# Restaurant Review of The Olive Garden Goes Viral



## kleenex (Mar 10, 2012)

Restaurant Review of The Olive Garden Goes Viral - Yahoo! Finance

Is the Olive Garden that bad???


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## jabbur (Mar 10, 2012)

I've never been disappointed with the food.  We even had them cater a dinner for the band parents!  Just another example of the food snobs trying to take over IMO.


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## Rocklobster (Mar 10, 2012)

I agree. If you like it, who's buisness is it, anyway? Some people need to put others down to feel superior. Talking about love of food isn't enough for these people. They need to feel superior about everything in their lives. I know a few people like that. They are too busy complaining about things to actually experience any simple pleasures.
Here is a funny, but true video about foodies.
FOODIES on Vimeo
http://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/badaily/2012/02/srsly-a-video-about-how-food-s.html


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## Katie H (Mar 10, 2012)

I wouldn't go so far as saying that Olive Garden is gourmet food, but it IS good and, from what we've experienced, a well-run business.

The Olive Garden restaurants I've been to have all been clean, pleasant and well-managed.  The food, with one exception, was very good and as Mrs. Hagerty said, generous serving-wise.  The one exception was one that served somewhat mediocre food.  Don't know what happened, but the "spark" just wasn't there.  That restaurant was in a 'burb of Washington, DC and it's unlikely I'll ever be back that way again so I won't know if there's been any change/improvement.

As with anything else, if you don't like what they offer...go somewhere else.  It's not like we don't have plentiful restaurant choices in this country.


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## Leolady (Mar 10, 2012)

I liked the salad and breadsticks!  What's wrong with people nowadays?


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## marigeorge (Mar 10, 2012)

The ones around here have gone downhill, they are not very clean and the food has been mediocre at best. When they first opened they were excellent.


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## buckytom (Mar 10, 2012)

i think olive garden sucks, but then it's being compared to a dozen different mom and pop italian resraurants in my area that are excellent. 
dw convinced me to go to the olive garden a few times when we at a mall, so it's not like i didn't give it a go. what makes me think they suck was that the first time, i ordered  pork cubes in a wine sauce and not only was the pork bad (it smelled and tasted off), but there was a sliver of plastic in the sauce that the waiter admitted was from the bag that the sauce comes in. another time i ordered chicken parm. the chicken cutlet was pounded so thin and so badly overfried that it was like a wood chip. how can you screw up chicken parm?

so no thanks for me. dw knows better than to ask me to go again.


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## Kayelle (Mar 10, 2012)

I'm with you, Bucky.  I've been to olive garden several times.  I was underwhelmed to say the least, and it's sure not because I'm a food snob, considering my favorite local place for Italian Food is a small local chain called "Presto Pasta", where the meals are a real bargain and down right delicious. 
Welcome to Presto Pasta


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## Andy M. (Mar 10, 2012)

We've eaten at OG several times.  We have not experienced badly cooked or adulterated foods.  The meals we've had were tasty and reasonable.  When someone is looking for authentic Italian, I don't recommend OG.  I also don't recommend the locally owned place.  It's not very good either.  Crappy food is not limited to chain restaurants.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Mar 10, 2012)

We have Johnny Carino's here, not bad...the best place is still my kitchen.


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## TATTRAT (Mar 10, 2012)

buckytom said:


> i think olive garden sucks, but then it's being compared to a dozen different mom and pop italian resraurants in my area that are excellent.
> dw convinced me to go to the olive garden a few times when we at a mall, so it's not like i didn't give it a go. what makes me think they suck was that the first time, i ordered  pork cubes in a wine sauce and not only was the pork bad (it smelled and tasted off), but there was a sliver of plastic in the sauce that the waiter admitted was from the bag that the sauce comes in. another time i ordered chicken parm. the chicken cutlet was pounded so thin and so badly overfried that it was like a wood chip. how can you screw up chicken parm?
> 
> so no thanks for me. dw knows better than to ask me to go again.





