chose the chicken Parmigiana family meal, a $60 dinner that said it would serve four to six people. It sounded perfect for my family of four.
Initially, I selected to add six breadsticks to my order for just under $5, but at checkout, a prompt popped up asking if I'd like to change the quantity. My kids are big fans of Olive Garden breadsticks, so I clicked through to change my order from six to twelve ($7).
When I got home, my printed receipt indicated I had accidentally ordered and paid for 18 breadsticks.
At our designated time, we headed to Olive Garden to pick up dinner.
I selected a 4:45 p.m. pickup time and checked out, paying a total of $77 for the meal and (plenty of) breadsticks.
Immediately after completing my order, I realized I'd entered an incorrect pickup time, but I couldn't find an easy way to change it in the online ordering interface.
Instead, I followed the instructions in my confirmation email and called the restaurant. It was easy to chat with an employee and change my pickup to 5:15 p.m.
Before getting our food, I had a few errands to run with my teenage daughter. It felt super relaxing to shop for groceries and check things off my to-do list, knowing that dinner was being taken care of by a restaurant, not by me.
Once we parked in a designated pickup spot, I checked in on my phone.
A few minutes after 5 p.m., I arrived at Olive Garden to pick up my order. The parking spots for pickup orders were clearly marked, making it easy to find exactly where I needed to be.
I parked in a numbered space, and about 10 minutes before my scheduled pickup time, I received a text message from Olive Garden with a link to check in for order pickup.
The entire pickup process was fast and convenient.
About five minutes after we checked in, a staff member brought the order to my car window.
The meal came in a large paper bag, and the garlicky breadsticks and chicken smelled delicious. We couldn't wait to take the dishes home to dig in.
The bag held everything we needed for an Olive Garden dinner at home.
Inside our Olive Garden bag was a full catering pan of cooked spaghetti, a half-pan of marinara sauce, and another large catering pan containing breaded chicken breasts topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella.
Each component of the dish was packed separately in a lidded pan, which was also covered with plastic wrap to prevent spills.
The breadsticks we'd ordered were in paper bags, and the meal also included packets of Pecorino Romano cheese, Olive Garden's iconic chocolate mints, utensils, and serving tongs and spoons.
All we needed were our dinner plates.
The meal was supposed to serve four to six, but it felt like there was enough for eight or more people.
We received 12 entire breaded chicken breasts and more pasta and sauce than we could use in one sitting.
The portions made sense considering this meal feeds up to six, and Olive Garden's chicken Parmigiana entrée usually includes two breaded cutlets and a large serving of spaghetti.
Both my husband and I agreed this meal could easily serve eight to 10 people, though.
After eating, my family of four packed enough leftovers to continue eating Olive Garden chicken Parmesan for several more meals throughout the week.
We accidentally ordered too many breadsticks, but that wasn't exactly a problem.
The 18 breadsticks I accidentally ordered were a hit with my teenagers, who snacked on them throughout the night, even after we'd packed up all of our leftovers.
I found the breadsticks had gotten cold and a bit hard during transport, and wondered if packaging them in a different kind of bag would have helped.
Fortunately, both baked and unbaked breadsticks are available when ordering up a family-style meal at Olive Garden.
Since I was hoping to keep the night's dinner as easy as possible, I chose baked breadsticks, but next time I'd order them unbaked and allow time to heat them in my own oven at home so they're as fresh and hot as possible.
In hindsight, chicken Parmesan was probably not the best dish to order to-go.
Another downside to our feast was that the breading on the chicken Parmesan didn't hold up very well during transport.
Inside the catering pans, the breading had gotten a bit soggy, and the sauce and cheese had dried up and congealed a bit.
When my teens ate leftovers the following day, I had them reheat their chicken in the air fryer, which helped crisp the breading back up a bit.
The food was good, but I'd order something else next time.
Overall, our meal was a hit. It was easy to pick up and eat at home, and most of the items tasted just as good as what we've had when we've eaten inside an Olive Garden.
Even the breadsticks, which weren't entirely heated through, were good, leaving the slightly soggy chicken Parmesan as the real disappointment.
Next time, I'd just order a pasta dish without a breaded protein, like chicken fettuccine Alfredo or shrimp scampi.
Our $77 dinner felt like a great value, and we learned from our ordering mistakes.
Although my husband and I found a few faults with the meal, my teenagers were thrilled with it.
Although $77 for the four of us to eat dinner at home felt a bit high, the cost would've been less had I not accidentally ordered more breadsticks.
Plus, Olive Garden's family-style dinners included impressively large portions that could feed way more than the suggested four to six people.
Including leftovers, we got about six meals out of this, bringing the cost down to about $13 a serving. Meanwhile, one of Olive Garden's chicken Parmigiana entrées typically costs about $22.
I could also see this being a good option for a larger gathering — if we used this meal to feed eight guests, the cost would be less than $10 per person.
Ultimately, based on my experience, I would order a family-style to-go meal from the chain restaurant again.
I learned a few important lessons on our first attempt, like making sure to triple-check the shopping cart for unwanted items, ordering proteins without breading so we aren't stuck with soggy chicken.
I'd also order my breadsticks unbaked next time. The extra steps seem worth it to have fresh, hot Olive Garden breadsticks. And, as an added perk, my house would smell incredible while they baked.
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Terri Peters is a contributing writer for Insider.
