Olive Garden is a California phenomenon, and now we have the map to prove it

Olive Garden's annual never-ending pasta pass never lasts more than a few minutes before they are scooped up. Now, the restaurant chain is out with what you might call a "heat map" of interest in Olive Garden across the Country.

According to a statement from the restaurant's communications team, "Residents of California really like pasta!"

This year's annual event happened just a couple of weeks ago on September 14th. It took less than one second for Olive Garden fans to claim all 22,000 Never Ending Pasta Passes and 50 first-of-its-kind Pasta Passports to Italy.

Of the 49 states where Olive Garden operates, California was the #1 state with the largest number of Pasta Pass Purchases. If you look at the map, it appears Fresno is a pretty hot location in the Central Valley.

In June, Olive Garden opened its most recent location in the Fresno area-- located on Riverside Drive in the "El Paseo" shopping center. The new location created more than 175 jobs and is big enough to hold more than 250 guests.

Olive Garden currently has three valley locations. They also have restaurants in Clovis and Visalia.

Who knows? If the heat map is a guide they may look a little harder at our area in the future.