Kayelle said:


> I'm with you, Bucky.  I've been to olive garden several times.  I was underwhelmed to say the least, and it's sure not because I'm a food snob, considering my favorite local place for Italian Food is a small local chain called "Presto Pasta", where the meals are a real bargain and down right delicious.
> Welcome to Presto Pasta



I am in this camp. 

Olive garden is to Italian, what McDonalds is to burgers.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Mar 10, 2012)

Maybe I should be happy Olive garden has never opened here...


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## babetoo (Mar 10, 2012)

i have eaten there several times. i usually get the sample plate and salad. both are good and filling.


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## chopper (Mar 10, 2012)

Olive Garden is a good place to go for soup, salad and breadsticks. I meet friends there and have really enjoyed the food and the service.


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## Siegal (Mar 10, 2012)

chopper said:
			
		

> Olive Garden is a good place to go for soup, salad and breadsticks. I meet friends there and have really enjoyed the food and the service.



It's funny how people taste differ. I ate there twice and I thought the breadsticks were tasteless and the salad dressing was so vile it ruined the salad. Yet I really liked the pasta I ordered!


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## bakechef (Mar 10, 2012)

I don't consider OG to be great food, but it is usually tasty and consistent.  I am also in an area where there are no great local places, I've looked but so far have come up dry.

For many it might be the best option that they have for Italian type food.  My favorite Italian chain is Maggiano's.


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## GB (Mar 10, 2012)

TATTRAT said:


> I am in this camp.
> 
> Olive garden is to Italian, what McDonalds is to burgers.


Make room for my tent too please.

I have no problem with people liking OG (or McD's for that matter). I would never put someone down for liking what they like. But for me I find OG inedible for the most part. I have had soup there that I actually really enjoyed and I think the bite of chicken parm that my wife gave me was not bad, but aside from I have not eaten anything else there that I would ever serve. The amount of salt they use it beyond insane. I am not someone who goes super light with salt, but of the 4 times I have eaten at an OG, 3 I have physically not been able to continue eating because it was too salty.


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## buckytom (Mar 10, 2012)

i mentioned this thread to my wife and she said, " well, it's ok if you only eat the salad, breadsticks, and a simple pasta dish. it's not really italian..."

when i replied about how greasy and salty the breadsticks were, she mentioned that they were the diet breaking part of going there, but it was ok because it's only every once in a long while.

i don't know. if i'm going to eat something "sinfully" diet breaking, it's not gonna be breadsticks.


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## Steve Kroll (Mar 10, 2012)

I'm not going to say OG sucks. It's far from authentic, but okay as far as chain restaurants go. And if it's the only Italian option you have in your town, then so be it.

I live in a large metro area with a lot of diverse mom & pop restaurants. When my wife and I go out to dinner, those are the kind of places we tend to like. They usually have personality. Just my opinion, but with chains, the food can sometimes taste a little like it came off a conveyor belt.


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## PattY1 (Mar 11, 2012)

TATTRAT said:


> I am in this camp.
> 
> Olive garden is to Italian, what McDonalds is to burgers.




^That


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## Greg Who Cooks (Mar 11, 2012)

I'm with BT and Kayelle. Olive Garden is uniformly indistinctive to me. Generic Italian.

The review says, "The Olive Garden hits some kind of middlebrow sweet spot, where people really do like it...but it's also a goofy chain with overblown pretensions toward authenticity.”

I don't know about "middlebrow sweet spot" (I like to think I'm a bit more browed than that) but "pretentions towards authenticity" rings true to me.

Like BT I'd rather go to a local mom 'n pop Italian joint, a place where maybe they might cook it just like at home... Without pretentions... and without "vases and planters with permanent flower displays on the ledges."

The Olive Garden nearby my home in NW L.A. is bland and indistinctive, and expensive! If I want expensive I'd rather go to Romano's Macaroni Grill (another national chain). Maybe it's the same sort of place and maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. Really I'd rather cook my own food than eat in an overpriced restaurant anyway.


