Olive Garden Will Pay For Your Babysitter If You Eat There

Olive Garden is trying to drive sales by offering to pick up parents' babysitting tab.

The struggling restaurant chain has teamed up with My Gym, a network of children's fitness centers, to provide parents with a free "date night" offer on Feb. 7.

Parents can drop off their kids before dinner at one of 145 participating My Gym locations around the country to participate. But first, they will have to call and reserve a spot, which requires a deposit.

The deposit will only be refunded if parents show an Olive Garden receipt when they return to pick up their kids.

Space is limited to 30 kids per location, and reservations are made on a first-come, first-serve basis, according to Olive Garden. The Orlando Sentinel first reported on the babysitting offer.

Olive Garden, which is owned by Darden Restaurants, has been trying to revive declining sales by lowering prices, offering a new selection of small plates, and adding a burger to its menu to compete with chains like Chillis..

Same-restaurant sales fell 0.6% in the most recent quarter and company executives said in September that visits had declined 4% from a year earlier.