In the moments leading up to the official opening, the line outside Ames’ first Olive Garden quickly grew from about 30 to nearly 60.
Collins resident Jerry Courter was the first person through the door on Monday, June 1, which was perfect because he’d arrived at 9:45 a.m. for the 11 a.m. opening.
“I am an Olive Garden nut, so I just had to be here today when they open,” he said. “I am a lover of Italian food.”
He and his son Urijah, who is a high school student and wrestler, look for the restaurant brand whenever they travel.
“After weigh-ins for wrestling, Olive Garden is my son’s go-to spot,” Courter said, although the father was eating alone on Monday.
He planned to order spaghetti marinara and salad, which is his “go-to.”
“I’ve wanted an Olive Garden in Ames for 20 years. I am the one for the past 15 years who posted ‘Olive Garden’ on Facebook every time something was being built,” he said. “Ames was in such need of this.”
Courter is one of several who have been teasing an Olive Garden for more than a decade, and when the news broke in the Ames Tribune on March 31, 2025, the internet responded in force.
Big Boy train viewers were among Olive Garden’s first guests
As Courter waited near to the restaurant’s front door, laughter breezed out the open windows of a vehicle in the parking lot.
Inside, three Story City residents, Karen Esk, Barb Carlson and Judy McIlrath, were having fun as they waited for the doors to open.
They arrived in Ames earlier in the day to see Big Boy, the Union Pacific steam locomotive, roar through town. They watched the train from the parking lot behind Main Street, then made their way to Olive Garden.
McIlrath was planning to order the lasagna, and Esk and Carlson were expecting the unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks.
In the 20 or so minutes before opening, the line grew to about 60 people.
“We’ve been watching through the windows as people have been getting in line,” local Olive Garden general manager Amanda Peterson told the Ames Tribune as she held the door open for the customers. “It’s so exciting to have such a large group of people waiting for us to open.”
When Peterson opened the door and asked the crowd if they were excited, they cheered and streamed into the newly constructed building.
Ronna Faaborg covers business and the arts for the Ames Tribune. Reach her at rfaaborg@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Nearly 60 people flocked to Ames’ Olive Garden as it opened the doors
Reporting by Ronna Faaborg, Ames Tribune / Ames Tribune
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