Gay Redditors defend twink who got called a cheapskate for taking his date to Olive Garden

Olive Garden—when you’re here, you’re family? Not for the Reddit user whose date dissed him for treating him to dinner at the Italian-American restaurant chain.

In his post on the r/askgaybros subreddit, our hero identifies himself as a 21-year-old guy who works at a restaurant chain owned by Darden Restaurants, the company behind Eddie V’s, The Capital Grille, LongHorn Steakhouse, and—yes—Olive Garden. 

The guy—let’s call him Eddie—says that one perk of working for Darden is getting a 25-percent discount at any of the company’s restaurants.

Eddie tells his fellow Redditors that he recently met a 23-year-old and asked him out. They agreed to meet for dinner, but the date asked Eddie to foot the bill because he was low on money. Eddie agreed, and he suggested Olive Garden. 

The date went OK, Eddie writes, until he got the check and applied his employee discount.

“After we left, said guy texted me, calling me a cheapskate and said he couldn’t believe I took him to a restaurant where I could get a discount and didn’t tell him beforehand,” Eddie adds. “I told him that it’s not as if Olive Garden is some obscure restaurant and that if he wanted to dine elsewhere I would’ve taken him there, too. But yeah, I might like to save a buck or two.”

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In his post, Eddie speculates that maybe his date just wasn’t into him and was looking for an out, but commenters on the post weren’t having the other guy’s nonsense.

“The guy he took out is obviously not seeing the irony of the equation,” one wrote. “MY budget = ZERO so YOU pay 100% but DO NOT try to save ANY money in the process. What a tool.”

“The guy sounds like a gold digger. He doesn’t want to pay for anything but gets upset when the person treating him saves money,” added another.

“It’s the audacity for me. He really called you ‘cheap’ when he paid zero towards the meal,” commented a third.

Someone else, meanwhile, said, “Bro doesn’t like breadsticks? [Red flag emoji].”

Others, meanwhile, would happily go out with someone who has Olive Garden perks like Eddie.

“Honey, anyone with access to 25% off a Never Ending Pasta Bowl is a catch,” one wrote. “F*ck that ungrateful broke bitch.”

“If I wasn’t taken already, I’d be shooting for a guy with this sort of discount,” noted a second.

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So. Rude.

And other guys and their significant others live for the frugality. 

“When my late husband and I first started dating, I had the Entertainment book and would take him out to 2-for-1 dinners on our dates. Amazing food and at a 50% discount,” one recalled. “He loved it ‘cause we could go out to restaurants twice as much as we could otherwise afford. It’s all about the company and the food, not about the check.”

Another added, “My boyfriend and I always split our checks right down the middle (unless one of us is broke, in which case the broke bitch pays for dessert), and because of that, we typically never go past the $40 range. Still have amazing meals and we still have amazing dates because we’re there together.”

And a third person replied, “My boyfriend takes me to taco trucks, and f*cker uses coupons every single time. My reaction? I love it! He’s smart with his money and knows I like anything he does because he also considers me but not [to the point] of being broke over a meal. The guy you went out with is a broke MFer trying to be choosey. Go for someone who considers your needs above their own.”

We here at Queerty, meanwhile, would like to remind Eddie that there’s other fish in the sea—or other olives in the garden, as the case may be.