The Most Affordable Italian-Inspired Chain Is Not Olive Garden

Olive Garden may not offer the fanciest Italian cuisine money can buy, but its affordability is what so many customers love about it. When you look at the decent menu prices, specials like the Never Ending Pasta Bowl, and those famous unlimited breadsticks, it's easy to see why the chain has a reputation for frugal eats. However, if you want even more bang for your buck, there's an Italian spot that's far cheaper: Fazoli's, a quick-service chain with around 200 locations in the country.

To find out which of America's major Italian-inspired chains are the most affordable, we looked at menu prices and calculated the mean or average cost of six categories: Appetizers, entrées, side dishes, desserts, drinks, and kids meals. We found that Fazoli's average prices not only beat Olive Garden's in every category, but were also lower than prices at Bertucci's, Maggiano's, the Old Spaghetti Factory, and more.

Like Olive Garden, Fazoli's is a ​​chain restaurant with a free bread selection, offering unlimited breadsticks with the purchase of a main meal. From there, the two chains deviate. Olive Garden's cheapest entrée, counting pasta, meat, and seafood dishes, is the Spaghetti with Marinara at $12.99. Out of Fazoli's main dishes – counting its "Fan Favorites" entrees, "Signature Bakes," and all pastas — its cheapest item is also Spaghetti with Marinara, but it costs just $8.49. More pressingly, the average price of an entrée at OG is $19.09, while Fazoli's average rings in at $10.91, or $8.18 less per plate. Our calculations showed other surprising differences, too.

The next most dramatic price difference between Olive Garden and Fazoli's is in the dessert category. Out of Olive Garden's desserts, the Warm Italian Doughnuts are the cheapest at $8.49. Fazoli's selection is less fancy, but even its most expensive sweets — cheesecake slices from the Cheesecake Factory — cost just $4.49 each. Fazoli's average dessert price comes out to $3.62, which is $5.47 less than Olive Garden's at $9.09.

Fazoli's array of appetizers, including chicken wings plus "Snacks and Shareables" like mozzarella bites, is 99 cents cheaper on average than Olive Garden's appetizers. Fazoli's non-alcoholic drinks were also $1.68 cheaper; its sides like salad and meatballs were $5.29 lower on average; and all of its kids meals cost $4.99, making them cheaper than OG's options, most of which are priced at $6.99.

That said, we must note that Fazoli's placed last in our ranked list of Italian chain restaurants. You might save a lot of dough dining there, and the chain has its share of fans, but don't expect amazing quality for the price. Fazoli's menu is also way smaller than Olive Garden's; its only advantage is that it serves pizza while Olive Garden does not. Where you dine depends on what you're craving and how tight your budget is. On that note, if pizza is your absolute fave, there's another chain that might offer the best value of them all — though what you get out of your visit is up to you.

Fazoli's may be the cheapest Italian chain that is comparable to Olive Garden, but what about more unconventional eateries? If you're a buffet fan, Cici's Pizza could be the best value for you. This pizza buffet chain you forgot about could come back in full force soon, especially since its unlimited buffet starts at $9.99 for adults and $5.99 for kids. In an age where every restaurant seems to be jacking up its prices, affordable, all-you-can-eat pizza, salad, pasta, and desserts sounds almost too good to be true.

As you might guess, Cici's buffet selection is mainly about pizza, and you won't find entrees like chicken Parmesan or lasagna on offer. The unlimited pastas are also simpler than many dishes found at Olive Garden or Fazoli's, consisting of pasta salad or noodles with marinara or Alfredo. But Cici's specialty pizza selection beats out Fazoli's in terms of variety and creativity, and it also offers unique items like cinnamon rolls, buffalo chicken poppers, apple dessert pizza, and chicken soup.

The only caveats are that Cici's buffet prices can vary depending on location, and as with any buffet, the total value depends on how much you eat. If you're looking for hearty Italian classics besides pizza and pasta, or you're hoping to score high-value items like seafood or steak for an uber-low price, you're out of luck. Still, the sheer value makes Cici's one of the best pizza buffets in the U.S..