# Fazoli's: doth it suck? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 23, 2000, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309 "2000-09-23T22:33:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2000, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/21 "2000-09-24T14:43:30Z")
Fazoli’s is, as near as I can tell, independent. They’re based here in Lexington, KY and are not part of the Red Lobster/Olive Garden axis or any such thing. My first Fazoli’s experience was in Pueblo Colorado, and that was probably in 1995, so they’ve made some progress Westward. The cool part for us locals is that they also own a local Italian restaurant named Bella Notte which is much more upscale. I think they use it as R&D for new ideas for the chain. ---
**Author:** ![Nika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ba9def/32.png) [@Nika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nika)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2000, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/22 "2000-09-24T14:53:16Z")
[hyjack] > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*Is it as good as Olive Garden? > \*\* In Canada we don’t have Olive garden anymore, or this Fazoli’s ☹ [/hyjack] ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2000, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/23 "2000-09-24T16:44:25Z")
Fazoli’s kept me alive for my first two years of college. I would get a salad and a drink for $2, and they would bring me breadsticks as long as I sat there. I probably ate there four times a week, on average. (Unfortunately, their salads have gone way downhill over the years, to the point of totally inedible. Their croutons still rock, though.) They are independent and based here in Lexington, KY. (Hey, tpayne!) There are five or six of them here. Bella Notte is, without a doubt, my favorite restaurant in Lexington. (I think they want to go chain with it, and that would be a good thing.) Dr. J ---
**Author:** ![tatertot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@tatertot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tatertot)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2000, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/24 "2000-09-24T16:48:30Z")
I haven’t been to Fazoli’s since we moved from the States, but I did enjoy it while we were there. The food isn’t great, but it sure beats burgers or fried chicken for those nights when you’re too busy to cook. The kidlet really liked it, too, which is always a bonus. Olive Garden sucks, and I say that not just as a disgruntled ex-employee. And you could just buy those “Bread du jour” breadsticks that you get at the supermarket and brush garlic butter on them…same exact thing. And if you make 'em yourself, you’re guarenteed that they haven’t been manhandled by dozens of disgruntled employees and/or dropped on the floor. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2000, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/25 "2000-09-24T17:22:09Z")
**boli** - deal! Finally, a reason to go to Des Moines. 😉 **wolfman** - Joe’s basement – that’s what our server told us too. Nice story, even if it’s not true. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2000, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/26 "2000-09-24T20:08:47Z")
Olive Garden strikes me as acceptable but not very good Italian food. It was reasonably cheap five years ago, but they’ve raised their prices since then, so it’s no longer worth the price. If Fazoli’s is not quite as good as Olive Garden, forget it. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2000, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/27 "2000-09-24T21:46:14Z")
Fazoli’s is not quite as good as the Olive Garden, but it is less than half the price, so it is worth it. Think of it as the Taco Bell of Italian food. Dr. J ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/28 "2000-09-25T13:46:40Z")
I have to second the “Olive Garden Sucks” motion. For the price, the food really does bite. Fazoli’s is **much** better. ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/29 "2000-09-25T14:19:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wendell Wagner \* > \*\*Olive Garden strikes me as acceptable but not very good Italian food. It was reasonably cheap five years ago, but they’ve raised their prices since then, so it’s no longer worth the price. If Fazoli’s is not quite as good as Olive Garden, forget it. \*\* I think the point was that Fazoli’s was a fast food place, whereas Olive Garden is a sit-down-type restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/30 "2000-09-25T14:31:25Z")
I’m not sure I want to even pay fast-food prices for Italian food that’s not quite as good as Olive Garden. Olive Garden may be a sit-down restaurant, but it’s still got a lousy atmosphere. It’s somewhere between Denny’s and TGI Friday’s. ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/31 "2000-09-25T17:22:43Z")
Fazoli’s…mmmmmmmmmm, slobber, slurp. Side note to Olive Garden, Ciatti’s and any other so-called “Italian” chain: PUTTING BIG FREAKIN CRUNCHY HUNKS OF GARLIC BULB IN EVERYTHING DOES NOT ITALIAN FOOD MAKE! Don’t get me wrong…I love fresh garlic, but as a SEASONING not a VEGETABLE! ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/32 "2000-09-25T18:48:03Z")
For fast, cheap, and not-bad-at-all, Fazoli’s gets a big affirmation from me. I LOVE their baked spaghetti!! Hmmm, Hadn’t decided what to make for dinner, and I drive right past there on the way home… hmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/33 "2000-09-26T03:03:37Z")
I’m not quite as big of a fan as some here. But it’s all a matter of degree. Is Fazoli’s as good as a real Italian restaurant (or the Olive Garden, even)? No. Is it better than spaghetti with a jar of Ragu at home? Very much so. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/34 "2000-09-26T03:24:13Z")
