New Olive Garden restaurant opens

CHUBBUCK, Idaho (KIFI) - The Pocatello and Chubbuck area now has an Olive Garden.

It opened its doors for the first time Sunday.

It is located by the Pineridge Mall where the Red Lobster was.

That building was torn down and Olive Garden built a new building at that site.

The new manager Jake Patrick says they've hired about 180 employees, and they already have their hands full.

"It's [business has] been excellent. We've been full basically the whole day and the guests have been really happy," Patrick said.

They will be open most days from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. during the week, and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

The Chubbuck location is the newest of over 800 nationwide.

Olive Garden is also known for its community service. The company says they have donated more than 45 million pounds of food to local community food banks across the country.