# Did you know this Olive Garden cliche? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 30, 2020, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712 "2020-05-30T03:44:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/1 "2020-05-30T03:44:26Z")
I just heard it for the first time today but I googled it and apparently it’s a real thing. The cliche is that Olive Garden is the place you take your boyfriend/girlfriend to in order to break up with them. Like I said, I had never heard of this. Am I uniquely clueless? Did everyone know this except me? ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/2 "2020-05-30T03:51:33Z")
Geez, another thing I did wrong. I always just left them a note and moved to another state. To answer seriously, no, I had not heard this. But I can see it. Apparently if you’re doing it “right” (there is a right way?) you want to be in a public place like a restaurant in case of, I guess, an emotional or possibly violent reaction? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/3 "2020-05-30T03:52:12Z")
Well, if you’re breaking up, why waste money on a good restaurant? And no, I’ve never heard this. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/4 "2020-05-30T04:04:45Z")
I’ve never heard it about Olive Garden but I did hear the same thing about Red Lobster. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/5 "2020-05-30T04:14:11Z")
Me either. My brother Managed an Olive Garden between his many wives and gfs. and jobs. May be some truth to it. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/6 "2020-05-30T05:03:08Z")
I think you have this backwards. Maybe taking someone to an Olive Garden is the reason _they_ break up with _you_. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/7 "2020-05-30T05:05:35Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I think you have this backwards. Maybe taking someone to an Olive Garden is the reason _they_ break up with _you_. It’s the ongoing breadsticks and salads and complaints, and asking for more water and… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/8 "2020-05-30T05:26:38Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Geez, another thing I did wrong. I always just left them a note and moved to another state. I usually get dumped by e-mail; never heard of the Olive Garden thing. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/9 "2020-05-30T06:26:20Z")
Didn’t you ever see _Moonstruck_? You take them to a little family-run Italian joint in Brooklyn. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/10 "2020-05-30T10:47:28Z")
I thought that’s what you went to IKEA for. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/11 "2020-05-30T11:27:46Z")
Hey, it beats ghosting. Barely. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/12 "2020-05-30T11:53:22Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The cliche is that Olive Garden is the place you take your boyfriend/girlfriend to in order to break up with them. > > Like I said, I had never heard of this. Am I uniquely clueless? Did everyone know this except me? I worked at an Olive Garden for several years eons ago. If this is a cliche, it’s come up only this century. To answer your question — no, never heard this cliche. And I don’t think it’s yet some “Everyone knows that!” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/13 "2020-05-30T13:24:06Z")
First date with the missus was to Olive Garden. She introduced me to Insane Clown Posse on the drive. Rolling up on 12 years happy together. Maybe the cliché has more to do with wisely having giant bowl o salad and scrummy breadsticks onboard before saying the magic words, “I break with thee, I break with thee, I break with thee.” ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/14 "2020-05-30T14:03:55Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Well, if you’re breaking up, why waste money on a good restaurant? And no, I’ve never heard this. I think that’s the point and that’s why you take your future ex-girlfriend to Olive Garden instead. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/15 "2020-05-30T14:07:06Z")
I recall seeing it in the Internet joke dictionary of “facts”, but not very frequently and it’s been a while. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/16 "2020-05-30T14:09:06Z")
It really sounds like something that originated in someone’s standup act. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/17 "2020-05-30T14:24:30Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > I’ve never heard it about Olive Garden but I did hear the same thing about Red Lobster. Hmmmm no…the line is “when he fuck me good I take his ass to Red Lobster.” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/18 "2020-05-30T14:41:10Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Well, if you’re breaking up, why waste money on a good restaurant? 😃 Do you own or work at an Olive Garden? I’ve heard the (apocryphal?) story where the waitress tells her coworkers and customers that the couple at the corner table are holding hands and whispering; she’s certain he’s going to propose. Then, when the woman starts to cry, the restaurant errupts with applause. Yeah, they’re breaking up. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/19 "2020-05-30T14:53:13Z")
Saw this on a sitcom I think. Probably helps to go their a couple of times before breaking up so as not to be too obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712/20 "2020-05-30T15:04:57Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I think that’s the point and that’s why you take your future ex-girlfriend to Olive Garden instead. Right. Olive Garden is nice enough, but not too expensive. Breaking up at Burger King would be too tacky, but there’s no point in splurging at a four-star French restaurant for someone you’re not going to see again. Olive Garden says “I want to be nice to you, but not _that_ nice.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-olive-garden-cliche/854712.md?page=2)