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## kleenex (Mar 12, 2012)

buckytom said:


> i don't know. if i'm going to eat something "sinfully" diet breaking, it's not gonna be breadsticks.



I agree.


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## Claire (Mar 12, 2012)

I'm not fond of Olive Garden, but have to say if I was a working stiff, still, I'd think their soup/salad/breadsticks was a pretty good deal.  I don't go out for Italian food much at all, it just seems a cuisine that we do better at home.  But I think it's great for the price for a fast lunch.


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef (Mar 13, 2012)

Y'all do realize that the reason that all Olive Gardens have the exact same menu and the exact same food is that there are no chefs in the restaurants? All the food is prepared in one central location and shipped to each restaurant in seal-a-meal bags.


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## buckytom (Mar 13, 2012)

yup, and i got some of the bag with mine.

when you think about it, it's essentially airline food on a larger scale.

not horrible or inedible, but unless i'm a captive audience, i wouldn't go looking for it.


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## Zereh (Mar 13, 2012)

^^ You two are so right. It's like glamorized TV dinners. hahah

It's not cheaper to eat out, it's certainly not healthier and if the food is only "meh" at best ... than what's the point? 

We don't bother wasting either our time or money in chain restaurants any more since we inevitably left feeling dissatisfied; what comes out of our kitchen at home is 100% better than what comes ever comes out of theirs.


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## Addie (Mar 13, 2012)

OG is outside of the Boston area. And they have never gotten good reviews here. We have too many excellent Italian restaurants in Boston for OG to try and complete with them. It would be like going to Italy and trying to teach them how to cook pasta. 

My daugter and I went to a local Italian restaurant called Ecco. I had deep sea scallops with mushroom risotto. Even the coffee was great.


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## FluffyAngel (Mar 13, 2012)

We don't have any "mom & pop" Italian Restuarants here to my knowledge in my little corner of SC. Our Olive Garden is less than 3 years old and still very clean with pretty good service. Now, though I do enjoy it - I do realize the comparison to McDonald's & hamburgers does apply to OG for Italian.  Like I said we simply don't have those options here. If I had the ability to cook everything I wanted, I wouldn't always have the time.  We had our TV services cut off because we went for two months without ever turning on the TV. My husband & I go to our OG because we don't always want to or have time to cook. And when your choices are Olive Garden versus Golden Corral - well I'd rather have airline quality over the two.  It is what it is. Whether they Call themselves Italian, Greek, or Mutt, I see it for what it is, then it comes down to I like what it is or I don't.  I am under no false (can't think of the word) understanding- to me it simply is what it is.


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## buckytom (Mar 13, 2012)

false assumptions? false pretenses? false assumptions would be more accurate. false pretenses is more of a legal thing.

i completely understand going to og if that's your best option, or even if friends or coworkers are gathering there.

like i said, it's not horrible, just not as good as many other places that cook things fresh or mainly from scratch.

i'm sure i'll be brow beaten into going again when we go back to that mall. it's the only restaurant within a few minutes drive of that mall and when dw's blood sugar gets low, we eat where the monster inside her says we do...


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## jennyema (Mar 13, 2012)

Gourmet Greg said:


> The review says, "The Olive Garden hits some kind of middlebrow sweet spot, where people really do like it...but it's also a goofy chain with overblown pretensions toward authenticity.” .


 

The review in question by Marilyn in the Grand Forks paper doesn't say that.

I think Olive Garden is horrible, though not as bad as Applebees.  Gloppy and oversauced.  Not real Italian in the slightest.  I dont think appreciating good food and not wanting to eat bad food makes you a snob.

But the review was priceless.  At first I thought it was from the Onion or something.  It.s unwittingly hilarious.

And I love Marilyn!  She's delightful.  She was on Pierce Morgan with Jane Lynch last night.


