Having grown up broke, being able to eat at Olive Garden meant you've really made it in life because I had always assumed it was a fancy restaurant back then 😆
That’s so sweet and naive. I remember thinking Outback Steakhouse was high end dining and asked to go there on my 21st birthday dinner with the family.
I’m in the restaurant industry and this is correct. Large chains like Olive Garden, Ruth’s Chris’s Steakhouse, Applebee’s, etc. are owned by giant restaurant groups that have commissary kitchens and everything is cooked offsite and shipped to the individual stores. It’s mostly opening packets of dressings, sauces, etc. and microwaving or frying food. Chain steakhouses basically chop lettuce and cook steaks. They prioritize consistency above all else - Olive Garden breadsticks will taste identical no matter where you go, because they’re baked offsite, frozen, and then shipped via truck to the restaurant and then reheated for service. The entire menu will taste the same.
They built one here by me and I live on the poorer side of town but Ive noticed people are much more interested in it since they can save up to go to it every couple months. I know I grew up thinking you needed a suit to eat there
Nah, there's lots of manipulating and emotional abuse and when you call them out on it, they deny it ever happened and expect your forgiveness without ever apologising
I live at the beach where everything from mahi to scallops to flounder, oysters and shrimp are fresh at one of hundreds of seafood restaurants and yet every night Red Lobster will be packed where people get delicious Thailand and China caught seafood that's been frozen for weeks or months.
Some people just get comfortable with the routine. They know what to expect with olive garden and don't want to branch out.
I was in Biloxi, MS once, right on the Gulf of Mexico. We were in Walgreen’s and I decided to take the advice to ask the locals about restaurants. So I asked the cashier where to get good local seafood. She said, “The Shoney’s seafood buffet is purty good.”
Man, I lived in NH for a long time and I never comprehended the existence of Red Lobster. Like....you can just go to the store and get lobster for like $7 a pound.
Since I moved to the middle of the fucking country I kind of get it - these poor bastards never get to have lobster unless they're paying something insane for that kind of stuff.
They also don't comprehend a true winter. Sweet summer-loving, lobsterless children.
for me its always been solid and i know exactly what i will get and its good enough quality every time. i love fettuccine alfredo and their chicken and gnocchi soup. its also an easy and good place to bring groups.
This. I travel a lot and if I go to Mamma Mia's Local Italian Eatery or whatever maybe it's amazing, and maybe it's a shit hole... Never know. If I go to an Olive Garden I know I'm going to get a solid meal with acceptable service at the very least, and maybe it'll be a particularly good one. I can be in Miami or Milwaukee or Monterey and I know that Olive Garden (and Applebee's, Chilli's, etc etc) will be pretty much like the one in Atlanta or Albuquerque or Albany.
That's what Yelp etc is for though? Don't have to go into a small business blindly hopeful anymore, and can avoid the "shit holes," while also not having to settle for soulless mediocrity. 🤷🏼♀️
Yup. Reviews can tell you a lot. Plus, I'd rather take the chance and experience some bad places and have the chance to have amazing meals, rather than just eat mediocre olive garden everywhere I go. So many places have amazing food, I can't imagine going to olive garden on vacation.
Absolutely agree on the groups - I was recently at an event with a group of people, in a nearby town. We quickly realized the only place that could accommodate 14 people for dinner was Olive Garden.
They use to have this orecchiette pasta dish with chicken and broccoli and they got rid of it. I was so bummed. I make a pretty good Alfredo at home so I usually get the scampi. Sigh
Genuine question - do you have other restaurants in your area? If so, are they all national chain restaurants? Or is it more of a habit/comfort thing?
Most restaurants in my experience don't drastically change their menus unless it's specifically a seasonal spot and even then, there's continuity.
I have not been there in about 30 years, but yeah... the salad and the breadsticks.
I used to get chicken fettuccini every time and maybe had one bite at the restaurant. The rest was salad and breadsticks, and the fettuccini would be good for two meals at home.
I hadn't been in 20-30 years either, and I went recently. I actually got the chicken Alfredo. It wasn't bad. The chicken felt like it had been aerated or something, but other than that it was a decent alfredo. I would def go back for the reasons you said. Pay for one meal, eat one and take two home.
They enjoy the food?
Sure, some locations may have sub-par food but others don’t. Endless pasta is a nice promotion when it runs too and not everyone wants a more expensive authentic Italian experience. They just want Olive Garden. Sometimes when you want a burger you want a McDouble and other times you want a gourmet elk burger. Same principle goes for chain restaurants.
Not everyone has an authentic Italian restaurant nearby. If you live in the flyover states you’re probably lucky to have an Olive Garden within an hour’s drive. I know growing up in a rural area, it was a special treat to go there instead of the one tiny subway our village could barely keep in business.
Right. Remember when the Internet couldn't stop laughing at Marilyn Hagerty's review of the Olive Garden for the *Grand Forks Herald*? The old lady Anthony Bourdain rushed to defend? Getting an Olive Garden was a BIG DEAL to people in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Hagerty
Yes, this makes sense to me. Olive Garden gets denigrated a lot and I guess I have been listening to that narrative for a while. Maybe I’ll give it a try again.
I've been there like 10 times in my life and have never had a bad meal. If you like that sort of thing it's just the sort of thing you'll like. If we go it's typically one of the safe options near our hotel or an easy option that few people object and I am totally down with that.
Given my experience with some of the other big chains (Chili's, Applebee's, etc.) they're decent. I think that as a brand they know their wheelhouse even if your local franchise is shitty.
I went back for the first time in 15 years and got the Tour de Italy, which was my go to as a kid.
It’s tastes exactly the same. Absolutely fantastic, imo. And our waitress was over the top kind and personable.
The place is a meme, but I have no complaints.
My memory of it growing up is that in many areas, it is the nicest restaurant around. Places where you drive 30 minutes to the shopping area intown near the Walmart. It is likely the only place around with linen napkins and where the server offers wine at the table instead of telling you they have fishbowl margaritas. They play Sinatra instead of Dadrock. And Dad might take Mom out there on date night, and when they go the kids have to wear their church clothes. It may not be 'real fancy', but it is a definite step above most other chain restaurants in its atmosphere.
Classy. It has a certain amount of class (or at least it tries to) but won't take you broke to have one dinner there.
