What WAS the big Olive Garden thing on DU?

[sibelian]

I was here for the Door Wars and the Drone Wars and I was on DU2 for the Great Moon Battle and I think I've seen every chapter of the Wagnerian Porn Cycle and all its numerous spin-offs (an impressive body of work...). The occasionally re-flaring Pit Bull Skirmishes seem to have died down, and Circumcision has circumnavigated the site so many times I've lost count...

Occasionally I see vague references to the Olive Garden when these subjects reappear as we reminisce fondly over the Olden Times. What was it all about? I am burning with curiosity.

[onehandle]

1. Olive Garden is part of the Darden Restaurant Group, who are loudly anti-Obamacare.

Sadly, Seasons 52 is in their portfolio.

Red Lobster
Olive Garden
LongHorn Steakhouse
Bahama Breeze
Seasons 52
The Capital Grille
Eddie V's
Yard House

[dionysus]

3. perhaps, but the Olive Garden stuff goes back way longer than that i'm pretty sure...

[onehandle]

8. Well, Olive Garden is really bad and bland 'Italian.'

Like Hot Pockets covered in Chef Boyardee.

That could be it.

[dionysus]

12. i used to enjoy going there stoned as a broke college student... it helped with the blandness issue.

it's been so long since the original "controversy", I wonder if anyone still remembers what it was...
EDIT: wpitt seems to have the answer.

[sendero]

60. Nailed...

... it Luckily there are plenty of real Italian restaurants around here so I don't have to resort to McOlive McGarden.

[Aerows]

89. I've eaten TV dinners that were better

that what I've gotten at Olive Garden. Macaroni Grill is a shade better, but nothing beats a locally-owned Italian restaurant for heavenliness.

[NaturalHigh]

128. I think Olive Garden used to be better than it is now.

It's like they intentionally changed their recipes to make their food taste like cardboard. Twenty years or so ago, I actually liked it.

[hlthe2b]

22. Yes.. waay back before that. As I recall someone posted a layperson review that went viral that was

exceedingly positive... That got the "professional" reviewers as well as many members of the Olive Garden-disdaining public up in arms, to which DUers were all to glad to join in--on both sides.

BTW, I believe there were multiple threads over a short span on Olive Garden...."bested" only by the famous "chicken" wars...LOL

[Avalux]

130. Olive Garden was revered as a symbol of everything wrong with this country

DUers just don't eat there. Oh and then there was the breast-feeding....

[dionysus]

131. in the smoking section, as well, thats how old the meme is, there were still smoking sections...

[dionysus]

132. i used to love the place as a broke college student... shrimp alfredo you'd mostly bring home after

chugging a ton of salad and breadsticks.

haute cuisine, no. but it worked at the time.

where I'm from, we have a dearth of mom and pop restaurants other than a diner here or there, except the expensive seafood joints on the coasts.

the chains had to suffice, on the rare occasions we ate out. shit, we considered mcdonalds, burger king, or pizza "eating out".

applebies and TGIF came recently and is fancy compared to what we had before.

and we survived, too!

[Logical]

2. Someone on the DU hates every restaurant! nt

[dionysus]

4. you're just a shill for Big Breadsticks.

[Logical]

10. LOL, good one! :-)

[Warren DeMontague]

35. That's what she said!

[dionysus]

67. Locking: no sex threads on DU.

[Warren DeMontague]

69. C'mon, I just bought these!

I'm gonna pop some tags, only got 20 dollars in my pock-et...

See, I'm hip to the jive, man.

[dionysus]

72. okay. unlocking.

[Spider Jerusalem]

5. Breastfeeding in the smoking section while feeding table-scraps to a pit bull, I think

[NightWatcher]

18. and the pitbull was circumsized and vaccinated by their chiropractor

[penultimate]

48. Oh, I spoke too soon.

Can't say I know the reference to the chiropractor part though. I might need to get my googlefu on.

[NightWatcher]

52. you must have missed the Woo Wars

[sibelian]

53. The..... WOO WARS....?

WHAT DID I MISS?


(sits down cross-legged. BIG eyes)

[NightWatcher]

77. Medicine and Science versus things that aren't exactly science-y

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024280449

I stayed out of the fray

[sibelian]

108. I'm slightly disappointed that woo_me_with_science

is NOWHERE on that thread.

Sounds like it would be right up his/her street.

[JHB]

80. Dueling Curlys

It's like Deuling Banjos, but with more WooWooWoooWooo!