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## jennyema (Mar 13, 2012)

Addie said:


> OG is outside of the Boston area. .


 
There is one in Dorchester!!


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## Addie (Mar 13, 2012)

jennyema said:


> There is one in Dorchester!!


 

Thank you. The last time I checked it was was out in the hinterlands of 128. Red Lobster is another one that is slow to show their face in Boston.


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## Andy M. (Mar 13, 2012)

Addie said:


> Thank you. The last time I checked it was was out in the hinterlands of 128. Red Lobster is another one that is slow to show their face in Boston.



We have an OG near us.

The nearest Red Lobster is in Ct.


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## Addie (Mar 13, 2012)

Andy M. said:


> We have an OG near us.
> 
> The nearest Red Lobster is in Ct.


 
I can't imagine a RL succeeding anywhere near the coast in New England.


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## Andy M. (Mar 13, 2012)

Addie said:


> I can't imagine a RL succeeding anywhere near the coast in New England.




I agree.  There used to be one on Cape Cod!!  I guess they got smart and gave up.


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## jennyema (Mar 13, 2012)

I think there is an Applebees right next to the Olive Garden in South Bay ...  yikes!

I have yet to see a Red Lobster around here.  I think we were spared mercifully from the bad chains for a long time.

Just hope Golden Corral doesnt show!


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## Addie (Mar 13, 2012)

Andy M. said:


> I agree. There used to be one on Cape Cod!! I guess they got smart and gave up.


 
You're kidding! That is funny. Surrounded on three sides by water and excellent seafood restaurants and they thought they could make a difference.


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## bakechef (Mar 13, 2012)

jennyema said:


> I think there is an Applebees right next to the Olive Garden in South Bay ...  yikes!
> 
> I have yet to see a Red Lobster around here.  I think we were spared mercifully from the bad chains for a long time.
> 
> Just hope Golden Corral doesnt show!



Golden Corral has really good pot roast and fried chicken.

The one near me isn't horrible, but that could be that it is near corporate headquarters.  The atmosphere is kinda terrible, but there are a few good items.


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## Andy M. (Mar 13, 2012)

I'm amused we see ads on TV in this area for RL and GC and they don't have a presence.  They buy ad packages that cover a large geographical region the can include areas where the have no restaurants!


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## bakechef (Mar 13, 2012)

Addie said:


> I can't imagine a RL succeeding anywhere near the coast in New England.



Red Lobster tried to make a go in Bangor Maine.  It was near the mall, but still surrounded by seafood restaurants selling better food for less money.  I don't know how they would possibly think that it would be successful in Bangor, it's not a tourist town, and the locals know what real fresh seafood is supposed to taste like.


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## kleenex (Mar 13, 2012)

Red Lobster is more of a Northern 48 states restaurant.

While Captain D'S is more in the south.


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## Andy M. (Mar 13, 2012)

kleenex said:


> Red Lobster is more of a Northern 48 states restaurant.
> 
> While Captain D'S is more in the south.



Other than a few in Ct., there are no RL in the other five New England states, which have been proudly a part of the northern 48 states from the beginning.  Looks like they know when to quit.


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## Addie (Mar 13, 2012)

jennyema said:


> I think there is an Applebees right next to the Olive Garden in South Bay ... yikes!
> 
> I have yet to see a Red Lobster around here. I think we were spared mercifully from the bad chains for a long time.
> 
> Just hope Golden Corral doesnt show!


 
There is an Outback in Medford in the Fellsway shopping Center, a Roadhouse Steakhoue in Everett. And several TGIF around. One in the Gateway in Everett. The only chain I have ever been in that I can honestly say I like (not love) is Panera Bread. Applebees is horrible. They are on the outskirts to Boston. One in Malden. 

Boston is a foodies mecca. I don't see how a chain restaurant can possibly succeed. I think it must be the same element that frequents McD's that go to these chains and think they are eating "out." Is it the financial income that determines the cliental? Or the convience of the location? Or both?


