slo’s FRIDAY 8/5 poll - Olive Garden

[Schneewittchen37]

I like it. The location near me is actually pretty good. I've been going there more than 25 years. We don't go too often because DH finds it boring. But sometimes I just need a plain old chicken parm (and I'm not going to try to cook it at home, it's not the same). And actually, I love the salad with the big fat black olives.

I think it's DD10's favorite restaurant. And DS12 is okay with it. They always make the hot dog buns disappear.

It does come in handy sometimes. One time we were camping in Lancaster County, PA, but went to Hersheypark for the day and stayed until closing. All of the restaurants in the area were either closed for the night or mobbed. So we drove back to Lancaster and had Sunday dinner at the Olive Garden. It was just a nice relief that I didn't have to try to cook late at night after a long day in an amusement park.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Not a fan.

 

[disneychrista]

The last time I went to an Olive Garden my daughters could both order off the children’s menu. The closest one is over an hour away. I obviously don’t have any wonderful thoughts since that was 20 or so years ago.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I like it okay. I used to go for lunch a few times a year with a few folks from work. Soup and salad only. Well, bresdsticks also. But have not been there now for probably 25 years.

Marie and I never go there together but she goes with a ladies church group she's been part of for 35 years now, maybe 6-8 ladies, a few times a year for lunch. Not sure what they get.

 

[RedAngie]

I’m not a fan. Most of the half dozen or so I’ve been to were mediocre. The one in Naples, FL was good. It’s been at least 15 years since I visited one.

Even when it wasn’t really busy, they seemed to keep you waiting unnecessarily until they seated you. Just like someone mentioned in the Cracker Barrel thread.

 

[mumto3girls]

We have one fairly close to us and would go occasionally. We are not Italian and never had that type of food growing up (not even spaghetti—if my mom made noodles it had cabbage in it) so I really didn’t have anything to compare it to. I always thought Olive Garden was decent, but ours definitely went downhill. The last time we were there the soup, salad and breadsticks were fine but the entrees were barely edible. That was a few years ago, probably pre pandemic. I’m in no rush to go back.

 

[Mysterian]

Just Ok, if there was nothing else left on Earth. The last one near me was destroyed in a storm. Talk about a scathing review!

It's Italian Applebee's. Does this mean Outback is Australian Olive Garden? Let's go with that.

 

[disneychrista]

Even when it wasn’t really busy, they seemed to keep you waiting unnecessarily until they seated you. Just like someone mentioned in the Cracker Barrel thread.

I think they do that so you THINK they are great. Because why would anyone wait otherwise.

 

[DeeBee3]

Too many actual Italian-American owned restaurants where I live to bother with Olive Garden.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Not a fan. I like Italian but I can cook better Italian than Olive Garden can. And that is saying a lot

 

[Disneylover99]

Ours closed down almost 20 years ago. It’s too bad.
We used to get the huge salad and breadsticks to go.

 

[BayouQueen]

Just OK. I always enjoy my meal if we happen to eat there, but never have a big urge to go back.

 

[leebee]

I like it well enough. We really don't have any other Italian restaurants in the area, and there are some things they make that I'm not going to make at home, or can't make like they make it. DD and I go several times a year for soup/salad/breadsticks for lunch, and DH and I go once or twice a year. It's fine, although since I had bariatric surgery I can't eat a lot at any meal- which means for the price I get dinner and a couple of lunches from one entree! Our Olive Garden is pretty good, but the one near my sister's home is awful... we call it "The Salt Lick!" Food is so, so salty.
And to answer the question of why people wait in line 45mins or so? I usually figure by the time we get back in the car, decide on a different place to eat, drive there and then wait in line for a table, it's gonna be just as long as if we just stayed at OG, so we stay.

 

[loves to dive]

It's just o.k. I don't go out of my way to go there but if I'm with someone and they want to go, I'll go. It won't be my first choice if asked. We don't really have any "real" Italian restaurants around here so it's just as good as the rest.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I like it okay. If someone else wants to go there, I don't mind to go, but I'm never going to choose it.

 

[Minnesota!]