[NuclearDem]

111. How could you have missed the woo wars?

It was pretty much nonstop for several days of Venus flytrap cancer remedies, shill gambits, reincarnation, and armchair quantum.

In fact, if you listen real closely, you can still hear the echoes: claque, claque, claque...

[sibelian]

114. I take regular breaks from DU. Also

I suspect I have the largest ignore list on DU. I just don't bother with crap anymore. Very likely the progenitors of the offending items are invisible to me...

(I had a look at the link to IdaBrigg's original thread (It's further upstream in this one somewhere)(I like Ida a lot but she pretty much asked a whole lot of people to put her on her ignore list if they didn't believe a certain thing, which I did, so I obeyed her instruction) and I'm not sure she and I agree on what "woo" really is.)

(No, incidentally, I am not a fan of chiromancy, or whatever it's called... )

[ProdigalJunkMail]

109. we still see skirmishes from the Woo Wars

break out from time to time... always fun.

sP

[NuclearDem]

113. Most of the woo after that was about Fukushima.

i.e. Fuku-woo or radiowoo.

[sibelian]

115. Wasn't there some ludicrous thread about how one of the tsunamis was an American military plot?

I'm sure there was... whoever it was was sure that some bomb had been set off to cause it.

[NuclearDem]

116. Only thing I know of along those lines was the infamous earthquake weapons thread.

[penultimate]

47. lol... no circumcision taking place?

[WilliamPitt]

6. Someone went to NYC for a trip, and posted here about eating at Olive Garden

...and there was a pig pile of OMG SO MANY GOOD RESTAURANTS IN NEW YOUR AND YOU EAT AT OLIVE GARDEN WHAAAAAARGARBL comments.

It kind of spiraled from there, but that's how it started.

[tkmorris]

16. ^^That^^

That's where it all started as near as I remember.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

62. Yup.

[reddread]

24. Olive Garden in Times Square is your best bet, quickly seated with no bad surprises

So many good restaurants?
Not in my experience.
Lucky to find one half decent place in a week of looking.
The worst part of being there is trying to find a decent meal.
Then trying to get by on a slice of bad pizza.
the horror.

[HERVEPA]

36. Wow - If you think it is hard to find a good meal in NYC, you must be extremely choosy!

[reddread]

38. just lucky enough to know what Mexican and Vietnamese Food is supposed to taste like

I wouldnt say extremely choosy, but extremely disappointed.
Life is too short and decent food isnt that hard to do.
I cant handle that town for more than 4 days anymore.
Upstate is far too alluring.

[aquart]

58. 46th Street, Restaurant Row.

Start at Joe Allen's (I adore their calve's liver.) Work your way up to 9th Avenue.

WONDERFUL restaurants.

[HERVEPA]

83. Excellent Italian restaurant on that block Da Rosina

and Candle Cafe and Blossom on Upper West Side

[elleng]

63. Thanks for that bit of 'family' history!

I've never known either!

[murielm99]

71. Thanks. That is how I remember it. n/t

[lovemydog]

98. roflmao

When I lived in NYC I felt that same way. Actually, now that I no longer live in Manhattan, I still feel that way. But I don't think I'd take the time to post something like that to someone who already said they ate at an Olive Garden.

[Warpy]

7. I missed it too, so don't feel too left out

I've always considered chain restaurants to be boring dreck you can count on when you're in an unfamiliar part of the country, good when the parents came to visit but that's about it.

I'm really lost as to what the controversy over that could have been beyond so-so food and a soul sucking corporate owner.

[tammywammy]

9. Here....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=5279955

[Lex]

15. ^^^ This.

Yep.

[sibelian]

110. ^^^ <--- houses.

half buried in snow.

[Lex]

123. ^^ <--- kitty ears

no snow

[sibelian]

124. [^^] <--- kitty in cardboard box

hiding as doesn't want to go to the vet

[sibelian]

17. Hm!

Can it really be that bad, I wonder.

[Raine1967]

19. That was one hot mess.

I remember reading that thread at the time...

I just sat there, reading and

[sibelian]

20. Well found, BTW, nt.

[tammywammy]

23. That was hard to forget about.

Plus, Radio Lady...man she said some doozies.

(I can remember that thread from years ago, yet I cannot retain my class lectures from a week ago....)

[laundry_queen]

84. HAHA me too

I remember shit from DU from eons ago and which posters said what, but try and remember anything for upcoming exams...nope. WTF is up with that?

