Olive Garden is real Italian!

[jhlurie]

Yes... but you might get into a fist-fight with Holly if you keep insisting that Olive Garden might possibly be the best restaurant in ANY area. :)  I recall that he feels quite strongly that such is not the case!

(You might also recall that my view is much closer to yours. I feel that you can't belittle "consistency" as a quality of food--although I also admit that we'd miss out totally on the types of places which Holly champions if we don't occasionally take a few chances...)

(Edited by jhlurie at 8:18 pm on Jan. 5, 2002)

[Sandra Levine]

"North Jersey isn't the suburbs! It's the sixth borough"

And I thought the sixth borough was South Florida.

(Edited by Sandra Levine at 11:08 am on Jan. 6, 2002)

[tommy]

Quote: from Katherine on 1:52 pm on Jan. 3, 2002

The Olive Garden is one of those chain restaurants that saves $$$ by making a dressing with little or no oil in it and dousing it with pure vinegar.

i can't believe a company would make a money making decision like that.  there are plenty of ways to cut back that have little to no ramification to the customer and final product.  i think it's just that "style" of salad.  but yes, it can make your lips pucker!

[Fat Guy]

I agree with the learned Tommy. I mean, how much can cheap oil cost for a major bulk purchaser? How many thousands of gallons are we talking about? What is the real bottom line savings?

[Jim Dixon]

I've never eaten at an Olive Garden and knew I never would the very first time I heard the name, which was during a ad on tv.

One of the absolute truths about restaurants (at least for me) is:

Never eat at a restaurant that advertises on television.

Jim

[SamanthaF]

I can't believe you've all ruined my day like this!

First I find out that Santa is not real, and now you tell me that Olive Garden is a 'chain store' food outlet!

[Steve Klc]

Salad survival tip for chain restaurants--when no interesting bowl of Pho or Korean barbecue can be found hiding around the corner--make your own dressing tableside.  Ask for the salad undressed--ask for oil and vinegar to be brought to the table separately along with one of those small 2 oz. clear plastic Solo takeout containers with lid.  Ask for a sprinkle of dried oregano if it's not already on the table.

Pour your own oil, vinegar and spice into the container and shake.

I know this seems anal, and appears to defeat the reason why we eat out, but many a halfway decent clean crisp chain salad has been ruined by too few choices of gloppy non-descript commercial dressings too liberally applied.

My nominee for chain restaurant that does not disappoint at its price point:  Bertucci's.  I've eaten in several in NJ, DC and VA over the years.  Of course it has been homogenized just enough so that nothing sings, zings or surprises--and about 55% of the dishes use ingredients that are overly-processed--but if you order carefully, it will not underwhelm, especially if accompanied by a cold Moretti or very fine iced tea.

Some locations are even located in downtown cores and offer a legitimate, viable dining alternative at a very attractive price.  My personal experience has been that the suburban Bertucci's locations have offerred more reliable cooking, better customer service, have had more attentive "owners" on site and bent over backwards accomodating parties with children--than many independently owned, much more expensive fine dining establishments.

[=Mark]

Fat Guy, is someone sending you to the Antarctic or something?  I can't imagine a place where OG is the best place to eat.

Havn't spent a lot of time in West Virginia huh?  :-)