Olive garden

I'm Italian and I love Olive Garden. I happen to enjoy their food. Is it 100% representative of home-grown Italian cooking? No. But I don't eat at places based on whether or not their food matches their fake atmosphere. I eat at places based on whether or not their food is good.

They've been in business for 30 years so I must not be the only one. Oh well..

RelentlessJ said:

Since when is that premium. Just sayin.

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Can't read anything on the tiny photo! So no comments from Hawai`i.

I like when you have to preface "what do you have for imports" by stating, "now I do not mean out of state"!

I don't think of Olive Garden as Italian food, to me it is just another place to go for some things that taste good (soup). If I want authentic style food I am a fan of the smaller "mom and pop" type places.

I too find it interesting that the macros would be listed as premium as to the fact that there cannot be very many beers that are lesser in quality/taste!
Here in Portland we are so spoiled, the kind of places that do NOT serve a variety of micro's are places I would never visit since (usually kind of dumpy).

I do have to ask, is what we call pizza considered "Italian"?

Airborneguy said:

But Olive Garden does not even approach being representative of Italian cuisine. A snob calls out an entire product, ie ALL American Lagers, or ALL chain restaurants, etc. When someone calls out one example of a particular product, they are merely expressing an opinion on that particular place.

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Quantitatively, what represents "Italian Cuisine?" Tomato sauce? Garlic? Seasonings? That's my point. There is no such thing as "authentic". Kind of the same thing with people saying American Chinese isn't the same as "real" Chinese food. China is a big place, so don't tell me that sweet and sour chicken isn't served there somewhere. Plus, if it's not, it should.

HokieBrewer said:

Guys, haven't we learned that no one is better than anyone else? Time for a group hug. :fro:

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Amen. Cheers.

KevinW said:

I do have to ask, is what we call pizza considered "Italian"?

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I like pineapple on my pizza, regardless of the other ingredients. *runs for cover*

Olive Garden is fast food masquerading as a sit down italian restuarant. There's nothing wrong with fast food, but it shouldn't cost $15 a plate. That, the fake "culinary school" in Tuscany and the way they try to push their cheap house wines on you the minute you walk in the door will continue to keep me from dining there.

Yes, sweet and sour chicken is served in china, but it looks and tastes a helluva lot different than at "Sammy chu's noodle hut". Most chinese food in America is loosely based on something made in China. Authentic, to me,means you won't find it here, or would have to search to find it. I've been to authentic Chinese restaurants and most American people would look at the menu and say "I ain't eatin any of this".

Also authentic is like if you throw a chicken leg in the microwave for ten minutes then slather it with Heinz BBQ sauce. Would you consider that authentic or real BBQ?

Dont get me wrong, I like olive garden, but it doesnt in any way remind me of my mothers cooking. That doesn't make me better than anybody, just that I know what to expect when I go there.

I used to consider Olive Garden as the bottom of the barrel.

Then I tried Fazoli's.

ndsgr said:

Q

I like pineapple on my pizza, regardless of the other ingredients. *runs for cover*

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Same here.

BTW, I don't think I've ever had an Italian-tasting pizza here in the U.S. (but I haven't traveled to the areas where most Italian-American immigrants settled. It's probably easier to find authentic fare in those areas).

ArcaneXor said:

BTW, I don't think I've ever had an Italian-tasting pizza here in the U.S. (but I haven't traveled to the areas where most Italian-American immigrants settled. It's probably easier to find authentic fare in those areas).

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Real Italian pizza is a dime a dozen here. I actually like our NY style better most of the time, but there's a place by my mother's house that makes real Italian pizzas that are unbelievable.

Mikey... ever been to Giovanni's on Richmond? That place is insane. They make a bleu cheese and pear pizza that blows my mind every time I have it.

I think the funniest part of this thread is the "awww, hey, be nice guys! No need for strong opinions!"