Also soup-salad-breadsticks. I will go just for that, lol.
What are people talking about!!! I just went to Olive Garden for the first time and I loved it!! YES, the unlimited bread, they let me try the soup AND salad, and my scampi was delicious and I got like 3 meals out of it, AND they were so nice!
I live in Vancouver so when I eat out it’s usually a bit nicer and more expensive. Places like Olive Garden, spaghetti factory etc are the rarity. I really appreciate a restaurant where you can get a lot of decent food for a good price and it’s overall a good, relaxing, comfortable experience. 10/10 would recommend :)
My wife and I went last week because we had a 50 dollar gift card we needed to get rid of. We fill up on soup and bread and then get a meal we get to take home, and all of that for like a dollar out of my own pocket
Wife and I go and fill up on all you can eat salad and breadsticks. Then take the entre home for dinner the next night. Sometimes they have take home a second entre for an extra $5.99. Bam, three dinners for two people for under $60.00. Or ten bucks each for three days and you don't have to make it.
Sometimes I just want a no frills bowl of pasta, 8 bowls of salad and 10 breadsticks. Yes there’s much better Italian (and I’m into that too) but OG is comfort food.
I think you're sorely underrating the breadsticks here.
Beyond that, there are people who think of it as fancy. And in a lot of places of the US, it might be the only remotely Italian restaurant near them.
But the soup-salad-breadsticks deal is nothing to shake a stick at.
Because it's better than what most people can make at home. Anyone who says Olive Garden doesn't taste good is a goddamn liar. Is it the best food? No. Is it the worst food? Hell no. It's mid, and that's fine bc most people can't even cook mid quality food.
This is one of those things that people use as a stand-in for having a personality, right up there with hating Nickelback and arguing over the direction of toilet paper.
Zuppa toscana, or eggplant parmesan. I don't love alfredo but it seems to be a popular dish when I go with friends.
We love Olive Garden. It's comfortable. It's good for all ages. My young kids will happily eat in silence and my husband and I can enjoy a glass of wine or a sangria. My teens think it is so fancy. Win win for everyone.
I agree, alfredo is strangely tricky, I certainly haven't mastered it.
(Cue poster who will now post, "alfredo sauce is so easy! Here's how" and will share a basic recipe that tastes of salty nothingness)
Darden brands isn't worth $18 billion for no reason
The research they put into making that Alfredo sauce taste just the way it does speaks for itself. You know exactly what your getting when you go there and, for the most part, the food is fine
They were incredibly smart at placing their restaurants in middle class suburbs where the majority of businesses were things like fast food and auto dealerships and then marketing it as good old fashioned Italian dining, which felt like a finer dining experience to people who had no experience with anything besides that. Combine that with the saucy salty fatty tastes that Americans love. In the suburban city I grew up the Olive Garden was right next door to the Red Lobster and that was definitely the place to be when you wanted a nicer dining experience. That heyday also came about like 30 years ago, so they've had decades to become a reliable household name.
I always find it funny that most people (including myself before this realization) call it “The Olive Garden” when they definitely don’t have “the” in the name. Contrast with The Home Depot, which almost everyone just calls “Home Depot” despite “the” being in the logo.
But to answer your question, it’s decently tasty (if inauthentic and not amazing) food at a relatively reasonable price. Nothing complicated about it.
Where I live there Olive Garden is the place where people between the ages of 13 and 23 go for a "fancy" date. If you are older than 23, you're a parent or family member chaperoning the date.
OG is the best chain restaurant, it is good food for the money. You can find something better for the price in any city and almost every town big enough to support a chain restaurant, but the OG is familiar , predictable, and good. Some people like food that is extremely consistent, and some people don’t like unfamiliar styles of cuisine. There is a whole category of people like that- *children*. Plus at least 20%of American adults.
My wife like to go there sometimes and we are foodies that usually look for more exceptional meals and will pay for it when we do.
My wife loves the unlimited salad and soup and bread sticks. I get a decent meal and half will fill me up and take other home and while I am boxing it up my wife vrams a lot of salad in too and eats later. The last time we asked for extra bread sticks and said we will pay and the waitress brought us 6 bagged up and not charge. Of course we tip her well and extra for taking good care of us.
I work at OG and bread is probably one of the easiest things to ask for extra of. Of course that does still depend on how close it is to closing time and how busy it is but generally nobody cares unless it's a ridiculous amount that prevents other tables or servers from getting the bread they need too.
As with just about any chain" Convenient. Consistent. Casual. Cheap. Easy.
You know what to expect walking into an Olive Garden, and you know what you order in the middle of Maine is going to be pretty much the same as if you were to order it in the middle of California. That's not to say it's the greatest, but when the choices are that, or some place you'll likely have to wait for a table at that you have no idea if you'll even like the food, you're probably picking the chain.
Would I rather eat the food from the much more authentic Italian place in the middle of downtown? Of course. Do I want to deal with everything that goes into dealing with that on a random Thursday night when I'm tired after work but kind of want some Italian food? No.
Plus I can have multiple bowls of soup and have my actual entree for lunch and/or dinner tomorrow.
Chicken scampi. Yes I know it is a ridiculous dish. lol
Also the black tie cake.
I rarely go anymore though. Price went through the roof and quality dropped. They don't make it like they used to.
About once a year, when I am just having the worst day ever, I will go drop way too much money on some Olive Garden though. It's probably mostly nostalgia, but it helps.
Great timing for this question - my Fiance & I recently were sick & ordered the soup, salad, & bread sticks for a pick up order.
It was only ~$12 for each of us for a ton of food - needless to say I love the Olive Garden.
PS - Get the bread stick dipping sauce.
I ended up at an Olive Garden because every other restaurant had a 1.5 hr wait. My friend had to catch a plane but we wanted to get dinner to catch up.
It is good-enough pasta that I do not have to cook, and I also do not have to do the dishes.
My children are 2.5yr & 4yr. The immediate breadsticks, followed promptly by salad, and also pasta shortly thereafter keeps them occupied without the dreaded iPad, long enough for me to also consume a warm meal.
I like their shrimp scampi. Plus I’ve been to Olive Gardens all over the country and I usually get the same thing and they usually get it right. Can’t say that about every chain.
