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Darren Lindo, General Manager of the restaurant, cuts the ribbon on Spanish Fork's new Olive Garden, located at 1092 North Canyon Creek Parkway, while surround by other Olive Garden employees and Spanish Fork officials on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

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Attendees eat hors d'oeuvre in the main lobby and bar area during the grand opening of Spanish Fork's new Olive Garden, located at 1092 North Canyon Creek Parkway, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

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A dining area is pictured during the grand opening of Spanish Fork's new Olive Garden, located at 1092 North Canyon Creek Parkway, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

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Gabriel Castaneda, of Provo, prepares food during the grand opening of Spanish Fork's new Olive Garden, located at 1092 North Canyon Creek Parkway, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

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Spanish Fork's new Olive Garden, located at 1092 North Canyon Creek Parkway, is pictured Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

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Olive Garden is bringing the breadsticks to Spanish Fork.

The restaurant, which opened on Monday, is the latest store to open in the city’s Canyon Creek development. It is expected to draw customers from the surrounding communities to chow down on pasta.

“I wanted to say thank you to everyone in Spanish Fork and the surrounding areas for the welcoming us,” Darren Lindo, general manager, said at the Monday ribbon cutting. “We are excited to be here and be part of the neighborhood. We are here to provide excellent Italian food, a great dining experience and I know it’s going to be wonderful for everybody.”

While the restaurant only just opened, Lindo said they already had received a lot of interest from the public ever since they announced they’d be opening a location there.

“It (opening a Spanish Fork location) has been talked about forever,” Lindo said. “We haven’t opened an Olive Garden in Utah in eight or nine years, I think. So we thought this area would be perfect.”

He said they expect to get people from cities that are further south coming to the restaurant for meals.

“The closest Olive Garden is in Provo, and it’s always busy,” Lindo said. “So this gives people an opportunity to not have to drive so far and wait in such long lines. Plus, we love Spanish Fork.”

Todd Dickerson, Spanish Fork and Salem Chamber of Commerce president, said the chamber was excited to see Olive Garden decide to locate in Spanish Fork.

“For a long time inside the chamber, we’ve all talked about how nice it would be to have a really nice sit down restaurant, whether it was a steakhouse or Italian food,” he said. “So we are really grateful to have (Olive Garden) here.”

Mayor Steve Leifson said the restaurant was an important part of the Canyon Creek development, and it was something residents had been asking for awhile.

“We are pretty excited to have (Olive Garden) here. We’ve waited a long time, and we are all excited,” Leifson said. “The citizens are going to support this building and this restaurant.”