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Olive Garden is testing smaller portion sizes to help diners save money.
The chain is offering a light portion entrees section with seven existing meals at lower prices, all served with unlimited breadsticks and soup or salad.
About 40 percent of the chain’s 933 restaurants are taking part in the trial.
Darden, Olive Garden’s parent company, says the smaller plates are already bringing more diners through the door.
'It's not necessarily new guests, because we haven't marketed it. It's just, people are gravitating toward that,' said Darden president and CEO Rick Cardenas.
Other chains have also shrunk portions to offer lower priced meals to customers.
PF Chang’s, for example, launched two entree portion sizes at different prices on September 24.
The move differs to the tactics of other chains, who last year admitted to shrinking portion sizes but not prices to offset higher costs for wages and ingredients.
It is the latest move by Olive Garden to highlight affordability.
Olive Garden last month reintroduced one of its famous promotions — the fan-favorite 'Never Ending Pasta Bowl'.
The all-you-can-eat pasta offer once again starts at $13.99, holding steady despite restaurant prices climbing sharply over the past four years.
Industry experts say the strategy works because pasta is inexpensive to make and filling. Customers rarely eat more than a few bowls.
'Pasta is both very inexpensive and very filling, so profit margins are already high,' said Mike Kostyo, vice president at Menu Matters.
Meanwhile in March, Olive Garden finally rolled out out delivery at all of its 900 restaurants nationwide. It had long resisted such a move.
The orders are priced the same as restaurant menus, and can be placed on the chain's website or via app. The food is typically delivered by Uber drivers.
It was an instant hit. Delivery accounted for five percent of the chain's overall sales during the last quarter
Daily Mail has reached out to Olive Garden and Darden for comment about the portion sizes and is awaiting response.