[tammywammy]

85. I was able to forget my advanced statistics lecture as soon as I left the room.

That was the happiest I've ever been to get a B.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

25. People are such snobs. I have been to New York numerous times and eaten at Frankie and Johnnys..

classic Jewish Deli's, Italian diners, Greek (Mr. Souvlaki's) restaurants, Irish Pubs, French cafes (Bar Felix)...but I've also eaten a quick breakfast at McDonalds or Pret a Manger, and we ate at TGI Friday's once in Times Square because we were wiped out when we arrived that evening and had no desire to figure out something more original.

[tammywammy]

31. Agreed on the snobbiness

My dad likes Olive Garden, so if that's where he wants to go that's where we go. Not the end of the world, and even here in the DFW area there are a lot better Italian places.

[OriginalGeek]

42. Do y'all still have the Spaghetti Warehouse?

lol, I used to LOVE that place as a kid...

[tammywammy]

54. You know, I do know of a Spaghetti Warehouse

I haven't been there in probably 15 years at least. I go out with a friend on Fridays, we should go there this weekend.

[OriginalGeek]

65. I got so nostalgic I googled them just now

and found there's one in Tampa too - It's about a hour and change drive for me but I'm gonna try and go there soon - I get down to Tampa several times a year and I'm not above driving there just for fun so I'm going to see if it's _really_ good or if my adolescent palate was just easily amused.

I remember the 2 floors of spaghetti and meatball love - I had no idea that the Dallas location was the original one until I looked them up just now.

If you go please take pictures! I miss my Dallas.

[tammywammy]

73. The one I was thinking of is in Arlington.

At I-20 & Cooper, it's near the Hallmark I shop at. If I go I'll send you a pic.

[OriginalGeek]

78. oh lordy!

Cooper is more nostalgia - my very first apartment was near there after I moved out of my mother and step-father's house.

Thanks!

[jsr]

29. Damn.

[WilliamPitt]

33. THIS THREAD RIGHT HERE

...should serve to throw some cold water on the idea that there was a better, politer, less-spaztastic DU in some idealized pre-DU3 past.

[LanternWaste]

41. I'd come home after a long day and DU would have a martini ready-made for me

I remember DU1 with nostalgia. I'd come home after a long day and DU would have a martini ready-made for me and would ask me what I wanted for dinner. I'd kiss the kids and DU would put them to bed for me.

I really miss the laugh-track and the innocent black & white kodachrome cinematography. The flame wars so innocently contrived regarding undocumented workers stealing public water during a regional fire to the very first time I was called Hitler because I showed my receipt while leaving Circuit City.

Good times, good times...

[Pretzel_Warrior]

46. you fascist! never show your receipt to "the man".

[Pretzel_Warrior]

44. hahaha! that I can agree on

[madinmaryland]

55. She also started the Asian woodcarver thread.

[tammywammy]

57. I remember reading that.

My favorite flamefest of all time is moon bombing. The MENSES!!!!

[Frank Cannon]

106. And don't forget the singing Mexican kids.

Those were good times.

[TBF]

56. That is hilarious! nt

[Gidney N Cloyd]

68. Post 17 in that thread implies anti-Olive Garden stuff started earlier. But I think this thread...

...was the one that blew it open. Poor ol' Radio Lady tended to step in it a lot in the lounge, as I recall.

[JHB]

79. That thread actually prompted me to try the OG (in NYC)

Not really planned, just decided to get a late lunch, looked at what was around, saw an OG and thought "what the hell, might as well see what the fuss was about".

Meh. Haven't been back, but feel no need to actively despise it either.

[cyberswede]

81. Plus ca change...

WritingIsMyReligion Mon Jun-19-06 08:36 PM
38. LOL.

I'd blow out some sarcastic snobbery, but *some people* might take it for serious and immediately begin branding me as a food snob.

This place has gone mad!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=5279955#5284658

[DrDan]

11. seems someone asked for a NYC restaurant recommendation . . . and a DUer recommended

a particular Olive Garden where they had just eaten . . . . and enjoyed.

That sparked a barrage of elitist, insulting posts deriding the DUer for their plebian recommendation. It was relentless and brutal.

[Orrex]

21. ^^That.

[Blue_Adept]

107. Liking chain restaurant food, enjoying TV.. WTF has DU become? nt

[DrDan]

117. I wonder how many of these self-proclaimed foodies dine at McDonalds weekly

[Blue_Adept]

118. Or just sniff in derision as they drive by?

I'm not a McD fan myself, prefer Burger King. And a bi-weekly family dinner to Papa Gino's too. But I'm absolute evil, I get delivery from Papa Johns as I love the stuff.