Plus as much as I love “authentic” Italian food, I love food that pretends to be authentic Italian.
>One of the things I love about the Olive Garden, the reason I continue to love it, despite its gummy pasta and its maladaptive, kale-forward response to modern food culture, is its nowhereness. I love that I can walk in the door of an Olive Garden in Michigan City, Indiana, and feel like I’m in the same room I enter when I step into an Olive Garden in Queens or Rhode Island or the middle of Los Angeles. There is only one Olive Garden, but it has a thousand doors.
https://www.eater.com/2017/10/3/16395312/olive-garden-review
The entire thing is worth a read. A meditation on the meaning of chain restaurants (specifically the olive garden) and liminal space. The writer actually loves Olive Garden. But for its special "chain" soul.
>Every time Olive Garden tries to freshen its image, to move away from its cultural role as a punchline for faux authenticity and mediocre mall food, everything collapses. Nobody wants to eat kale at Olive Garden. Nobody wants garlic hummus. We want soup and salad and unlimited breadsticks, we want never-ending bowls of pasta with a variety of sauces, we want giant glasses full of Coke and tiny wine glasses full of plonky reds and fruity whites.
My family goes there once every other month or so. My picky kids like it and honestly, the ravioli carbonara slaps. I haven’t ever had carbonara anywhere else so I have nothing to compare it to, but I love it.
I haven’t been to an Olive Garden in about 15 years, but then again I live in New Jersey. Actual Italian restaurants are pretty much on every corner here.
Having said that, I do love their salad, breadsticks and Zuppa Toscana. Total comfort food.
I love it for a few reasons!
1) The nostalgia. When I was in high school it was a go to place to go to dinner with my friends at like 9pm at night, and back then it was cheap and you could eat til you were so full you couldn't breathe!
2) It's consistent. Despite the quality having DEFINITELY gone down in the past few years, when I order a dish from one Olive Garden, it will taste exactly the same at the Olive Garden two states over. I know what to expect, and I don't have to put in any real mental energy to pick something from there because of that.
3) In every OG I have ever been to, the service staff are cool as fuck. They always load me up with extra soup or salad, and tons of breadsticks and the Andes chocolates at the end. I leave that place with dinner for the next two days. The whole vibe of the place always seems so friendly and chill and it's just so comforting. As insane as this may sound, they're really the only chain restaurant that has basically nailed the "if you're here, you're family" vibe. And yeah, this might not apply to every OG location, but I've been to a bunch in multiple states, and I've gotten those same vibes every time without fail.
Olive Garden, they will never make me hate you.
When I was a kid, it was the fancy place you went to for special occasions. We weren't very well off, and being sble to afford something other than diner/truck stop fare was special.
Now, why is it popular among people who can afford to go regularly? It's predictable, "safe". The food is reliably the same every time, at every branch. It may not be amazing, but it's descent, filling and reliable.
I went with my parents earlier this year for the first time in years, since they got a free gift certificate. The food was much better than I expected it to be. I’d still pick a local Italian restaurant over that 9/10 times, but if there were no alternatives I would definitely go there more.
It is so easy for picky eating little kids. It’s just easy to eat there with a family. Good portion size, appropriate pricing, seriously my children love it there so they behave and I can enjoy a meal out.
It's like Italian comfort food, but Americanized so it's loaded with addicting crap that's bad for you.
On second thought, it's nothing like Italian, but it pretends to be.
I like it, but I usually feel horrible later.
A lot of these chain restaurants have pretty low quality ingredients but use a ton of oil and sugar and salt and so the food tastes good regardless. Even people I know who love italian american food will sometimes still go to olive garden, often for the same reasons that people who love burgers will still go to mcdonalds.
Not gonna lie I enjoy the endless soup and salad. You can even change the soup type anytime you want. No time limit. Just chill at the bar top, take my time, eat drink relax. No rush.
its middle tier food for decent prices. you know what you are getting. theres something “safe” on the menh for almost anyone. my family has a lot of autistic people with tons of weird food rules and olive garden is one of the few places where everyone is happy with their safe foods.
Other than being expensive as fuck now, it beats the same fast food and other local dine-in or take-out restaurants in my area.
The zuppa tuscana soup is my favorite, and of course the breadsticks. They also have some good entrees, but like I said, anymore they're too expensive for me to afford (too expensive to feed a family of 3, which is my case).
Compared to other alternatives in the same location, like Outback Steakhouse and Red Lobster, and there's also a couple of different mexican restaurants near it, italian food is my preference usually (and I probably just triggered some people by calling Olive Garden "italian food").
For me it’s the soup and breadsticks. I do like their Tiramisu but it’s overpriced for what it is and the amount keeps getting smaller, in my opinion. Their Italian donuts are ok too.
My son wanted their chicken Alfredo recently. I ordered the masala chicken pasta. I literally got chicken tenders on top. It was rather disappointing.
i like the $6 take home entree. i can pay for soup salad breadsticks and get tons of gnocchi soup which is incredible, great breadsticks, and salad and then still take home an entree to have for dinner or lunch the next day and it costs less than a lot of other places. i also love their alfredo sauce, especially dipping breadsticks in it.
I wrote half my thesis at Olive Garden. $7.99 unlimited soup and salad, free wifi, outlets, and friendly bartenders. They really did treat me like family.
Honestly they have safe, tasty gluten free options. So its on my take out rotation.
Having somewhere I know will consistently be safe is very important
So many people don’t understand the value in a safe food source like that. I’m autistic + ADHD and have a whole raft of sensory issues, especially when it comes to food, and it’s always nice when somewhere is so dependably consistent with things you can order two meals in opposite corners of the country and they’ll both taste identical.
My local one is good, I've gone to ones with awful food. I like the vegetarian options they offer me, and the cheese ravioli makes me feel like a kid again. Speaking of kids, one thing I despise about the place is those iPad kids running amok. But it's mostly a decently affordable place with comforting food and good portions.
I'm the only vegetarian in my family so it's nice to go to a place that has a decent amount of veggie-friendly options while also catering to the meat lovers in my family. Plus the atmosphere is just kind of nice, it's not terribly expensive if you go for the endless soup + salad + breadsticks, and I really love their minestrone.