If it’s not as good as Olive Garden, well… Olive Garden (except for the soup and salad, which IMO is decent) makes me want to hurl. I think they over-cook their pasta about a day ahead of time But then again I am in Chicago (well, technically burbs). Grew up on the south side, went to school at University of Illinois at Chicago which is right next to Little Italy (and Greektown, for that matter). OMG, I need a Fontano’s sub right now. Mmmmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/35 "2000-09-26T05:46:54Z")
Wow, I didn’t look at this thread until there were 32 replies. “32 different messages telling the OP how bad Fazoli’s sucks?”, I wondered to myself. “I’d better check it out, just to hear the undoubtably creative ways people are ripping on it.” Much to my surprise, the reaction is mostly positive. I’ve eaten at Fazoli’s in two different towns, and found it to range from mediocre to horrible. Maybe these two locations are just flukes, but damn. It’s been pretty unbelievably bad at times. At best, it’s just bland ameritalian food. I think the Olive Garden totally sucks too. Maybe I’m just an Italian food snob… (Oh wait, neither one of those is really Italian, per se. Whew.) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/36 "2000-09-26T06:38:20Z")
I see there are now a few negative responses in here as well. But overall it still looks pretty favorable. (Assuming everyone’s _opinion_ merits equal weight. 😛 I think perhaps **DoctorJ** delivered the concisest summary when he called Fazoli’s the “Taco Bell of Italian food.” ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/37 "2000-09-26T12:52:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by neuroman \* > \*\*Does Fazoli’s suck? I’ve never been in there, but I am utterly nauseated by that sickening giant red tomato that they use on their sign. That, and they way they do their lettering makes me think that this is just a crass cheese-and-tomato-sauce-shoveling trashy ameritalian chain. > > Well? > > (For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, [Fazoli’s](http://www.fazolis.com) is some sort of Italian chain, with what looks to be locations across America, except the West.) \*\* Well, if Colorado is considered “West” they’re out here too. A) I am a food snob, but I can still appreciate fast-food. I like McBurgers as much as the next guy. I’ve had good (not great, but good) food at Denny’s, IHoP, etc. I don’t have to be eating in The Brown Palace or the Fort (two expensive, great local resturatnts). B) Maybe it’s just the two Fazoli’s I’ve been to. I’ve been dragged to both locations several times with absolutly consistent results each time. So, to answer your question: C) Yes. Fazoli’s not only sucks, it sucks “big green hairy donkey dicks” to paraphrase another thread. Fazoli’s, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways… #1) The tomato sauce has the odd, tinny flavor of cheap tomato paste glopped into watery tomato sauce. (One hint, guys. Oregano and garlic salt are wonderful things. But when I eat tomato sauce, I’d like to actually be able to _taste_ some hint of, say…tomatoes, as opposed to the two previously mentioned spices). There’s also not enough of it, giving the odd sensation of hating the flavor but wanting more, simply to moisten the… #2) pasta. The pasta is either dried pasta that’s been horribly overcooked or the worst homemade pasta I’ve ever had. Doughy and starch-y flavored, the only times it _doesn’t_ have a gummy texture is when they either undercook it or burn it along with the #3) artificial mozzerella-simulated cheeze-like product. They claim to use real mozzerella cheese, but I’ve never had mozzerella cheese that tasted like this stuff does. And that includes the “mozerella” sticks that come with packages of beef jerky. It’s stringy, plastic-like and not flavorless, exactly, but almost flavorless as opposed to the… #4)gristly, rubbery meat. As an aside, boiling the ground beef apparently for hours isn’t necessarily the best way to retain flavor and texture, guys. #5) And just a hint to Fazoli’s for future reference: when making garlic breadsticks, the correct order of the ingredients is: flour/yeast/water/etc for the breadsticks. Bake. Then brush on butter/oil and garlic. Rebake. Serve. Note that after the “rebake” step, I have omitted the infamous Fazoli’s “dunk the rebaked, buttery, garlic breadsticks in raw flour so they don’t stick together” step. #6) Surly service, slowly given. If it’s not Fazoli’s model, it should be, judging from the quality of their help. Judging only from the two Fazoli’s at which I’ve eaten, I can confidently say that I think I’d rather eat at Fazoli’s than have sun-baked road-kill. Unless the road-kill was fresh or something. Then it’d be an improvement. Blech. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/38 "2000-09-26T20:10:28Z")
Now, **this** is what I expected when I looked at this thread the first time! Bravo, **Fenris**!! ---
**Author:** ![lucie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/39 "2000-09-26T21:20:19Z")
I leave for Des Moines this Saturday and will be there least 18 months. Does that mean there are enough Dopers there for a 'fest? Buca di Bepo sounds like a great place to have it - everyone I know says it’s wonderful but I’ve never been. As for Fazzolis - yeah, as fast food goes it’s a decent meal for a decent price. Nice to have a vegetarian fast-food option other than rubbery white lettuce salads and baked potatoes. ---
**Author:** ![boli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e99b99/32.png) [@boli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boli)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309/40 "2000-09-26T21:51:54Z")
Lucie, As far as I know, I’m the only one actually in Des Moines. I think AuntiePam might be an hour or two away. But, if you ever want to get together - I’m totally game. If there’s anything I can do for ya when you get here, just let me know. I think I said something to that effect in the thread welcoming your husband, but I don’t know if he saw it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fazolis-doth-it-suck/34309.md?page=3)