"i wouldn't take a **** in an olive garden"
-kevin nealon

In california, they used to sell shiner as an import in grocery stores. After living in texas for a while, I took some pride in that.

I was being saracastic. My fro ain't rainbow!

Nope, never been there. Nunzios is my favorite pizza on SI. Had Big Al's tonight. My wife teased me with L&B, so I was in the mood for pizza. Shoulda ordered from The Square

Ramitt said:

well it is not Bush, Natty lite or Old Milwaukee, so yes they could be considered premium in that context.

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I've seen bars call those "retro" or "old school" on the menu. High Life is usually the best beer in those places.

mikeysab said:

Nope, never been there. Nunzios is my favorite pizza on SI. Had Big Al's tonight. My wife teased me with L&B, so I was in the mood for pizza. Shoulda ordered from The Square

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Nunzio's was my favorite for years. I worked at the McDonald's across the street in high school and would take my breaks there, even though the McDonald's food was free!

I've never liked L&B, not my thing. My father goes to Big Al's like 3 times a week. He grew up with the owner.

Oh yeah, and just to stay on topic, I haven't been to Olive Garden since the Army.

The first time I ate at Olive Garden was close to 25 years ago. Been a customer off and on since...though a lot less over the past 5 years or so. The reason? Like a lot of other corporate restaraunt chains, they are continually tweaking the menu for margin...not for taste. The menu with the "premium offerings" is meant to give the perception of a higher class eating establishment..and for most Americans, it probably is.

They need to offer smaller portions of better quality, but because they feel the need to put a lot on the plate (so we feel like it is a better value) the quality suffers.

Sorry, I'll take a pound of ribeye over 2 pounds of bologna anyday...

I still have to laugh at those high end resturants you see on TV that serve a 1" x 2" piece of tuna with single snow pea, a slice of carrot, some parsley or something and call it a meal....and probably charge $30 for it.

We have gone to an Italian resturant where the owners are from Italy. I hear them talk to customers about how they go back a few times a year to see family. The food is great but the cheapest bottle of wine is $22 and a meal for 2 plus tip runs us about $120-$140. Not exactly a worth it IMO. We have only gone 2x and both were gift cards. One thing I will say is I had 3 full meals after that from my veal parm dinner and she had a couple from her meal as well...maybe it is a bargain?

I am pretty sure I could buy 3 bottles of that wine for $22 at the store.

jgln said:

I am pretty sure I could buy 3 bottles of that wine for $22 at the store.

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Alcohol is one of the places a restaurant can recover profits. Running a restaurant is not normally a big money business. Overhead is high, and profits are low. That is why restaurants come and go more than any other type of business. Normally they can only stick around by either serving really good food at a high price or by having some kind of big franchise name recognition that people flock too. I would personally love to have a nice Italian place to go to...

HokieBrewer said:

I was being saracastic. My fro ain't rainbow!

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It's not gay if at least one of the participants has underwear on.

Andrewtherooster said:

I don't see what's wrong with being truthful about things that are awful. Next you're going to tell me that I'm a music snob because I say Nickelback is garbage.

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Snob!

Funny you post this - I was at an Olive Garden in Garland, Texas awhile back and their Happy Hour was like $2.00 Domestics or something like that. I ordered a Shiner Bock and they charged me full price. I asked why and they said this was an import! I informed them in great detail that the beer is made in Shiner Texas - how the hell could it be an import?!?!? It doesn't get any more domestic unless it was brewed right on premise. To make matters worse - Dos XX was listed as domestic! I made a pretty big stink and my wife still kids me about it to this day.

That is just plain stupid!

I don't eat at Olive Garden because I don't think the food is very good and I really don't think it's good for the price. It tastes a lot like the stuff I can get at the grocery store. There's a good reason for that. It's all prepackaged, frozen food. Just like what's at the grocery store. I could make that myself at a quarter of the price of their dishes. If I can make pasta in my kitchen and fresh sauce -- even if it is well Americanized -- so can they.