The freshness of Olive Garden's chicken has repeatedly come under fire, with Redditors making jokes about the restaurant's main chef being a microwave that reheats frozen food. Meanwhile, a former employee claimed that Olive Garden's chicken dishes should not be ordered, and not because of a microwave, but ‌for these reasons.

In response to a video prompt asking viewers to suggest the restaurants they should avoid eating at, Olive Garden veteran and TikToker spookyshanny responded: Olive Garden. After claiming that customers felt terrible after eating there, the TikTok user said that Olive Garden “changed their chicken about six years ago [...] to chicken that's not so great.”

Spookyshanny further alleged that the meat is “not 100% chicken, and the chicken that comes on the never-ending pasta bowl is actually canned chicken.” A Facebook review of the chain's chicken parm alleged ‌the dish didn't contain “real chicken breast meat,” while another user claimed they paid $17 for “some fake tasteless formed chicken patty.”