I don't care for any of the entrees, but when my mom comes in town, she likes to do a light lunch with me there, so we get soup, salad, breadsticks and I can handle that - the salad is always fresh!

 

[mrodgers]

I do love the salad and the breadsticks. I think some lighter menu items would be better. When you look at the calorie counts for most of their entrees it is scary.

Calorie count is extreme in any restaurant meal. Definitely don't go to a restaurant if you are either going to complain about calories or complain about the cost.

I love Olive Garden. OG, Chilis, and Smokey Bones are the only 3 chain restaurants that I can say is good food. I feel I must note that we cooked nearly every night so going out wasn't an every night thing like it is for many, so my judgement of good food comes from that, not from constant restaurant food.

I typically just get some sort of garlic shrimp from the appetizer menu. I get plenty of shrimp, their actually pretty decently priced since I'm eating an appetizer priced item as a meal. As an appetizer, it's expensive but totally different as the meal. They are delicious.

I usually use thousand Island at home, but I always have a bottle of Olive Garden Italian for if I have a salad with something else Italian in nature. It's just as good as their restaurant dressing which normally doesn't happen with chain restaurant branded grocery items (like how Chi-Chi's salsa was nothing whatsoever like Chi-Chi's restaurant salsa was.)

Obviously it shouldn't need to be said that it doesn't compare to a real Italian restaurant, no chain should compare to any real person owned restaurant no matter what it is.

 

[Uncle Coaster]

I live in an area where family owned, AH-MAZING Italian restaurants abound. Why would I go to an Olive Garden when I can have homemade recipes?

There is one restaurant to which I took vendors a few years ago. I go there so often that when I arrived at the bar and started talking to the folks already there, one said to me, let's get you a drink while we talk. I told him that Alyssa knows what I like and she's already pouring it for me. He looked over at her and she lifted the glass to show him.

We've known the family for years and I always tell them that their sauce is better than my MIL's sauce, but they better not tell her that. She makes an amazing sauce, too. Theirs is like a true Sunday Sauce.

I live in an area where family owned, AH-MAZING Italian restaurants abound. Why would I go to an Olive Garden when I can have homemade recipes?

There is one restaurant to which I took vendors a few years ago. I go there so often that when I arrived at the bar and started talking to the folks already there, one said to me, let's get you a drink while we talk. I told him that Alyssa knows what I like and she's already pouring it for me. He looked over at her and she lifted the glass to show him.

We've known the family for years and I always tell them that their sauce is better than my MIL's sauce, but they better not tell her that. She makes an amazing sauce, too. Theirs is like a true Sunday Sauce.

And even with like-priced family restaurants, there is always a line at OG. I don't get it.

ETA: When my BFF from HS moved to a state with little Italian heritage, I used to send her Italian items that I could buy locally and in Philadelphia for her. She would roll her eyes when she'd tell me that the locals thought that the Spaghetti Factory had wonderful Italian food.

We live in the same area. Do you mind sharing which place this is? I’m always open to trying new places.

 

[disneyseniors]

The closest OG to us is 3 hours away! We go to a wonderful little Italian restaurant which is an hour away, but it is worth the travel. Their food is delicious and the atmosphere is so darn cute. It is over the top Italian and the restaurant is split up into small rooms for atmosphere. It is a very popular vacation spot to eat. People travel much farther than us to eat there. The "town" is very small with appx 25 people there, but they have Italian and a great Mexican restaurant, also neat little northwoods shops.
We live in a tourist area so this little place gets a lot of summer business. The town made the national news for electing a 4 year old boy for mayor. It was all in fun and you can vote for mayor when you go there.
The OG closest to us is okay, too, but used to be better.

 

[DVCjj]

We get Minestrone soup, salad and breadsticks to go once every 2 weeks.
We love it. My husband is not a vegetable eater at all and loves the Minestrone soup. I do not make at home because waste of time and ingredients because we like OG's version. Used to cook all the time but after 57 years of marriage, Been There, Done That.

It's such a nice light lunch, inexpensive by today's standards and so relaxing to eat at home watching DVR stuff.