69 replies to this topic

[IndyRob]

An 85 year-old Grand Forks, ND food writer found herself in the news after writing a positive review of the area's new Olive Garden restaurant. A food blog picked up on the column and led to it going viral.

Sure, for most, an Olive Garden is hardly newsworthy, but methinks we point-and-snicker too much(?).

[gfweb]

Right. OG isn't vile. In fact it is one of the better chains. I can imagine that in Grand Forks after a long day roping little dogies and shooting varmints a man can get a powerful hankering for some of that Eye-talian food and an OG would be a God-send.

[LindaK]

I don't like Olive Garden, but I like the unnecessary mockery of an 85 yr old woman and cartoonish characterizations of the Heartland even less.

[munchymom]

I don't think everyone is laughing about this review because they're mocking a nice old lady who likes the Olive Garden. If you read the actual review it is a very well-written smackdown, written in Midwestern Nice. The best thing she has to say about the food is that it is "warm and comforting." The equivalent review in the South would be, "Olive Garden, well, bless their hearts."

[Alcuin]

I've read a little about this, and the article seems genuine. It seems that people are really lining up at the Olive Garden in Grand Forks and driving there because there are only a handful of the chains in the state.

Mockery of this article is the internet losing all perspective (an oxymoron I know). The article may be totally appropriate for Grand Forks. Mocking something like this is a number one indicator of small-mindedness. On the other hand, she is most certainly writing in a world and for an audience I have never experienced.

[Jaymes]

Having spent a little time in North Dakota, I can tell you that I was unable to find a terrific little independently-owned Northern Italian trattoria to patronize, and there were definitely times I would have been grateful for an Olive Garden.

But both of the Dakotas have some truly wonderful and magical charms (and I'm serious) that completely make up for a dearth of "culinista-approved" dining choices. Some of my fondest memories are of cruising through endless-sky Lakota Sioux country, a Bryan Akipa CD serenading me with his haunting red cedar flute tunes.

I know it's hard for many (especially here) to believe (and I include myself in that category), but superlative food ain't everything.

At least not always.

Edited by Jaymes, 10 March 2012 - 10:14 AM.

[chromedome]

I didn't think the review was in any way out of the ordinary. If anyone was interested, and hadn't been in an Olive Garden before, reading her piece would have laid out what to expect. Period. Plain-vanilla small town review, nothing wrong with it.

Sure are a lot of self-styled culinary arbiters on the 'net, though, aren't there?

[rotuts]

someone wrote a polite review, liked a restaurant, and most importantly said why.



why this went 'viral' suggests serious illness elsewhere.

Im sure the doggies and varments was not personal, just jesting.

[gfweb]

I don't like Olive Garden, but I like the unnecessary mockery of an 85 yr old woman and cartoonish characterizations of the Heartland even less.

Humorlessness in the heartland. Good grief.

I was mocking the arch tone of some of the internet commenters.

Some people like taking offense I guess.

[annabelle]

I knew what you meant, g.

Some people live their whole lives looking to be offended. And many of them post of that site.

[Raoul Duke]

It's called respect, something a lot of folks seem to lack the capacity, for in the world.

[Mr. Delicious]

I am from North Dakota and still live here, to me this is upsetting, not that she wrote the article badly, but that it is how most people up here look at food. I personally liked her review of Taco Bell, the quesadilla was "half circle and cut into wedge shaped slices" now thats horrible writing. It is North Dakota but i think we know how a quesadilla gets cut. The "hype" of olive garden happened here too, and for some reason people eat there and yet our local Italian place with great food closed. Its be a chain or dont survive in North Dakota for the most part.

[rotuts]

Well Ive been to the Dakodtas

in the winter time no less.

who knew that the cars had oil heaters with plugs that you plugged into every where you parked so your car did hot freeze up!

Id like to hear more on the restaurant than closed.

Stay Warm or watch Frago!

