Why Does Olive Garden Have 3-Prong Forks?

As far as casual dining chains go, you can do a lot worse than that American utopia, Olive Garden. Is it an authentic Italian dining experience? Of course not, and it's not necessarily trying to pretend that it is. It's here to give you lasagna, fettuccine, and as many breadsticks as you can possibly eat. Who could possibly begrudge them for that? But that doesn't mean we don't have a few questions, chief among them: what's the deal with the forks? Most forks you'll find in a restaurant, such as casual chain rivals like Applebee's or The Cheesecake Factory, have four prongs (or tines, whichever you want to call them), but the forks at Olive Garden have just three. What's up with that? Well, it's a pretty simple answer: all the better to twirl pasta with.

There are a few different ways to eat pasta with a fork, all of which can be challenging to do smoothly and glamorously, but Olive Garden was helpful enough to make things a bit easier. Forks with three tines are often used for more delicate items, such as fish, fruit, or pasta. Maybe you won't look like Sophia Loren twisting up a plateful of spaghetti, but with its three tines and its neatly designed handle, you run a lower risk of embarrassing yourself at the dinner table. (Your move, Bertucci's.)

Olive Garden has gotten some praise for their forks — not only for their eminent twirlability, but also for their wonderfully designed handles that make using them a breeze, especially for those on the autism spectrum who may have issues with other types of forks. If you'd like some of your own, you can always ask a manager at Olive Garden how much it would cost to buy some. (Although some might try for a five-finger discount, we can't tell you to do that in good conscience.)

Alternatively, you can cut out the middleman and go to the source. Olive Garden sources its cutlery from World Tableware, and while you probably won't need to buy quite as many forks as Olive Garden does, you can get enough to satisfy your need for easy-twirl cutlery. 72 forks will cost around $50 on eBay, and from there, you can enjoy a variety of pasta dishes — from fettuccine Alfredo (popularized by Hollywood stars) to carbonara (which, according to the Pasta Queen, shouldn't be made with bacon).