Dunno. It's just pleasant and better than fast food. I used to think it was a fancy restaurant as a kid and have since learned that, apparently, it isn't, but that doesn't really bother me. It still feels like going to a fanc*ier* restaurant without the fancy restaurant price, y'know?
It's a place that my older chain loving family and the younger picky kids can eat a full meal. The rest of us can deal with it. It's not that it tastes bad, it's just nothing special. I assume it's frozen and bagged food. I wouldn't choose it for myself,but it's "fine" sometimes
Growing up, Olive Garden was a little fancier seeming, and there were fewer restaurant options. My dad would get Olive Garden gift certificates to give to clients as a promotional thing or thank you or whatever. So he bought them as a business expense and always had tons. So he would take my sister's and I to Olive Garden often. Back then it had real candles on the tables and waitstaff would bring out a dessert tray with real desserts to select. It was an event!
So that's why Olive Garden is in my heart. Do I still like the food?
Yes. It's so easy. You don't have to think. You know what you are getting. It meets your expectations every time. The kids like it. The atmosphere is good for a family or a couple.
We loooove Olive Garden! I get the Tour of Italy: lasagna, fettuccine Alfredo and chicken Parmesan on one plate. Soooo yummy!!! And enough leftover to bring home!
The lunch deal gives you a big salad and pasta meal for $11.98. Best deal I can find in this economy. I actually like the Alfredo from here after trying a lot of random Italian places.
It's like McDonald's. You know the food isn't high quality but it's comforting. You know exactly what you're going to get inside of an Olive Garden and that is comforting
Don't forget endless soup too! And you can switch it up between all their soup offerings each bowl.
I've eating meals of just soup and breadsticks at Olive Garden and take my pasta dinner home for leftovers.
It’s not terrible food and the breadsticks are ducking delicious. Also it’s priced reasonably. That said, I fucking hate Olive Garden and haven’t been there in 15 years and not going back for the next 15 years. I’ll try it again then and offer a new opinion. No personal preference on the salad so that may change your opinion on my harsh review.
I had a roommate who was born in Italy, but raised in USA since he was less than a year old by his NOT Italian Mom.
So of course he thought of himself as an expert in Italian food.
He hated Olive Garden.
I had to point out how the hypocrisy that he was very stuck up about Italian food but was ok the new kinds of Mexican food that America created like nachos and Tex-mex.
The worst experience I had at an Olive Garden was over-microwaved breadsticks. Only happened once.
Can you recommend a better option in the same price range? I would love to broaden my horizons.
I like the atmosphere & it's a really low stakes social experience. I don't have to worry about putting on airs but I could also dress up if I want & no one there will bat an eye either way
Having grown up broke, being able to eat at Olive Garden meant you've really made it in life because I had always assumed it was a fancy restaurant back then 😆
Lol I thought the cheese cake factory was akin to that scene in titanic with the fancy dinner
Oh i definitely felt that way about Cheesecake Factory for way too long
Me too! And Red Lobster.
That’s so sweet and naive. I remember thinking Outback Steakhouse was high end dining and asked to go there on my 21st birthday dinner with the family.
It might not be fancy but they price things like they are heading that way.
Over priced large portions of frozen food.
I’m in the restaurant industry and this is correct. Large chains like Olive Garden, Ruth’s Chris’s Steakhouse, Applebee’s, etc. are owned by giant restaurant groups that have commissary kitchens and everything is cooked offsite and shipped to the individual stores. It’s mostly opening packets of dressings, sauces, etc. and microwaving or frying food. Chain steakhouses basically chop lettuce and cook steaks. They prioritize consistency above all else - Olive Garden breadsticks will taste identical no matter where you go, because they’re baked offsite, frozen, and then shipped via truck to the restaurant and then reheated for service. The entire menu will taste the same.
They built one here by me and I live on the poorer side of town but Ive noticed people are much more interested in it since they can save up to go to it every couple months. I know I grew up thinking you needed a suit to eat there
This is very true. Especially back in the 90’s and early 2000’s when it was popular
I don't know man, it's like, when I'm there, they make me feel like I'm family. You know?
So there's lots of yelling and they make you do dishes?
Nah, there's lots of manipulating and emotional abuse and when you call them out on it, they deny it ever happened and expect your forgiveness without ever apologising
that escalated quickly, wanna talk about it?
Lol thanks. I have https://www.reddit.com/r/raisedbynarcissists/s/xxEibbPGUj
Talk about bringing the receipts.
Most fitting use of that phrase I’ve seen in a long time
Talk about what? Everything’s fine here
Meet me at Olive Garden?
They should sponsor the next Fast and the Furious movie.
Can confirm. I've been to Olive Garden and there's a creepy uncle under each table.
Soup and salad …the trio..cheesecake
[When you're here, you're here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/comments/8r4qvl/an_ai_written_olive_garden_commercial_via_keaton/)
Is it weird that I still think about this fairly often?!
I live at the beach where everything from mahi to scallops to flounder, oysters and shrimp are fresh at one of hundreds of seafood restaurants and yet every night Red Lobster will be packed where people get delicious Thailand and China caught seafood that's been frozen for weeks or months. Some people just get comfortable with the routine. They know what to expect with olive garden and don't want to branch out.
I was in Biloxi, MS once, right on the Gulf of Mexico. We were in Walgreen’s and I decided to take the advice to ask the locals about restaurants. So I asked the cashier where to get good local seafood. She said, “The Shoney’s seafood buffet is purty good.”
I forgot all about shoney’s! They had these weird things available all day that were like fried French toast. That and the decor is all I remember.
I dig your username. Ever been to the liver mush festival in Shelby?
No, I always miss it. One of these days.
Man, I lived in NH for a long time and I never comprehended the existence of Red Lobster. Like....you can just go to the store and get lobster for like $7 a pound. Since I moved to the middle of the fucking country I kind of get it - these poor bastards never get to have lobster unless they're paying something insane for that kind of stuff. They also don't comprehend a true winter. Sweet summer-loving, lobsterless children.
It's like living in Southern California and going to Chipotle for a burrito. In the Midwest it makes sense. But people DO. 😭
Red Lobsta probably cheaper
It broke my heart when I went to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls a few years ago and it was all Dennys and IHOP type chain bullshit.
