I went to Olive Garden not expecting much.. I went thinking the food was going to be inexpensive, overly processed, highly caloric garbage more or less.. I must say, I was correct in most of my thoughts.. Especially in high caloric content.. I really dont believe I have ever ate a meal that was worse for me.. I was wrong concerning the price of the resaurant.. It wasnt only not cheap, but it was actually pricey.. Almost twice the price of my local and really good neighborhood restaurant in New York.. I see how Fatguy showed that prices vary at the Olive Garden from location to location.. And obviously, this one, in the Heart Of Times Square, is going to be one of the higher priced locations.. Located at 2 Times Square in a gorgeous three story place, I was really impressed with the inside.. Dark woods, nice bars, comfortable booths and tables... It really was a pretty looking restaurant.. The upstairs held 250 people and at 10 o'clock at night.. The place was packed.. There was actually a 15 minute wait to be seated upstairs.. The location as I said is right in the middle of it all.. It on a three way corner, directly next to the TKS booth and all the sights of TSQ.. Again.. I was really impressed with the space.. Nicer then a lot of places.. I was really rethinking my opinion of the place at this point.. It was roomy, comfortable, the hostess had a great personality and made us feel welcome.. This is all before the food mind you.. Our waiter comes to the table, very warm, friendly and a lot of fun.. We were a little tipsy after coming from a Comedy Club down the street.. No one in our party of three knew what to expect here, so we were happy to learn they have bars at Olive Gardens.. After our drinks came and we looked at the menu for a little bit, we were presented with our first taste of the OGizzal.. There famous bread sticks.. These things are little sticks of diabetes.. Super starchy, microwaved? little tubes of breadness.. They had that abnormally heated feel to them that can only be reached in the microwave.. It was cool in some places and really hot in others. These suckers were doused in some super salty garlic salt mixture. The salt level in these little bastards is truly impressive.. I only had a few bites of one breadstick before I felt myself getting sick.. Next up is the famous salad.. This was truly not bad.. I dont think I have had bottled salad dressing in a long time.. And thats exactly what this was.. It was a processed mixture of salad dressing.. The lettuce was fresh and crunchy, there were olives, fresh tomatoes, the one think I hated was the super processed, fake oregano flavored croutons that I could not eat.. Besides that it was good.. Sure i could tell how unhealthy and bad the dressing was for you, but in terms of taste, it wasnt too bad.. But you can learn two things from the salad.. First, its a bad sign if the salad at a place is unhealthy, and Second, its a bad sign in the salad is one of the better menu options on a menu.. Here is our funny waiter mugging for the camera.. Salad: This was the highest percentage of positivity our dinner reached.. We were 50/50 happy with our selections... Appetizers: Smoke Mozzarella Fonduta for $8.95.. This is OG'S take on Queso Fundito.. Its a soupy mixture of low grade mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, romano cheese and tomatoes. Served with bread. Can someone please tell me how those circular marks got onto the bread.. What the hell was that cooked in/with. All I can say about this dish is WOW.. I have never eaten something this unhealthy in my entire life.. Please understand, I eat hamburgers for breakfast, I have ribs for lunch, and then a big dinner.. But this here was just a plate of wrong.. Not mentioning how bad a plate of melted cheese would be.. But its like they created the cheese in some lab somewhere.. It tasted so fake and manufactured.. Almost like if you made powdered cheese into a block and melted it.. It wasnt horrible tasting, but it was just wrong.. Next we had the chicken alfredo pizza.. White bread rolled in a circle, then steamed or microwaved into a soggy mess.. Then topped with with grilled chicken, Italian cheeses, alfredo sauce and scallions. $12.75.. Just in case Sbarro's runs out of pizza, dont worry folks we have the next crappiest thing.. Perhaps if it was crispy it wouldnt be horrible.. But this thing was a soggy mess.. The chicken was actually cooked well.. Wasnt tough, wasnt dry, it was decent.. I had to do it.. The classic pizza shot just to show the crispness of the pizza.. I wonder how many hours they spent studying at the Tuscan Institute on this beauty.. To prevent any sort of browning or crisping that those fancy Neopolitan pizzas get, is not as easy as you would think... Bravo..Just like Tuscany.. Sick Yet? Pasta Courses: Next up was Manicotti Formaggio.. $16.25 First of all. I dont know where in New York you would have to pay this much for a plate of Manicotti.. This was manicotti stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan cheese and herbs, baked and then covered in red sauce.. This actually was one of the better dishes.. Still not good, but decent.. The ricotta was super dry.. I would believe it if someone told me it originally comes like the powdered mash potatoes.. All you have to do is add water and fluff it up.. The pasta itself was al dente and tasted fine.. The main problem was the horrid ricotta and the amount they gave you.. After removing about half of the cheese, it was still to cheesy.. When I was done eating this dish, I had a mound of cheese the size of a baseball on my plate.. The sauce was super sweet. Not horrible.. I dont think I have had personally used a jarred tomato sauce, I want to say ever, but I will say in 18 years.. It would be what I imagine Prego or something to taste like.. Three Meat Ravioli: Ravioli filled with beef, sausage and chicken topped with sage-butter, pesto and marinara sauce. 16.25.. Again, show me a place that has meat Ravioli priced this high in the city.. The dish was inedible.. Really, this thing was disgusting.. I took a bite and spit it out.. Considering how terrible I felt this morning, I am lucky I didnt eat this garbage.. Honestly, i dont think I have ever eaten anything this bad before, that was purposely made to taste good.. This is what I hope people in prison are eating... Meat Course: Steak Gorgonzola Alfredo: $16.75 Steak with a balsamic glaze, served over fettuccine gorgonzola-alfredo. This was my favorite dish.. And really was actually pretty good.. The steak was actually COOKED TO ORDER.. I asked for medium rare and received it pink... It had a decent super sweet balsamic glaze.. The fettucine was cooked al dente.. And the sauce was decent.. I can only imagine that amount of garbage that went into it, but it was good.. Mixed Grill: Grilled marinated steak and chicken with rosemary. Served with grilled vegetables and Tuscan potatoes $20.95... Wow.. 21 bucks some steak and chicken at the OG.. Incredible.. This dish was ok too.. The steak was fine, the chicken was fine too.. Nothing special, but nothing horrible.. Most likely the healthiest thing we have eaten to this point.. The vegetables were absolutely horrible.. Flavored with liquid smoke I would guess.. The potatoes were terrible... Fish Course: Now I am a really big fan of mussels.. What do you think I am that crazy.. Haha.. I would say that it really was a learning experience.. I could understand why someone would go to there local Olive Garden.. Obviously, nobody orders three courses.. Its a way to get a lot of food fairly cheap.. The food is incredibly bad for you.. Its over sauced, over cheesed, over processed, unhealthy fake food.. But some people like that type of food.. A big plate of melted lab cheese is right up someone's alley.. The majority of people in the Times Square location were tourists.. The table to my left were from England, to the right were from Germany, and a few American tourists were visible.. The waiter even said almost 80 percent of his customers were Tourists.. So much in fact, that the bill automatically included 15 percent tip so Europeans wouldnt stiff them.. I must say last night, I had a horrible sleep.. I had nightmares the entire night.. I woke up this morning starving, though I was filled with this food.. I even induced vomiting to get rid of this stuff this morning.. I am by far a health nut, but this stuff is too much for me.. I would never go back to eat.. I really just dont think whats in the food is good healthy for you mentally or physically.. Today I feel like slow and sad for no reason.. I havent eaten yet today, but have drank several glasses of water.. I took one for egullet, so hopefully you dont have to..
