I (who has eaten at Olive Garden probably 5 times ever, always because others were insistant) have to agree with you 100% here.
When I go and spend 15 bucks for a meal, with salad and breadsticks to start (which are often the highlight of the meal) I will eat a quarter of the main entree, be satisfied and full without being uncomfortable and still have another couple of meals for later, which I will then punch up at home by adding some tomato, fresh garlic etc, and it is often better as leftovers than it was initially at the restaurant…
I know its very cool to complain about too large servings, but there is no rule that says it needs to be eaten at one setting.
Why IS food in these restaurants so salty??? Every time we go out to eat at a chain, we are chugging gallons of water later at home. There is one of those authentic little Italian restaurants that everyone wants to love, in a grubby part of town, with no parking. It’s hideously expensive and not all that. A bowl of red sauce over spaghetti is $8 and frankly I prefer my own.
Is that reassuring to you, to dismiss the opinions of people who dislike something you like as the opinions of pretentious hipsters? I hope so, because otherwise it’s a waste of pixels.
I couldn’t care less about chain restaurants, normally, because if they suck (and Olive Garden does), I don’t go to them. Last time I went to Olive Garden was for a work Christmas party, though, and I was thinking, if we’ve got the budget to spend on eating out, Jesus, we live in a town that the New York Times intermittently writes Dining columns about, let’s go somewhere decent! We’ve got kickass pizza, lovely authentic Chinese, a nationally-known vegetarian restaurant or three, a few amazing Mexicali joints, and all kinds of other rock-star restaurants.
But people choose Olive Garden because it’s so successfully branded as a “safe” restaurant, one that everyone will like.
So I’d love to debrand it: not everyone likes it! Let’s go somewhere local, somewhere that we can get really good food prepared from scratch by people passionate about food. Olive Garden is NOT a safe choice.
Why do so many people think they’re the authority on what is authentic?
If I add some basil, ricotta cheese, and olive oil to my pasta, does that not make it Italian? If not, then what exactly do I need to do to officially call it Italian? Do I need to cook it in Italy?
I just really don’t understand this fascination with food having to be “authentic” in order for it to be enjoyed or even eaten at all. I mean, I hear that all the time as an excuse not to go to a particular restaurant.
“Oh, that’s not real Mexican food!”
“Gross! That place isn’t even authentic Italian!”
“That’s imitation Chinese food.”
And, the whole time, I’m thinking, “Okay? And what’s your point?” As if somehow, this “non-authentic” food is rendered inedible just because it’s not truly authentic.
No, it’s rendered inedible by being frozen, nuked, loaded with salt and made as bland as possible so that Aunt Louise doesn’t get the vapors after eating it.
I love the word “wanna-be” in this sentence. Because, y’know, the REAL foodies freakin LOVE Olive Garden. Heads of the Slow Food Movement? They’re all, “Olive Garden, YUM!” Heads of 5-star restaurants? Always eating out at Olive Garden before they go on shift. That dude from Big Night? Motherfucker scarfs their linguine, with extra parmesan.
It’s only the wanna-be foodies who can’t appreciate the culinary genius of Olive Garden.
FWIW, I don’t give a crap about authentic food. My wife just made an incredible lasagna for dinner, too cheesy for her taste and not nearly cheesy enough for most restaurants, but exactly the way I like it. Would it pass muster in Italy? Who cares? It was freakin’ delicious, that’s all that counts.
No, I was once told by a server at OG that they couldn’t take the mushrooms out of a dish, “it comes that way in the bag.” The commercials are the final insult.
Macaroni Grill is a million times better than OG at the same price point and its a fairly large chain. But then, they actually cook the food onsite.
Ellen was asking about a thread on the SDMB that mentioned a specific incident. Being the poster of said incident, I opined that she may be thinking of the Applebee’s thread. I said nothing about Macaroni Grill, nor did I suggest that Olive Garden did not cook their food in the same way.
Your refutation of my post is nigh-incomprehensible to me.
There it is again! It’s been mentioned in this thread, I’ve heard it mentioned in the US, an American friend here asked after it, and a waiter in Switzerland who thought I was American apologized for not having any on hand. Or on tap. Or whatever. I don’t know how it’s served because I don’t know what it is. Canadians are soaked in Americana because of a big open border and TV, but this one got past the goalie. What. Is. Red. Sauce?
Oh, and if you like the Zuppa Tuscana that Olive Garden serves, you can find the recipe on allrecipes or some such site, listed as Sausage and Potato Soup. I make it all the time. It’s yummy. Romaine substitutes for kale nicely. I don’t use the microwave.
Tomato-based pasta sauce. Because it’s “red”. I think it’s typically some kind of version of marinara. “White Sauce” is a white-cheese-n-cream based pasta sauce, like for fettuccine alfredo (butter, parmesan, cream).
That’s it? Marinara and alfredo sauces? This explains the funny looks I got when asking for gravy on my fries. I should’ve asked for brown sauce, it seems.
Expect the “alfredo” sauce to be very highly processed cheese, since from-scratch alfredo will separate easily, especially if there’s any reheating done.
OG has ok food, if you want to eat an entire box of pasta in one sitting…
What I don’t get is the wait. I’ve been a few times (with the inlaws) and there is always a 40 minute wait for a table. Why? The food is not that good; the ambience is a cross between an airport lounge and a Howard Johnson’s. I’ve gotten good service the few times I’ve been, and the rest rooms are clean. <shrugs> I agree that there are better Italian restaurants out there that deserve the traffic. That said, I don’t hate OG. I don’t really think about it.
I will never, ever set foot in an AppleBee’s again, but that’s another thread.
Sorry to be nigh incomprehensible, I didn’t realize you were the previous poster referred to; I thought you were making a general statement about how OG prepares its food. My opinion Macaroni grill was an independent thought.
Thing is, people who are serious about food do tend to hate what I think of as business-plan restaurants–that is, restaurants not founded by someone who loves food, but rather by someone who sees a market niche to fill. It’s kind of like why musicies hate corporate boy bands and why arties hate velvet Elvises and why doggies hate puppy mills.
I don’t know about you people, but most of the non-chain ethnic restaurants around here are trendy as all hell* with shocking prices, or hole in the wall places where you wouldn’t be surprised to see a bug walk across your foot. I’ll take cheap and clean, thanks.