The State With The Most Olive Garden Restaurants In The US

Olive Garden has been doling out homely bowls of soup, heaping plates of pasta, and never-ending baskets of melt-in-your-mouth breadsticks for decades. The Italian-inspired restaurant opened its doors in 1982, with the first location appearing on Orlando, Florida's iconic tourist strip, International Drive.

Fast forward to today, and an array of franchised locations have now sprouted up around the world, including in Canada, the Philippines, U.S. territories like Guam and Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico, among others. Nearly 900 of the company-owned casual dining establishments can also be found sprinkled across America alone, with a location of the Italian-themed eatery available in every single state, according to web scraping service, ScrapeHero.

Surprisingly, however, the highest concentration of restaurants isn't located in Orlando, or even in the state of Florida at large. Apparently, everything really is bigger in Texas, because The Lone Star State holds the distinction of having the most Olive Gardens of any state in the country.

It's no secret that fiery Tex-Mex dishes, chunky chili, and finger-licking barbecue are easy to come by in Texas. But, as it turns out, the Italian cuisine at Olive Garden is just as plentiful in the region. Data from ScrapeHero indicates the nation's second-largest state is brimming with 109 locations of the chain, which accounts for 12% of all of the company's U.S.-based restaurants.

In terms of the Texas cities with the largest presence of Olive Gardens, that honor goes to Houston and San Antonio. Houston tops the list, and is home to 12 of the restaurant locations. San Antonio follows close behind, holding nine restaurants within its city limits. 

Fort Worth, Texas, situated in the north central section of the state, is also perched in the Top 10 list of U.S. cities with the most Olive Gardens. The bustling city holds the number nine spot with four restaurants total.

Of course, Texas isn't the only U.S. state that fancies the Italian-inspired restaurant concept. Olive Gardens can also be readily found in California, too, which has 79 locations, accounting for 9% of all of the chain's American restaurants, per ScrapeHero. Although Florida didn't nab the top spot, it did round out the top three states with the most locations. The Sunshine State has 77 Olive Gardens, which makes up 8% of the brand's U.S.-based establishments.

Fittingly, most of Florida's locations are present in Orlando, which has now blossomed from its singular OG restaurant on I-Drive to the eight eateries it now has today. This may come as no surprise to some considering the area was ranked in 2023 as the "best foodie city in America," according to WalletHub. Additionally, the two Florida cities Tampa and Jacksonville have a large concentration of Olive Gardens, featuring four each.

Also on the list of the most Olive Garden-having states are Pennsylvania and Ohio, each with 37; Georgia and Illinois, each with 33; North Carolina and New York, each with 30; and Michigan with 27.