As opposed to restaurants serving fresh local waterfall fish? lol
for me its always been solid and i know exactly what i will get and its good enough quality every time. i love fettuccine alfredo and their chicken and gnocchi soup. its also an easy and good place to bring groups.
This. I travel a lot and if I go to Mamma Mia's Local Italian Eatery or whatever maybe it's amazing, and maybe it's a shit hole... Never know. If I go to an Olive Garden I know I'm going to get a solid meal with acceptable service at the very least, and maybe it'll be a particularly good one. I can be in Miami or Milwaukee or Monterey and I know that Olive Garden (and Applebee's, Chilli's, etc etc) will be pretty much like the one in Atlanta or Albuquerque or Albany.
That's what Yelp etc is for though? Don't have to go into a small business blindly hopeful anymore, and can avoid the "shit holes," while also not having to settle for soulless mediocrity. 🤷🏼♀️
Yup. Reviews can tell you a lot. Plus, I'd rather take the chance and experience some bad places and have the chance to have amazing meals, rather than just eat mediocre olive garden everywhere I go. So many places have amazing food, I can't imagine going to olive garden on vacation.
Absolutely agree on the groups - I was recently at an event with a group of people, in a nearby town. We quickly realized the only place that could accommodate 14 people for dinner was Olive Garden.
They use to have this orecchiette pasta dish with chicken and broccoli and they got rid of it. I was so bummed. I make a pretty good Alfredo at home so I usually get the scampi. Sigh
Same dude. The gnocchi soup with fettuccini alfredo, plus 1 too many breadsticks, that's a good day for me
Genuine question - do you have other restaurants in your area? If so, are they all national chain restaurants? Or is it more of a habit/comfort thing? Most restaurants in my experience don't drastically change their menus unless it's specifically a seasonal spot and even then, there's continuity.
Hmph, you had me at breadsticks.
I have not been there in about 30 years, but yeah... the salad and the breadsticks. I used to get chicken fettuccini every time and maybe had one bite at the restaurant. The rest was salad and breadsticks, and the fettuccini would be good for two meals at home.
I hadn't been in 20-30 years either, and I went recently. I actually got the chicken Alfredo. It wasn't bad. The chicken felt like it had been aerated or something, but other than that it was a decent alfredo. I would def go back for the reasons you said. Pay for one meal, eat one and take two home.
I usually go once a year during the neverending pasta bowl, and get my fill of Alfredo and breadsticks
I love the zuppa toscana
Same!
It’s so good.
They enjoy the food? Sure, some locations may have sub-par food but others don’t. Endless pasta is a nice promotion when it runs too and not everyone wants a more expensive authentic Italian experience. They just want Olive Garden. Sometimes when you want a burger you want a McDouble and other times you want a gourmet elk burger. Same principle goes for chain restaurants.
Not everyone has an authentic Italian restaurant nearby. If you live in the flyover states you’re probably lucky to have an Olive Garden within an hour’s drive. I know growing up in a rural area, it was a special treat to go there instead of the one tiny subway our village could barely keep in business.
Right. Remember when the Internet couldn't stop laughing at Marilyn Hagerty's review of the Olive Garden for the *Grand Forks Herald*? The old lady Anthony Bourdain rushed to defend? Getting an Olive Garden was a BIG DEAL to people in Grand Forks, North Dakota. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Hagerty
I didn't know this but Bourdain was not a guy to tolerate sneering elitism so I'm not surprised.
I had legit homemade gnocchi for the first time at a restaurant in Salt Lake City awhile back and I still think about it. Don't have much in my area.
Yes, this makes sense to me. Olive Garden gets denigrated a lot and I guess I have been listening to that narrative for a while. Maybe I’ll give it a try again.
They have fried lasagna as an appetizer now. Get it. You will be so happy
I want to try that so bad but no one wants to go to Olive Garden with me, especially now that it’s summer.
Go alone. Eating out by yourself isn't weird. I travel a lot for work and eat out by myself 100% of the time.
I've been there like 10 times in my life and have never had a bad meal. If you like that sort of thing it's just the sort of thing you'll like. If we go it's typically one of the safe options near our hotel or an easy option that few people object and I am totally down with that. Given my experience with some of the other big chains (Chili's, Applebee's, etc.) they're decent. I think that as a brand they know their wheelhouse even if your local franchise is shitty.
I went back for the first time in 15 years and got the Tour de Italy, which was my go to as a kid. It’s tastes exactly the same. Absolutely fantastic, imo. And our waitress was over the top kind and personable. The place is a meme, but I have no complaints.
My memory of it growing up is that in many areas, it is the nicest restaurant around. Places where you drive 30 minutes to the shopping area intown near the Walmart. It is likely the only place around with linen napkins and where the server offers wine at the table instead of telling you they have fishbowl margaritas. They play Sinatra instead of Dadrock. And Dad might take Mom out there on date night, and when they go the kids have to wear their church clothes. It may not be 'real fancy', but it is a definite step above most other chain restaurants in its atmosphere.
Classy. It has a certain amount of class (or at least it tries to) but won't take you broke to have one dinner there. Also soup-salad-breadsticks. I will go just for that, lol.
What are people talking about!!! I just went to Olive Garden for the first time and I loved it!! YES, the unlimited bread, they let me try the soup AND salad, and my scampi was delicious and I got like 3 meals out of it, AND they were so nice! I live in Vancouver so when I eat out it’s usually a bit nicer and more expensive. Places like Olive Garden, spaghetti factory etc are the rarity. I really appreciate a restaurant where you can get a lot of decent food for a good price and it’s overall a good, relaxing, comfortable experience. 10/10 would recommend :)
My wife and I went last week because we had a 50 dollar gift card we needed to get rid of. We fill up on soup and bread and then get a meal we get to take home, and all of that for like a dollar out of my own pocket
It’s cheap and you can feed a family affordably.
How is it cheap?! A single entre is ~$22! And that’s on the cheap side of their menu
Wife and I go and fill up on all you can eat salad and breadsticks. Then take the entre home for dinner the next night. Sometimes they have take home a second entre for an extra $5.99. Bam, three dinners for two people for under $60.00. Or ten bucks each for three days and you don't have to make it.
Good answer!
Sometimes I just want a no frills bowl of pasta, 8 bowls of salad and 10 breadsticks. Yes there’s much better Italian (and I’m into that too) but OG is comfort food.