[Jaymes]

I am from North Dakota and still live here, to me this is upsetting, not that she wrote the article badly, but that it is how most people up here look at food. I personally liked her review of Taco Bell, the quesadilla was "half circle and cut into wedge shaped slices" now thats horrible writing. It is North Dakota but i think we know how a quesadilla gets cut. The "hype" of olive garden happened here too, and for some reason people eat there and yet our local Italian place with great food closed. Its be a chain or dont survive in North Dakota for the most part.

Honestly, I think that's not unique to North Dakota. I live in Houston, the fourth-largest city in the US. And it's an immigrant city. The list of nationalities and restaurants specializing in various "ethnic" cuisines is staggering.

I've done a lot of traveling and think I know when a restaurant represents a particular cuisine well. It never ceases to amaze me how the chain parking lots are jammed, while excellent small restaurants struggle to stay open.

The only difference between a "local Italian place with great food" in North Dakota and one in Houston is that, although the percentages of the population there and here that support it are probably similar, the Houston metro area has nearly 6 million folks to draw from.

So 1% here and 1% there is no comparison.

Their respective operating costs are probably similar. But their customer base is decidedly not.

Edited by Jaymes, 10 March 2012 - 05:40 PM.

[haresfur]

When I first moved to eastern Washington State, the locals #1 wish was for an Olive Garden - complete with lobbying the parent company. I did find that amusing. Yes there was a local Italian Restaurant that I personally didn't think was that great. Unfortunately, I got pretty jaded about marginal representations of various types of food. Luckily it got better with time. In any case, the idea of reliable food that is different from home but not outside the comfort zone is attractive to a lot of people. And the choices for that are limited in a lot of towns.

As far as the review goes, what's the point of detailing the nuances of one dish? Probably better to let people know what to expect when they walk in the door. And what's the point of comparing the Olive Garden to 'real' Italian if that isn't an option? That being said, it could have been a bit more useful by talking about the noise level, table sizes, speed of service (ok if you survive the wait, you will be able to live on salad and breadsticks until the main dishes arrive), and how long the waits are.

Personally, I agree there are worse things than Olive Garden, and there is no reason to avoid writing about one of the biggest new restaurants in the area - at least for people who aren't willing to drive up to Winnipeg.

[Snadra]

The review reads just like the local paper reviews I've seen in community newspapers. If anything, it's better than most of those and at least it gives a sense of the place. I'm sure no one expects a nuanced review of the food at a chain restaurant. I've never been to an Olive Garden, but i can imagine what the food would be like quite easily. Frankly, living in a small and isolated town as I am I'd be glad to have a half decent italian restaurant nearby, chain or not.

[gdenby]

When I first read about the review, I was bemused. Why would anyone review a chain restaurant? But I recalled that when my elder daughter had worked at an OG, she had mentioned that it was a big favorite with elders. An OG opening would be newsworthy for a place that did not have one.

After thinking about it more, the article just makes me sad.

For several years I spent a lot more time than I liked driving thru rural Indiana. Most of the county seats I passed thru were less than half the size of Grand Forks. When I would do a search for places I might eat on the way, 4 out of 5 would be chain restaurant. I do recall coming across reviews saying things like "This <insert chain name here> is the best restaurant in town." I did find one review that said something like "<restaurant> just opened, and it is real Mexican. Finally, a place in town worth eating at." When I drove by, it was already closed. That same town did not have an OG, but there was one just 30 miles down the road.

I guess it is noteworthy, especially in times like these, to find your hometown on the OG map.

[Mjx]

An 85 year-old Grand Forks, ND food writer found herself in the news after writing a positive review of the area's new Olive Garden restaurant. A food blog picked up on the column and led to it going viral.

Sure, for most, an Olive Garden is hardly newsworthy, but methinks we point-and-snicker too much(?).

Frankly, I caught a sardonic tone (something about the reference to where she was seated), but I may be mistaken.

What's not making sense to me about the reactions to her review are a) the sort of dumb sniggering most people would never dare indulge in, if the same article were written by an 85-year-old woman in Somalia, and b) the disingenuous 'I just cannot believe people don't realize chain restaurant food is rubbish' tone of so many, apparently intended to make the commenters appear sophisticated and discerning; the actual effect is incredibly provincial and gauche (not to mention, her writing is far better than that of most of the imbeciles who see fit to air their views online).