[DrDan]

119. I can't order a Papa Johns because of their owner

never could understand why a business owner would take a public stand on personal politics

its just going to offend half their potential customer-base

[Blue_Adept]

120. I totally get that.

And it bugs me too. But I also realize that the majority of the things that I have to purchase in a normal day or deal with has some connection to people that work similar feelings with other subjects as well. I sorta allow this as my one big guilty pleasure.

I do hit up other local pizza joints, but sometimes I just get a craving. The worst part is that when I go to Boston on business once or twice a year, I have to hit Uno's. There's none near me but going there gets me that chain craving. ~drool~

[snooper2]

13. Years and years ago, somebody posted that

They loved Olive Garden and ate there every weekend-


Then someone said, "no, they are fucking evil!"

Then a bunch of replies to that saying, "And their food sucks ass!"

Then somebody posted, "Freedom to eat where you want"

Then somebody replied, "I had sex in an Olive Garden once"

Then, they wouldn't provide the location-

Then nobody wanted to eat there because sex leaves a mess

Then somebody posted that they love their breadsticks

Then it was a sex and breadsticks thread


Or, it's just all in my head

[Dr. Strange]

40. I hear Kate Upton is planning on doing her next photoshoot at an Olive Garden.

I predict DU will explode on that day.

[A HERETIC I AM]

95. Weightless.

The new Weightless Olive Garden.


On the Champs-Élysées

They allow dogs.


And breast feeding.


And smoking.


And Hooters waitresses. Who are all uncircumcised.

DU won't just explode, there will be a black hole created - a DU Singularity.

[sharp_stick]

14. Someone ate at an Olive Garden

in NYC and way too many people had to chime in and tell them how evil they were for actually not finding a better place. It was truly pathetic.

[alcibiades_mystery]

28. Not evil

Stupid.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

49. yes. I noticed you were all over that thread too

[reddread]

30. decent food is such a hard thing to find there

Only ONE "Pho" joint was decent enough not to walk out of.
And it was about as tasty as boiled water.
I literally walked for miles and miles in circles trying to relocate a Brazilian joint in Brooklyn that had remodeled and changed hands.
It was so damn good the first night that I was ever out there, I did my best to always go back,
crying shame it disappeared. That is one town I would not recommend for the food.
A no win scenario.

[jmowreader]

122. All kidding aside...

If you are Not From New York like 90 percent of the American people are, Olive Garden is at least a known quantity.

[Atman]

26. Olive is to "Italian" as Taco Bell is to "Mexican."

That is, neither offers anything remotely like nationality of the foods they claim to sell, but Americans absolutely love them.

Our town has no fewer than three of the best, most authentic Mexican restaurants I've eaten in this side of South LA (all the Mexican food I ate in Mexico had been Americanized). The restaurants in town consist of three little bodega-type place, little hole-in-the-wall joints with limited offerings, but unbelievably authentic food. One includes a little Mexican convenience store. One of them is actually a pretty nice sit-down restaurant with real Mexican dinners, not just tacos and enchiladas. And yet, half a mile down the road is a Taco Bell. And it's always packed. I don't get it.

[Common Sense Party]

32. And all of us eat "Chinese" food that bears very little resemblance

to what is actually eaten in China.

It's not that difficult.

If you like it, and can afford it, enjoy it.

[REP]

129. Not all of us.

[alcibiades_mystery]

27. I take a lot o credit for that, and I still believe it: RUBE FUCKING CENTRAL!

No apologies and no remorse!



That was all REAL TALK!

[Pretzel_Warrior]

50. so rude. I bet you've done many things others here would look down as bush league

[Solly Mack]

34. Once upon a time, a pit bull was going to bomb the moon

but wanted to eat lunch first, so the pooch went to Olive Garden where it dined upon circumcised porn stars in drone shaped dishes while eyeing the room for breast feeders and Agent Mike.

[sibelian]

37. And everyone held the door open for EVERYbody.

The End.

What a lovely story!

Thank you, Solly Mack...

yawn.... beddie byes...

[Solly Mack]

39. lol! Of course!

Sweet dreams!

[murielm99]

74. Oh! Is that what you meant by Door Wars?

I thought we were going to fight over whose favorite bands suck or do not suck.

[sibelian]

112. Yes!

One of the silliest things on DU I've ever seen...

[suffragette]

100. All of it coated in crispys.

Especially Agent Mike!

[Solly Mack]

101. It is the secret ingredient.

LMAO. Pretty sure that's a no-no topic. lololol

[suffragette]

102. Oops, I never did know what that one was about.

Don't want to step in it so I'll edit that part.

