The Truth About Olive Garden's Giant Chicken Parmesan
If you love chicken Parmesan, buckle up, buttercup. The Giant Chicken Parmigiana is back at Olive Garden (via Delish). If you missed the limited-time offer during the promotional period in 2019, let's refresh your memory. Olive Garden breads and fries an 11.5-inch chicken filet, and then tops it with marinara sauce, and melty mozzarella. Don't forget about the side of the ever-popular fettuccine Alfredo nestled beside it (sidenote: there's also a new Alfredo menu), and those famous unlimited breadsticks and salad.
When the Giant Chicken Parmigiana was first released, it was part of the Giant Italian Classics menu. The menu included other giant dishes, such as a 12-ounce meatball with spaghetti, and giant four-cheese stuffed shells (via Insider). This time, there wasn't much said about the huge chicken Parmesan's return in June — a video post on Olive Garden's Facebook page for Father's Day mentioned the return of the dish for a limited time. So, why did Olive Garden bring back the Giant Chicken Parmigiana now, and where are the other giant dishes?
Why Olive Garden's giant chicken Parmigiana is back
Bringing back the large-enough-to-share meal that teams up two fan favorites — chicken parm and fettuccine Alfredo — is a no brainer. Olive Garden's off-site sales have recently increased by 300 percent, with large pre-orders of at least $50 being the biggest money makers for the company, according to Restaurant Business. The June reintroduction of the menu item also appears to coincide with the reopening of more than 700 Olive Garden dining rooms across the country (via FSR).
As for the Giant Chicken Parmigiana being the only supersized item on the menu, well, it's not. We also noticed, hiding at the bottom of the classic entree online menu, that the Giant Cheese Stuffed Shells were also still there. Pricing and availability varies for both of these items, depending on your location. We checked an online menu in California, and another in Mississippi. The price of the Giant Chicken Parmigiana in Mississippi, was $2.30 less than California's $20.29.