As fast food in a sit down setting they don’t suck. I actually like the past e fagioli soup and the stuffed chicken marsala.
The problem is that as Italian food the OG sucks. Really sucks. Anything with red sauce is pretty much inedible. We had a side dish they called risotto once. You know what it was? Rice. Just plain fucking rice and that’s it.
And that’s why they suck as Italian food. I spent two weeks in Italy. Plain rice is not risotto. Anyone who pretends it is is making a mockery of the glorious food we ate in Venice, Florence, Rome and Sorrento.
How dare you mock your social betters!!!
Anyone who has been to Italy for TWO WHOLE WEEKS should be REVERED and HONORED as an EXPERT whose opinions are beyond question!!!
(seriously, I normally would just let that kind of post slide, but its so typical of this kind of thread—everyone seems to take immense pleasure in one-upping each other in matters of personal taste and preferance—why there is such a need to attempt to invalidate others opinions on things that are so very trivial is beyond me. If someone, somewhere thinks that Olive Garden is good “Italian” food, why the need to ridicule thier sophistication or taste???)
Oh, get off it. Like I said before, I come from an Italian family, and the food I grew up with wasn’t pretentious by any means.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t standards, though, and I have to tell you I have had better spaghetti at firehall fundraisers than I’ve had at Olive Garden - even eating it from paper plates.
And as for Italian food in Italy, I lived in Sicily for two years. Restaurants there tend to be affordable, family oriented and geared toward great service - everything Olive Garden advertises themselves toward Middle America to exemplify. The difference, of course, is that over there you are likely to eat well, though your choices will be limited to mostly Italian places. I was not in a more cosmopolitan area of Italy where ethnic food was more common.
(And frankly, they were just wrong there. Plain rice is not risotto, any more than it is rice pudding or pilaf or congee. If they wanted it to sound neat with an Italian word, call it (IIRC) “riso” and be done with it.)
Mr. Moto, I encountered that too when I was in Rome, though that was over a decade ago so things may have changed. The only easy to find foreign food was McDonald’s or Chinese restaurants.
IMNSHO, chains are what they are: Bland, inoffensive and safe. You’re not going to find Steak Tartare at Outback, you’re not going to find rare tuna at Red Lobster, and you’re not going to find rustic Italian food at Olive Garden. That’s just the way it is.
Part of the appeal is that you know what to expect. If I were in New York or New Jersey, I’d go looking for a decent, local Italian place. But if I’m somewhere where the alternative is Pizza Hut or Domino’s, I’m OK with Olive Garden.
FTR, the Doors Family’s hierarchy of Italian is this. Our everyday Italian needs are met by the neighborhood establishment. Their food is excellent and Airman went to school with the daughter-in-law of the owners, so they know us. Our nice-night-out restaurant is Carrabba’s because we like to sit at the counter and watch our food being made. It’s just fun, y’know?
Sorry but the pretention is all the OG’s and not mine. Plain rice is not risotto. Calling it risotto is the height of ludicrous snobbery. Worse, uninformed snobbery.
And that’s why part of the reason why people hate the OG. The food is Italian inspired not actual Italian. My Italian sister-in-law loathes them.
At the risk of being called a dumbass again, it doesn’t make me a sheep if I choose comfort food I know I will enjoy. I don’t make any claim that it’s as good as “real” Italian food, but it’s yummy and comfortable. And I don’t have to make it or clean up after it myself.
Ordering the risotto is my usual benchmark of an Italian restaurant. It simply astounds me what goes by the name of “risotto” in many Italian-esque joints, not just the Olive Garden. If people enjoy the Olive Garden, I have no problem with that. It’s just that when I eat out and eat Italian, I have particular flavors and expectations, and the Olive Garden doesn’t satisfy my particular craving for Italian food.
Also, my benchmark for restaurants tends to be “Can I make this better at home?” If the answer is yes, then I won’t go there. I’ve only been to Olive Garden three or four times, but for all the dishes I’ve had there, the answer was an unequivocal yes. It I wanted that type of Italian, I’d just go dump some jarred sauce on some overcooked pasta.