Compared to many places, Grand Forks is relatively small and isolated. The opening of a restaurant of any sort is, not surprisingly, an event. Since the local demographic is not dominated by Italians or those who travel extensively and have a nuanced appreciation of any of the Italian cuisines, the Olive Garden clearly provides an attractive combination of 'otherness' and accessibility.

Ms. Hagerty is probably far more satisfied with her life than plenty of people I know, who have easy access to fine examples of nearly every cuisine under the sun. Why patronize her by feeling sad about the limited options that surround her, when she manages to make the most of the options she does have?

[Jaymes]

When I first read about the review, I was bemused. Why would anyone review a chain restaurant? But I recalled that when my elder daughter had worked at an OG, she had mentioned that it was a big favorite with elders. An OG opening would be newsworthy for a place that did not have one.

After thinking about it more, the article just makes me sad.

For several years I spent a lot more time than I liked driving thru rural Indiana. Most of the county seats I passed thru were less than half the size of Grand Forks. When I would do a search for places I might eat on the way, 4 out of 5 would be chain restaurant. I do recall coming across reviews saying things like "This <insert chain name here> is the best restaurant in town." I did find one review that said something like "<restaurant> just opened, and it is real Mexican. Finally, a place in town worth eating at." When I drove by, it was already closed. That same town did not have an OG, but there was one just 30 miles down the road.

I guess it is noteworthy, especially in times like these, to find your hometown on the OG map.

And let me point out that sometimes we idolize and romanticize things that, in reality, don't actually exist the way we think (or wish) they do.

Just because there's a cute little independently-owned family restaurant in a small isolated town, that doesn't necessarily mean it's any good. All too often those places don't have the ability to source excellent, fresh, top-quality foodstuffs, and instead rely on canned goods and commercially-prepared dishes from companies like Sysco and American Food Suppliers that arrive once a week in a semi-truck to service the entire town.

I've eaten many awful meals, and far more mediocre ones, from those cute little restaurants in the sorts of sparse, desolate towns that you drive past on the interstate and marvel at the undisputed fact that at least some of those residents must live there by choice.

So no, you're not going to get any delightful surprises at the Olive Garden up on the highway next to the Comfort Inn where you've stopped for the night.

But you're probably not going to get any bad surprises, either.

[annabelle]

Thank you, James. I was just going to say much the same thing.

*In fact, I composed a very long post that went *poof!* so I will just second yours.

[Jaymes]

Ms. Hagerty clearly doesn't give a rat's patootey about all this, which tickles me no end. I'm sure the folks that are making fun of her believe themselves to be tres sophisticated and enjoy the thought that they might be making her feel provincial.

But I don't think they've succeeded in that at all, as evidenced by this excerpt from a recent interview:

Hagerty said her daughter, Gail Hagerty of Bismarck, urged her to read the Facebook comments about her review.

“I told her I’m working on my Sunday column and I’m going to play bridge this afternoon, so I don’t have time to read all this crap,” she said.

And, she noted, although chain restaurants, buffets and truck stops have been subjects of her reviews, she has eaten at The White House. Twice.

[gfweb]

Mrs Hagerty is a honey badger.

[Jaymes]

Thank you, James. I was just going to say much the same thing.

*In fact, I composed a very long post that went *poof!* so I will just second yours.

Oh yeah; the last time I stopped somewhere and asked the desk clerk where was a good local non-chain restaurant, I wound up dining on canned corn, canned green beans, instant mashed potatoes, and fried shrimp that had arrived at the kitchen door in a box, pre-breaded (way too heavily) and frozen (and I'm sure about that because I asked).

The salad bar was equally uninspired. Wilted lettuce, grated cheap yellow mystery cheese that was still partially frozen, hard, flavorless tomatoes, canned black olives, fake bacon bits, saltines in those little cellophane packages...

I'll take an Olive Garden Salad and bread sticks over that any day.

Edited by Jaymes, 11 March 2012 - 01:43 PM.

[gfweb]

Travel a little in the heartland and an Outback, OG or even a Red Lobster can look pretty darn good. And honestly, they don't suck; they're just not haute

[rotuts]

I think that "haute' might be so over rated.