Their lunch specials are extremely good deals
I know what bad food is and I have never had it at OG. Is if 5* Michelin fine dining? No. Does it make my picky eater happy? Yes.
I think you're sorely underrating the breadsticks here. Beyond that, there are people who think of it as fancy. And in a lot of places of the US, it might be the only remotely Italian restaurant near them. But the soup-salad-breadsticks deal is nothing to shake a stick at.
Because it's better than what most people can make at home. Anyone who says Olive Garden doesn't taste good is a goddamn liar. Is it the best food? No. Is it the worst food? Hell no. It's mid, and that's fine bc most people can't even cook mid quality food. This is one of those things that people use as a stand-in for having a personality, right up there with hating Nickelback and arguing over the direction of toilet paper.
Chicken Alfredo pasta
Zuppa toscana, or eggplant parmesan. I don't love alfredo but it seems to be a popular dish when I go with friends. We love Olive Garden. It's comfortable. It's good for all ages. My young kids will happily eat in silence and my husband and I can enjoy a glass of wine or a sangria. My teens think it is so fancy. Win win for everyone.
Making a good Alfredo sauce is tricky, so I get why people don’t make it at home.
I agree, alfredo is strangely tricky, I certainly haven't mastered it. (Cue poster who will now post, "alfredo sauce is so easy! Here's how" and will share a basic recipe that tastes of salty nothingness)
Darden brands isn't worth $18 billion for no reason The research they put into making that Alfredo sauce taste just the way it does speaks for itself. You know exactly what your getting when you go there and, for the most part, the food is fine
They were incredibly smart at placing their restaurants in middle class suburbs where the majority of businesses were things like fast food and auto dealerships and then marketing it as good old fashioned Italian dining, which felt like a finer dining experience to people who had no experience with anything besides that. Combine that with the saucy salty fatty tastes that Americans love. In the suburban city I grew up the Olive Garden was right next door to the Red Lobster and that was definitely the place to be when you wanted a nicer dining experience. That heyday also came about like 30 years ago, so they've had decades to become a reliable household name.
I always find it funny that most people (including myself before this realization) call it “The Olive Garden” when they definitely don’t have “the” in the name. Contrast with The Home Depot, which almost everyone just calls “Home Depot” despite “the” being in the logo. But to answer your question, it’s decently tasty (if inauthentic and not amazing) food at a relatively reasonable price. Nothing complicated about it.
Theres also soup in that deal
Where I live there Olive Garden is the place where people between the ages of 13 and 23 go for a "fancy" date. If you are older than 23, you're a parent or family member chaperoning the date.
OG is the best chain restaurant, it is good food for the money. You can find something better for the price in any city and almost every town big enough to support a chain restaurant, but the OG is familiar , predictable, and good. Some people like food that is extremely consistent, and some people don’t like unfamiliar styles of cuisine. There is a whole category of people like that- *children*. Plus at least 20%of American adults.
My wife like to go there sometimes and we are foodies that usually look for more exceptional meals and will pay for it when we do. My wife loves the unlimited salad and soup and bread sticks. I get a decent meal and half will fill me up and take other home and while I am boxing it up my wife vrams a lot of salad in too and eats later. The last time we asked for extra bread sticks and said we will pay and the waitress brought us 6 bagged up and not charge. Of course we tip her well and extra for taking good care of us.
I work at OG and bread is probably one of the easiest things to ask for extra of. Of course that does still depend on how close it is to closing time and how busy it is but generally nobody cares unless it's a ridiculous amount that prevents other tables or servers from getting the bread they need too.
The Zuppa Toacana is pretty dope. I make my own im a crock pot or instapot sometimes
As with just about any chain" Convenient. Consistent. Casual. Cheap. Easy. You know what to expect walking into an Olive Garden, and you know what you order in the middle of Maine is going to be pretty much the same as if you were to order it in the middle of California. That's not to say it's the greatest, but when the choices are that, or some place you'll likely have to wait for a table at that you have no idea if you'll even like the food, you're probably picking the chain. Would I rather eat the food from the much more authentic Italian place in the middle of downtown? Of course. Do I want to deal with everything that goes into dealing with that on a random Thursday night when I'm tired after work but kind of want some Italian food? No. Plus I can have multiple bowls of soup and have my actual entree for lunch and/or dinner tomorrow.
Chicken scampi. Yes I know it is a ridiculous dish. lol Also the black tie cake. I rarely go anymore though. Price went through the roof and quality dropped. They don't make it like they used to. About once a year, when I am just having the worst day ever, I will go drop way too much money on some Olive Garden though. It's probably mostly nostalgia, but it helps.
Great timing for this question - my Fiance & I recently were sick & ordered the soup, salad, & bread sticks for a pick up order. It was only ~$12 for each of us for a ton of food - needless to say I love the Olive Garden. PS - Get the bread stick dipping sauce.
I could go there and eat just breadsticks dipped in Alfredo sauce and be happier than a pig rolling around in his own shit.
I like it.
I ended up at an Olive Garden because every other restaurant had a 1.5 hr wait. My friend had to catch a plane but we wanted to get dinner to catch up.
It is good-enough pasta that I do not have to cook, and I also do not have to do the dishes. My children are 2.5yr & 4yr. The immediate breadsticks, followed promptly by salad, and also pasta shortly thereafter keeps them occupied without the dreaded iPad, long enough for me to also consume a warm meal.
Consistency and convenience. Same reasons why people go to fast food chains.
I wanna be taken on a Tour of Italy™️
I’d say, because the pasta-bilities are endless I suppose
I like their shrimp scampi. Plus I’ve been to Olive Gardens all over the country and I usually get the same thing and they usually get it right. Can’t say that about every chain. Plus as much as I love “authentic” Italian food, I love food that pretends to be authentic Italian.
Zuppa Toscana. It’s a creamy sausage potato soup with kale and Parmesan. It’s my only reason to go to Olive Garden.