You be better off buying those Bertolli sack-o-pasta you find in the freezer aisle. Its cheaper, and frankly the quality of the ingredients is better. Since they’re doing the exact same thing at the OG as you’d do at home (take the pre-made frozen food out of the bag and heat it) why pay $14+tip (+gas + time) for the illusion that they cooked something for you?
I get buying something completely inauthentic you happen to enjoy (let’s just say I’ve been to Taco Bell once or twice) I just don’t get how you’re willing to spend that much for frozen dinners in a restaurant setting. I guess I wouldn’t hate the OG so much if I thought it was a good value for what it is. But their prices are criminal for what they’re serving you.
Just noting that, of course, this can be the case at fancy Italian restaurants too. There’s a new somewhat high-priced Italian restaurant that opened near my house and the reviews (online and from people I know who’ve gone there) have all been “plain food priced way too high.” I suspect it’s cooked with a lot more fresh ingredients than OG’s food is, but apparently even that doesn’t save it.
Because I eat my Bertolli at home by myself, but The Olive Garden means other people will be there eating with me, someone will cook the food and bring it to me, someone will bring me drinks, and I can leave it all for them to clean up. We’ll all be able to find something we enjoy and we’ll have fun.
It’s like that Wendy’s commercial decrying paying more for flair with your wings. Yes, I’d rather be in a restaurant, even a chain one, than Wendy’s, and I’d pay more for it.
FWIW, I have no problem with your liking Olive Garden. That’s literally zero skin off my nose, not the tiniest dead epidermal cell.
What I dislike is the too-common idea that Olive Garden is “safe,” that everyone can eat there happily. No, the food that appeals to you, or at least satisfies you, is distinctly underwhelming for me. If you schedule an event at Olive Garden and I’m expected to attend, I’ll be disappointed.
I’d like people to realize that while it may appeal to them or to their grandma, it’s not a safe choice; it doesn’t appeal to everyone. I, and a lot of other people, would much prefer to eat elsewhere, or failing that would prefer to eat a grilled cheese sandwich at home.
gigi----I realise you dont have any idea who I am (I dont post too much) but I just wanted you to know I LOVE your attitude!!!
If something is enjoyable to you, that is ALL that matters; whether you go for the food, for the atmosphere of simply being around other diners, for the company of friends who may enjoy it—dont let the self appointed culture experts/foodie gestapo make you feel inferior for your personal preferences.
Ummm… you think that fucking pine tree sticking up out of ?whatever ? that is with grotesque 70’s carrot curls and squigglys somehow makes that less tacky than Olive Garden? What the hell is it? Fish, Greens, and a croquette?
The only reason you didn’t get pasta is because that Restaurant didn’t serve authentic Italian, either… It’s American-Italian . Everyone knows that when you eat a full course Italian dinner there is inavariably a pasta course- “Primo”.
Also, the only time I have heard “Red Sauce” used in relation to Italian cooking is when you are differentiating between Red or White Spaghetti with Clams. Normally, red sauce is known as marinara, or more commonly, spaghetti sauce.
I’ve only been to OG twice in my life. We never had them around my way until a couple of years ago.
I think part of the hatred comes from those who live in areas with large ethnic populations – if you live near and/or patronize what’s considered “real” Italian restaurants, OG pales in comparison, if at all, because their overall menu screams “fake”. Sure, it may be affordable and taste good, but it’s not the real thing.
Part of the hatred comes from those who call themselves foodies, many of whom wouldn’t be caught dead in a chain restaurant.
Me? I put OG in the same category as Red Lobster – if you’ve had the real thing, why bother? But hey, if you like it, why not eat there?
OG is okay when my grandmother wants to go out to dinner with me. If it’s not crowded, the setting is okay. The food is inoffensive and the salads are good. Beats going to Denny’s.
But it’s a lot of money for basically frozen food. As is I refuse to order non-stuffed pastas even in nice restaurants because I can’t stomach paying 10.00+ for a .50 worth of Barilla pasta and a few ounces of sauce, no matter how yummy it is. OG takes it a step further by offering the same sauces I could get from a high-end TV dinner.
It’s just not that good, and yeah I’m going to judge people who can’t come up with something better to like, just like I’d judge someone who’s favorite book is a trashy romance novel or who’s favorite movie is Con Air.