Its On Your Plate.

You Might enjoy it.

that it.

"On The Plate

With enjoyment for you and much more Importantly

the friends you eat with

and enjoy their company.

take a look at the movie if you can 'Fargo'.

[annabelle]

I'll take an Olive Garden Salad and bread sticks over that any day.

Amen.

In my post that got eaten , I made a reference to a diner that had been reviewed by that couple (whose names escape me) who review "Roadfood" in various spots in the US. This particular diner is on historic Route 66 a couple of towns over from me. The authors had raved about the chicken fried steak, so we decided to stop in for lunch when we were in the town and try it out.

It was dreadful. Bland, obviously frozen, white gravy from a mix. Instant potatoes and canned green beans on the side with heat 'n' serve rolls and margarine pats to round it out. If that wasn't the worst of it, the iced tea was terrible as well and I had to ask for clean flatware and napkins at our rickety uneven table. Our waitress dropped off our food, with the check and disappeared.

Some might find that sort of thing "charming"; I call it a waste of $20.

The only out I can give the diner and the reviewers is the possibility that the diner owners were given a heads-up about being reviewed and busted out some good product and then fell back into their shiftless ways.

Give me Denny's anyday.

[mskerr]

Apparently there are not many good local/non-chain restaurants in Grand Forks. I guess this is meant to "excuse" North Dakotans for their "naivety"/apparent sin of enjoying Olive Garden. But in any town or city, no matter what size, or how many fresh/ethnic/great places there are to eat, the fast food places are always doing thriving business. I lived in Santa Cruz, CA, a town where you can get a lot of great food of all sorts, especially Mexican, for under $10, and there is a ton of consciousness about local/organic/etc, and yet - a lot of my friends and housemates just love their Taco Bell fix. So why do small-town heartlanders get flack for patronizing and yes, enjoying, chain food, when it seems to be just about the most universally popular thing in the whole States?
I agree with lots of the aforementioned comments - at home I have my favorite little local spots, but after a couple days on the road, I can get pretty excited about a Subway. Even Jane and Michael Stern acknowledge that out of 12 roadfood meals, on average only 2 or 3 are even decent, and even fewer are really good. A meal at a local spot on the interstate can quite easily consist of microwaved frozen mozzarella sticks and a leathery piece of old lettuce. For great roadfood meals, you usually have to know where to look, which can be a bit of a challenge.
North Dakotans sound like a great bunch of people! Flash food isn't everything.

[gdenby]

Just because there's a cute little independently-owned family restaurant in a small isolated town, that doesn't necessarily mean it's any good.

Yeah. I remember when my parents took me on a trip around Lake Michigan, probably '63 or '64. Most of the diner food was not so good. I remember my mother saying that it was worth stopping "at the place with golden arches." As I recall, she said something like the food was not very good, but not very bad either. There was one place. tho', up at St. Ignace that had a great burger. Wish we had found a place serving pasties, or some smoked fish.

I imagine that finding a good or decent independent restaurant is about 30%. With so few left, there are lots of small towns where odds are, the local cafe and the convenience store only compete on comfortable, not tasty. Too bad. While I expect a good pork tenderloin sandwich, I'm often disappointed. Think I'll have a McRib.

[CaliPoutine]

I live in Santa Clarita, CA. We're known for our chain restaurants, seriously, we have one long street where they are mostly all located( on the same street as Magic Mountain, gotta attract the tourists). My partner received a gift card for OG so we sucked it up and went. The restaurant was packed, there was over an hour wait on a Tuesday night. I DONT GET IT. The salad had the weirdest odor, like preservatives or something. It definately came in a big bag. I asked for breadsticks that were plain( no "garlic salt butter" brushed on top". I was told I had to wait for them. No one ever asks for them like that. Our meal ended up being comped because we sat at the bar and were ignored for 30 min. It saddens me that local restaurants that serve good food go out of business and yet there is an hour wait to get into these horrible chains.

[rotuts]

Well ....

they liked it in N.D.

not so much comp. there.