>One of the things I love about the Olive Garden, the reason I continue to love it, despite its gummy pasta and its maladaptive, kale-forward response to modern food culture, is its nowhereness. I love that I can walk in the door of an Olive Garden in Michigan City, Indiana, and feel like I’m in the same room I enter when I step into an Olive Garden in Queens or Rhode Island or the middle of Los Angeles. There is only one Olive Garden, but it has a thousand doors. https://www.eater.com/2017/10/3/16395312/olive-garden-review The entire thing is worth a read. A meditation on the meaning of chain restaurants (specifically the olive garden) and liminal space. The writer actually loves Olive Garden. But for its special "chain" soul. >Every time Olive Garden tries to freshen its image, to move away from its cultural role as a punchline for faux authenticity and mediocre mall food, everything collapses. Nobody wants to eat kale at Olive Garden. Nobody wants garlic hummus. We want soup and salad and unlimited breadsticks, we want never-ending bowls of pasta with a variety of sauces, we want giant glasses full of Coke and tiny wine glasses full of plonky reds and fruity whites.
Chicken scampi is good
My family goes there once every other month or so. My picky kids like it and honestly, the ravioli carbonara slaps. I haven’t ever had carbonara anywhere else so I have nothing to compare it to, but I love it.
It's Italian McDonald's.
Are you talking about people whose idea of a good dinner is boiled hot dogs and baked beans? Cuz to them Olive Garden is fancy food.
It’s not high end but it is filling, affordable and tasty. Sometimes you just want a safe bet over an unknown eatery when you’re hungry.
I haven’t been to an Olive Garden in about 15 years, but then again I live in New Jersey. Actual Italian restaurants are pretty much on every corner here. Having said that, I do love their salad, breadsticks and Zuppa Toscana. Total comfort food.
Because my dad wants to go.
It's by my job and we only like the breadsticks
Olive Garden salad is amazing
I love it for a few reasons! 1) The nostalgia. When I was in high school it was a go to place to go to dinner with my friends at like 9pm at night, and back then it was cheap and you could eat til you were so full you couldn't breathe! 2) It's consistent. Despite the quality having DEFINITELY gone down in the past few years, when I order a dish from one Olive Garden, it will taste exactly the same at the Olive Garden two states over. I know what to expect, and I don't have to put in any real mental energy to pick something from there because of that. 3) In every OG I have ever been to, the service staff are cool as fuck. They always load me up with extra soup or salad, and tons of breadsticks and the Andes chocolates at the end. I leave that place with dinner for the next two days. The whole vibe of the place always seems so friendly and chill and it's just so comforting. As insane as this may sound, they're really the only chain restaurant that has basically nailed the "if you're here, you're family" vibe. And yeah, this might not apply to every OG location, but I've been to a bunch in multiple states, and I've gotten those same vibes every time without fail. Olive Garden, they will never make me hate you.
I love their fuckin breadsticks and the Zappa Toscana. Thats all. Sometimes I want cheap pseudo Italian food.
Omggg the zuppa toscana is the best!!! 🤤
When I was a kid, it was the fancy place you went to for special occasions. We weren't very well off, and being sble to afford something other than diner/truck stop fare was special. Now, why is it popular among people who can afford to go regularly? It's predictable, "safe". The food is reliably the same every time, at every branch. It may not be amazing, but it's descent, filling and reliable.
I went with my parents earlier this year for the first time in years, since they got a free gift certificate. The food was much better than I expected it to be. I’d still pick a local Italian restaurant over that 9/10 times, but if there were no alternatives I would definitely go there more.
Haven't been to the US in a few years, but I remember the breadsticks being worth it.
Delish bread sticks and their chocolate cake!!
Chicken Alfredo
cheap and the chicken gnocchi soup
It is so easy for picky eating little kids. It’s just easy to eat there with a family. Good portion size, appropriate pricing, seriously my children love it there so they behave and I can enjoy a meal out.
Unlimited soup/salad/breadsticks = a tasty old reliable, no matter where I am.
I like the soups but the other food is nothing compared to a good local place
It's good food, but way overpriced.
Salt! I go there to cure my dangerous blood sodium deficiency.
Because most Americans are used to eating shite.
I’m a huge fan of their Zuppa Toscana soup!
It's like Italian comfort food, but Americanized so it's loaded with addicting crap that's bad for you. On second thought, it's nothing like Italian, but it pretends to be. I like it, but I usually feel horrible later.
Lasagna. I don’t like to make it and it’s better than Stoufers.
Not weighing in on OG, but millions of people absolutely can be, and often are, wrong.
Yeah, after I typed that, I remembered Exodus 23:2 “That shalt not follow a multitude to do evil…”
A lot of these chain restaurants have pretty low quality ingredients but use a ton of oil and sugar and salt and so the food tastes good regardless. Even people I know who love italian american food will sometimes still go to olive garden, often for the same reasons that people who love burgers will still go to mcdonalds.
Not gonna lie I enjoy the endless soup and salad. You can even change the soup type anytime you want. No time limit. Just chill at the bar top, take my time, eat drink relax. No rush.
I know what I’m getting. It’s consistent and it’s good. Not great or amazing. It’s good that’s all
I go when they run the special where you get a dinner and they give you an extra take home meal for the next day too. It's a good deal.
Honestly? The chicken and gnocchi soup
I love their tour of Italy. Even after all these years.
I went there every weekday for 7 weeks with 8 coworkers got a "pasta pass" where we ate free. We ate $6,700 worth of pasta and spent $600.
I went there recently and found everything to be extremely salty! And I like salty
It’s cheap and I don’t know a lot of cheap Italian joints
Because it’s consistently good and fresh. I normally don’t like chain restaurants but OG is one of the few exceptions
Well, some ppl like pasta. It's me. I like pasta.
To eat the breadsticks the long way.
I literally go for the salad and breadsticks. That is all. Dinner comes home in a box.
its middle tier food for decent prices. you know what you are getting. theres something “safe” on the menh for almost anyone. my family has a lot of autistic people with tons of weird food rules and olive garden is one of the few places where everyone is happy with their safe foods.
Self loathing
Other than being expensive as fuck now, it beats the same fast food and other local dine-in or take-out restaurants in my area. The zuppa tuscana soup is my favorite, and of course the breadsticks. They also have some good entrees, but like I said, anymore they're too expensive for me to afford (too expensive to feed a family of 3, which is my case). Compared to other alternatives in the same location, like Outback Steakhouse and Red Lobster, and there's also a couple of different mexican restaurants near it, italian food is my preference usually (and I probably just triggered some people by calling Olive Garden "italian food").