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## Greg Who Cooks (Mar 13, 2012)

> "The Olive Garden hits some kind of middlebrow sweet spot, where people  really do like it...but it's also a goofy chain with overblown  pretensions toward authenticity.”





jennyema said:


> The review in question by Marilyn in the Grand Forks paper doesn't say that.



I'm sorry, I may have incorrectly attributed the quote. Rather, the article referenced in the OP said that.



Sir_Loin_of_Beef said:


> Y'all do realize that the reason that all Olive Gardens have the exact same menu and the exact same food is that there are no chefs in the restaurants? All the food is prepared in one central location and shipped to each restaurant in seal-a-meal bags.



You're joking, right?

It's been a dozen years or two decades since I've gone to one of their restaurants, so I forgot the menu details. Surely they serve more stuff than could come out of seal-a-meal bags. Even taking for granted the bread sticks, etc. could be frozen without too bad a result.

They've got to be using at least some fresh ingredients. The salad stuff of course. But that can't be the only fresh food they serve.


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## bakechef (Mar 13, 2012)

Their sauces are likely shipped in bags.  If they have figured out how to grill meat and ship it like that while still having it taste decent, well that would be quite a feat, but I doubt that they have.  

They probably get soup bases and add fresh ingredients to them.

Uniformity is really important to chains, and cutting down on labor is also a big deal, it saves them a ton of cash.  Every chain does it this way.  I don't know why people would think OG would be any different.  Imagine every OG having marinara taste very different in each location.

We have local restaurants with multiple locations, but there is always one that is much better than the other.


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## kleenex (Mar 14, 2012)

In Boston it is all about the East Coast Grill


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## GB (Mar 14, 2012)

kleenex said:


> In Boston it is all about the East Coast Grill


Not for Italian food it is not.


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## Rocklobster (Mar 14, 2012)

Gourmet Greg said:


> I
> 
> You're joking, right?
> 
> ...


No. He's not kidding. Everything is designed from start to finish in a  lair on a secluded island somewhere off of the coast of Myanamar where all of the other diabolical franchises are. Plotting to eradicate the world of wholesome real food.....Salads in bags, sauces in bags, meats precooked, bread products frozen, cheeses all processed and pre grated.  Everything portioned out to the last ounce to assure cost control. Do you know that restaurants can buy tomatoes already sliced in boxes ?


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## TATTRAT (Mar 14, 2012)

Andy M. said:


> Other than a few in Ct., there are no RL in the other five New England states, which have been proudly a part of the northern 48 states from the beginning.  Looks like they know when to quit.



That would be like opening, a Famous Daves/Smokey Bones in TX. They know when the market is already cornered.


Red Lobster is to seafood, what OG is to Italian.


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## jennyema (Mar 14, 2012)

kleenex said:


> In Boston it is all about the East Coast Grill



Yum!

Andy M and I had brunch there once!


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## Andy M. (Mar 14, 2012)

jennyema said:


> Yum!
> 
> Andy M and I had brunch there once!



Ah yes, I remember it well.  But never on Hell Night!  I need a creamsicle just thinking about it.


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## kleenex (Mar 15, 2012)

Andy M. said:


> Ah yes, I remember it well.  But never on Hell Night!  I need a creamsicle just thinking about it.



A creamsicle is for wimps


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## Andy M. (Mar 15, 2012)

kleenex said:


> A creamsicle is for wimps



I don't have issues with spicy foods.  I eat them regularly.  

However, I have no interest in trying to find out if I can eat the hottest peppers on the planet.  So if I'm a wimp OK.  That's probably not the only reason.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Mar 15, 2012)

Andy M. said:


> I don't have issues with spicy foods.  I eat them regularly.
> 
> However, I have no interest in trying to find out if I can eat the hottest peppers on the planet.  So if I'm a wimp OK.  That's probably not the only reason.



No, you are not a wimp...smart, very smart


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