How to score a Lifetime Pasta Pass from Olive Garden

Eat for free at Olive Garden for the rest of your natural life with a Lifetime Pasta Pass.

The chain will kick off its annual Pasta Pass promotion at 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 15, offering 24,000 passes for $100. Passes offer nine weeks of unlimited select pasta dishes, soup or salad and breadsticks.

This year’s promo includes an extra week.

If you’re lucky enough to score a pass (they sold out last year in one second), the first 50 customers will be offered a chance to upgrade to a Lifetime Pasta

Pass for an additional $400, according to a news release.

The online waiting room goes live at 1:55 p.m. Tuesday at PastaPass.com, Olive Garden said.

The Pasta Pass deal runs during the chain’s Never Ending Pasta Bowl promotion, which offers diners access to allyou-can-eat meals in restaurants starting Sept. 23 until Nov. 24. No purchase is necessary.

Olive Garden has been teasing customers about the new twist in this year’s promotion on Facebook.

“Olive Garden has always been known for Italian generosity and making everyone feel like family, which is why we introduced our Pasta Pass five years ago,” said Jennifer Arguello, an Olive Garden executive vice president, in a news release. “With the introduction of our new Lifetime Pasta Pass, we’re excited to be a part of our biggest fans’ memories around the table for years to come.”

Last year, the Orlando-based chain super-sized the offer by selling some passes that were valid for 52 weeks.