Playboy.com features 'The Girls of Olive Garden'

Mark Chediak | Orlando Sentinel

July 14, 2008

Katie Simmons is a server at an Olive Garden restaurant in Greensboro, N.C. (PLAYBOY.COM)

Five Olive Garden servers and a hostess are featured in a new online pictorial from Playboy.com called "The Girls of Olive Garden."

The feature, which launched on Friday, was the brainchild of Kendra Wilkinson, girlfriend of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and star of the reality show "The Girls Next Door." Wilkinson is a big fan of Olive Garden, which is owned by Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, and often raves about the Italian-themed chain on her TV show.

Olive Garden spokeswoman Mara Frazier said the chain did not cooperate with Playboy.com nor did it choose to participate in the photo feature. She said employees were not disciplined for partaking in the photo shoot.

"What people chose do outside of work is an individual decision and we all have the freedom to participate in any legal activity in our private lives," Frazier said.

Playboy.com said on its Web site that "hundreds" of applicants participated in its search for the "hottest girls" at Olive Garden. In the past, Playboy has run similar pictorials of workers from big chains such as Wal-Mart and McDonald's.