# Is Oliver Garden BAD? Why the loathing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 21, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967 "2009-09-21T18:12:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/21 "2009-09-21T19:28:31Z")
Conan O’Brien had a great bit about Olive Garden. He would mock them for airing advertisements where actual Italian people are depicted as being impressed with the food. Then mention that the food’s not _bad_ or anything, it’s just that the advertisements are ridiculous. So why not change their slogan to reflect reality? “Olive Garden: Pretty good for the money.” ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/22 "2009-09-21T19:33:27Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > I don’t hate chains, BTW. We go to Maggiano’s Little Italy from time to time and have no complaints about the food or service there. I took my uncle who is Sicilian by descent and visits Italy several times a year - he liked the place a good deal. So did the rest of my extended Italian family when they went to the locations in DC and Las Vegas. > > It is a far better experience than the Olive Garden and not much more expensive, frankly. Maggiano’s has the BEST linguine with white clam sauce I have ever had. And that includes many, many family-run New York City restaurants. My problem with Olive Garden is that I really only like one dish on the menu - the Seafood Portofino, and it’s nearly $16. To me, the gold standard for Italian chains is Carrabbas. The food always seems fresh. Plus their bread blows away the OG sticks. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/23 "2009-09-21T19:45:15Z")
Don’t get me started on Oliver Garden. What a dick that guy is! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/24 "2009-09-21T19:45:32Z")
How can you make Italian food taste not-good? It’s pasta and sauce. How can you fuck that up? I’ve been to 3 different Olive Gardens and everything taste like nothing with a big hint of fat. Carbonara that without the slightest hint of smokiness? Sausage sans any fennel seeds? Pasta without any sauce at all? But there is a lot of slide-y grease at the bottom of the bowl, so there’s that. My vote goes for pathetic. P.S. Why do my peoples love Red Lobster? There is no there, there! Breadcrumbs, cheese and tons and tons of butter and oil. Ruin lobster? How is that even possible? So, Olive Garden-- second worse chain restaurant. Red Lobster is the absolute worse. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/25 "2009-09-21T19:51:52Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > P.S. Why do my peoples love Red Lobster? It’s the biscuits, mostly. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/26 "2009-09-21T19:52:29Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > So, Olive Garden-- second worse chain restaurant. Red Lobster is the absolute worse. You do know they have the [same owner](http://www.darden.com/), right? ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/27 "2009-09-21T20:01:17Z")
I don’t think it is just the food/restaurant itself, as much as the marketing that goes along with it. They try to sell it as an authentic Italian experience to the point where they have commercials where people supposedly actually from Italy are taken there by their stupid American relatives and they rant and rave about how much it reminds them of home. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/28 "2009-09-21T20:05:24Z")
I refuse to eat there because of many of the aforementioned reasons: they are mediocre at best, they get business that should be going to local places that actually cook good food, they microwave everything, and people actually think that what they serve is Italian Cooking. Darden Foods can go to hell for all I care. All their restaurants suck. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/29 "2009-09-21T20:06:41Z")
% Oliver Garden is here to stay Oliver Garden is on its way and I would rather eat anywhere else than there today … % ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/30 "2009-09-21T20:08:29Z")
Oliver Garden is where you go when you want some more. Olive Garden is not. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/31 "2009-09-21T20:11:09Z")
Salty. That’s my prime complaint with most pre-fab, “food shipped to the restaurant frozen” chains. They’re always SO damn salty. Makes it inedible, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/32 "2009-09-21T20:19:11Z")
I’ve known more people who have had a “never going back there moment” at Olive Garden than anywhere else. My folks took me there many years ago and the breadsticks were riddled with mold. An aunt of mine went there and there was a large bug in the salad. **tygre** got a scoop of vegetables there and there was a significant chunk of ice in the middle of the scoop. Etc., etc. As for Oliver Garden, I strongly prefer Oliver Clothesoff. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/33 "2009-09-21T20:19:35Z")
There are several first-class Italian restaurants within a mile of our house. So why drive a half hour to get to an Olive Garden? I ate there once and don’t remember a thing about it. But if it’s $14 an entree, that’s outrageous. Italian food is usually the most reasonable thing on the menu (pasta is cheap). I can get a damn good meal of lasagna at Joe’s for $9.25 – including salad and some of the best bread around. The unlimited salad and breadsticks is, of course, a way to server smaller portions and goose their bottom line: bread and salad are cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/34 "2009-09-21T20:20:54Z")
OLIVER GARDEN IS GREEN PEOPLE!!! I absolutely loathe their commercials. They’ve been running the same shitty Disneyesque “everybody’s happy happy happy!!! And also Italian!!” ads for years now. My wife really likes their alfredo sauce, because - IMHO - it’s loaded with garlic and cream. I haven’t had a meal there that I really remember. Nowadays the nearest one is an hour away, so it’s a nonissue for us. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/35 "2009-09-21T20:24:38Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Salty. That’s my prime complaint with most pre-fab, “food shipped to the restaurant frozen” chains. They’re always SO damn salty. Makes it inedible, IMHO. I think that was my complaint the last time I was there - it has been a while. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/36 "2009-09-21T20:28:18Z")
I have eaten at OG several times-it isn’t bad, and sometimes quite good. Their veal parmigiano used to be great-but they stopped serving it (veal got too expensive). Not great food, but perfectly acceptable for what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/37 "2009-09-21T20:29:01Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > You do know they have the [same owner](http://www.darden.com/), right? This explains much. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/38 "2009-09-21T20:29:46Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I have eaten at OG several times-it isn’t bad, and sometimes quite good. Their veal parmigiano used to be great-but they stopped serving it (veal got too expensive). Not great food, but **perfectly acceptable for what it is.** Maybe that can be their new advertising tag. “As crap food for sheep who don’t know any better and can’t be bothered to go someplace decent, it’s perfectly acceptable.” ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/39 "2009-09-21T20:35:08Z")
Olive Garden used to serve a really fantastic dessert called Chocolate Lasagna that was so tasty. Then they got rid of it and now they are dead to me. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967/40 "2009-09-21T20:35:15Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > This explains much. I have boycotted all Darden restaurants since they tried to get the anti-discrimination laws for gays thrown out as unconstitutional. They fired a restaurant manager because he was gay and that was and is against the law here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-oliver-garden-bad-why-the-loathing/510967.md?page=3)