[Solly Mack]

103. No! Don't edit it. :)

I'm was just having fun with it.

[LanternWaste]

43. I think you get the gist from the thread. A couple of third-grade kids pretended to know...

I think you get the gist from the thread. A couple of third-grade kids pretended to know more about what others like; and to this day, maintain the self-validation with a pretentious fist in the air, a righteous fart in the wind, and mouths that never (ever) shut up...

[sibelian]

51. Oh.

maintain the self-validation with a pretentious fist in the air, a righteous fart in the wind, and mouths that never (ever) shut up...


That's..... uncomfortably familiar.

[REP]

45. THE REAL STORY:

There was a busy little troll named RadioLady, who posted numerous racist things, as well as inappropriate tales of skinny dipping within sight of her stepchildren (etc - lots about her nudity) and reposted every press release that crossed her threshold. If you disagreed with anything she posted, she was sure to send a nasty PM your way.

Another DUer posted, 'I'm going to NYC, where's a good place to eat?' and RL replied "Olive Garden in Times Square."

And then the fun began.

[Sognefjord]

59. I don't recall the nudity part but it was all about her wasn't it?

I wish I knew more about the moon bombings and I miss Random Thoughts who was always not very focused in his posts.

[REP]

61. I can't forget it - a good memory can be a curse

Lots and lots of slinky nighties and how much nude lounging was going on plus lots and lots of really offensive and stupid racist shit. When she got called on the racism, she'd double down and send a nasty gram. And yes, way too much about her.

RandomThoughts got tossed, I think, because he wouldn't trim his ginormous .sig and then got really nasty to admin. I'm pretty sure OmegaMinima visits from time to time.

[Sognefjord]

90. There was nude lounging? She was in the wrong part of DU!

[fishwax]

125. yeah, the Asian Woodcarver bit was what finally put her over, right?

She was always including irrelevant details about race, and was very defensive when people pointed out that those details were irrelevant.

[sibelian]

66. ...moon thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6712126

That's just one of them.

Some of them were even more epic...

[Sognefjord]

94. Thanks. Those were great days!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

70. this is how i remember it. she was such a racist little troll.

[tammywammy]

76. That's how I remember it too. n/t

[LiberalAndProud]

93. Indeed.

But it made me feel bad, because she really didn't know that she was a racist little troll. She thought her racism was beneficence. Tragic.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

96. so true

[flvegan]

88. TAMALES!!!

[REP]

97. Woodcarvers!

[Rex]

64. There are all kinds of urban legends about the Olive Garden.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/fooddrink/a/olive_garden.htm

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/olivegarden.asp

[struggle4progress]

75. Putting a cornflake batter on breast-fed pitbulls ought to be a crime

no matter how many free kudzu refills you get

[tularetom]

82. I don't get the OG snobbery

Yeah, the food isn't great, but the portions are fairly generous and the prices comparable to any low priced sit down restaurant.

And if you want to avoid places owned by evil corporations, you're gonna limit your choices considerably.

"It doesn't suck" would be my assessment of OG. If that doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement, it's the same thing I'd say about many places that cost a lot more.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

86. frankly, OG is very easy to avoid in NYC.

i think that's what everyone's issue was. not so much OG, but that it was OG in NYC where there are a lot of options. Also she was well disliked so I think people just wanted a reason to snark at her.

[Sognefjord]

91. I seem to recall now from lurking that she was some kind of bathing beauty in 1952 or so.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

92. LOL. yes, bathing beauty with asian woodworkers and assorted other issues. nt

[Aerows]

87. I think it was about

breast-feeding, smoking pit bulls eating corn flake covered chicken and railing about drones. Or possibly circumcision and just chicken. But breast feeding, chicken and pit bulls were always all there.

The Olive Garden has it all!

[Skittles]

99. it was mostly a food snob thing

[Niceguy1]

104. just another reason

For people to feel better than everyone else.

[Deep13]

105. It was a dark time in DU history...

I'm sorry, I guess I still have a hard time talking about it.

[dembotoz]

121. on the first day god created du and it was good-on the 2nd god said olive garden sucks

and so since then as it has always been.

[muntrv]

126. This?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4597560

[Omaha Steve]

127. Low pay and benefits

Owned by Darden that was boycotted for being the largest Canadian seafood buyer. IF Darden had stopped buying Canadian seafood, hundreds of thousands of seals would still be alive today.

[sibelian]

133. No beer or travel money?

Figures.