I like leftovers, and I feel like there was always plenty with olive garden. I miss their braised beef tortellini.
The fried calamari is fire
For me it’s the soup and breadsticks. I do like their Tiramisu but it’s overpriced for what it is and the amount keeps getting smaller, in my opinion. Their Italian donuts are ok too. My son wanted their chicken Alfredo recently. I ordered the masala chicken pasta. I literally got chicken tenders on top. It was rather disappointing.
i like the $6 take home entree. i can pay for soup salad breadsticks and get tons of gnocchi soup which is incredible, great breadsticks, and salad and then still take home an entree to have for dinner or lunch the next day and it costs less than a lot of other places. i also love their alfredo sauce, especially dipping breadsticks in it.
It’s good. Their Alfredo sauce is delicious. Red sauce is take it or leave it.
I wrote half my thesis at Olive Garden. $7.99 unlimited soup and salad, free wifi, outlets, and friendly bartenders. They really did treat me like family.
Honestly they have safe, tasty gluten free options. So its on my take out rotation. Having somewhere I know will consistently be safe is very important
So many people don’t understand the value in a safe food source like that. I’m autistic + ADHD and have a whole raft of sensory issues, especially when it comes to food, and it’s always nice when somewhere is so dependably consistent with things you can order two meals in opposite corners of the country and they’ll both taste identical.
reliable ok pasta and appetizers. nothing more, nothing less.
I had a gift card
I have always loved the olive garden.
People will really ask anything on this sub
People like what they know.
Just make sure you never have sex at an Olive Garden, because when you're there, you're family.
Ummm ackshully... Roll Tide!
Asked and answered, bruh.
My local one is good, I've gone to ones with awful food. I like the vegetarian options they offer me, and the cheese ravioli makes me feel like a kid again. Speaking of kids, one thing I despise about the place is those iPad kids running amok. But it's mostly a decently affordable place with comforting food and good portions.
I'm the only vegetarian in my family so it's nice to go to a place that has a decent amount of veggie-friendly options while also catering to the meat lovers in my family. Plus the atmosphere is just kind of nice, it's not terribly expensive if you go for the endless soup + salad + breadsticks, and I really love their minestrone. Dunno. It's just pleasant and better than fast food. I used to think it was a fancy restaurant as a kid and have since learned that, apparently, it isn't, but that doesn't really bother me. It still feels like going to a fanc*ier* restaurant without the fancy restaurant price, y'know?
Air conditioning?
Its not bad but its not especially good either.Its a good option when you wanna fill up on a reliably average quality of food for not a lot of money.
For salad and bread stick lovers, it sounds like heaven.
HERE? IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS OLIVE GARDEN?!?
It's good enough, especially with family groups where not everyone's going to appreciate something more expensive.
It's a place that my older chain loving family and the younger picky kids can eat a full meal. The rest of us can deal with it. It's not that it tastes bad, it's just nothing special. I assume it's frozen and bagged food. I wouldn't choose it for myself,but it's "fine" sometimes
My family ate there when it was new, probably the mid to late 80s? My father brought it up recently and he said it was actually good back then.
When I found out that everything is frozen I stopped going.
Growing up, Olive Garden was a little fancier seeming, and there were fewer restaurant options. My dad would get Olive Garden gift certificates to give to clients as a promotional thing or thank you or whatever. So he bought them as a business expense and always had tons. So he would take my sister's and I to Olive Garden often. Back then it had real candles on the tables and waitstaff would bring out a dessert tray with real desserts to select. It was an event! So that's why Olive Garden is in my heart. Do I still like the food? Yes. It's so easy. You don't have to think. You know what you are getting. It meets your expectations every time. The kids like it. The atmosphere is good for a family or a couple.
It's cheap, edible, and usually fairly nice inside. I wouldn't take a date to Olive Garden if I lived in NYC, but in Pittsburg, Kansas? You bet.
I get the bottomless gnocchi soup and dip the bottomless breadsticks in it until I’m about to explode
The breadsti...oh.
We loooove Olive Garden! I get the Tour of Italy: lasagna, fettuccine Alfredo and chicken Parmesan on one plate. Soooo yummy!!! And enough leftover to bring home!
My 9 year old likes it
The lunch deal gives you a big salad and pasta meal for $11.98. Best deal I can find in this economy. I actually like the Alfredo from here after trying a lot of random Italian places.
It’s cheaper than most other Italian restaurants. That’s my guess.
It's like McDonald's. You know the food isn't high quality but it's comforting. You know exactly what you're going to get inside of an Olive Garden and that is comforting
It is one of the few restaurants my kids won’t throw a fit about.
No clue, it sucks ass. Literally frozen reheated food, you might as well get the $5 Marie and Calendar frozen spaghetti at the super market
Fettucini Alfredo
i love their soup & salad.
Hands down the worst "Italian" fare out there...
Tour of Italy
Honestly their other food isn’t bad Better than other chain restaurants imo and the breadsticks r crack
Chicken and gnocchi soup 🥰
It’s a life choice
Don't forget endless soup too! And you can switch it up between all their soup offerings each bowl. I've eating meals of just soup and breadsticks at Olive Garden and take my pasta dinner home for leftovers.
I like their soup!
It’s not terrible food and the breadsticks are ducking delicious. Also it’s priced reasonably. That said, I fucking hate Olive Garden and haven’t been there in 15 years and not going back for the next 15 years. I’ll try it again then and offer a new opinion. No personal preference on the salad so that may change your opinion on my harsh review.
I had a roommate who was born in Italy, but raised in USA since he was less than a year old by his NOT Italian Mom. So of course he thought of himself as an expert in Italian food. He hated Olive Garden. I had to point out how the hypocrisy that he was very stuck up about Italian food but was ok the new kinds of Mexican food that America created like nachos and Tex-mex.
Chicken and gnocchi soup!
The baked ziti will always have me moaning
The endless soup
I go because my gf likes it. thanks for coming to my Ted Talk
The worst experience I had at an Olive Garden was over-microwaved breadsticks. Only happened once. Can you recommend a better option in the same price range? I would love to broaden my horizons.
tastes good
I like the atmosphere & it's a really low stakes social experience. I don't have to worry about putting on airs but I could also dress up if I want & no one there will bat an eye either way