who eats of Olive Garden?

[pstokely]

people who pronounce Italian "eye-talian"

[Phillycat]

1. I love the commercial where they take their relative FROM ITALY

to the Olive Garden.

Jesus. People are idiots.

[flamingyouth]

That is one of my favorite commercials

Never fails to crack me up. :7

[Zuni]

23. I love that commercial

I think Olive garden's commercials are so corny you have to love them.

[mrbassman03]

34. Grandpa Antonio or something...

They compare it to eating in a Sicilian vinyard...

[Phillycat]

40. Yeah, cause THAT'S the same.

:eyes:

[pfitz59]

55. I ate dinner at the Villa in Sicily......

where the Godfather car bomb scene was filmed. Olive Garden aint Sicilian! "Al dente, or niente!"

[maveric]

46. If I brought my Italian relatives to OG, I'd be visiting Luca Brazzi.

That place is a joke.

[jmowreader]

57. What you say to your relative from Italy...

before you take her to eat at Olive Garden:

"Mamma, you ain't gonna believe this motherfucking shit."

[pdx_prog]

2. Bwahahaha....

That's good.....as far as OG......too mass produced.....I heard that the only cooking they actually do is the breadsticks.....everything else is just heated up!

[Hello_Kitty]

3. Security Moms eat at Olive Garden

[redqueen]

4. Well their salad is good

:)

[Worst Username Ever]

7. YES

If I end up at Olive Garden I am all about the salad.

[redqueen]

9. It's fantastic, isn't it?

I could get fat on their salad!

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... olives...

[Lady Effingbroke]

56. Me too.

On the very rare occasion when I happen to find myself at Olive Garden, it's the all-you-can-eat salad for me.

[amandae]

11. I also love their salad!!

We don't eat there often, but the salad is great :)

[yvr girl]

43. I once viewed OG as an oasis

I was in Myrtle Beach with a friend. (Don't go.) We had some bad luck with restaurants. I had the worst meal there ever. Anyway. We saw an Olive Garden and it was like air to a dieing man. We knew it wouldn't be horrible.

Moved on to Charleston, which was much better.

[EstimatedProphet]

5. Hey, don't knock the neverending pasta bowl

The roasted garlic alfredo is very good

[amber dog democrat]

13. Never ending pasta bowl

ummmmm ...... pasta

but don't forget, you are treated like " family" too

[EstimatedProphet]

18. Well, as far as service goes-

Last saturday I went to the OG in Orlando, and the service there was as good as I have had most anywhere. So I guess it varies...

[amber dog democrat]

22. mmmmmmmm........

service. :)

Acutally i prefer the Macaroni Grill for faux italian food.

[Zuni]

26. The Macaroni Grill is not nearly as good

The one here in Annapolis, MD is run really poorly. I once dated a girl who worked there and she said the management was cruel.

[EstimatedProphet]

28. The original one in San Antonio rocks n/t

[amber dog democrat]

30. They give you crayons

to draw on the paper covered table with. Actually the ones in Austin are not that bad.
Can't speak for the management.

[Zuni]

35. I factored in the crayons

they were a plus for sure

[amber dog democrat]

41. it would be sad if crayons

were the deciding criteria - maybe the iced tea is ok as well.

[Phillycat]

42. The Macaroni Grill uses rosemary in EVERYTHING.

Pick another spice!

[SarahB]

6. Once.

August 1994.
I got food poisoning in which the ensuing illness messed up my bc pills, got pregnant, then had a terrible hemorrhaging miscarriage at 12 weeks along which sent me into a depression that probably changed the course of my life for a good too many years. How's that for a tragic, yet whiny story to bring your day down?

I'm PMSing. Don't ask me anything.

Olive Garden must die! What was I thinking anyway? I live just a few miles from some of the best Italian restaurants in the country, but one lives and learns.

[Ilsa]

25. I had a miscarriage at only 6 weeks

that busted me up emotionally for over a year. You poor dear. So sorry you had to live through that.

Have you developed a workable "cocktail" for your PMS?

[SarahB]

29. It's not all that bad.

Mostly, I'm a pretty positive person the rest of the time, but I tend to have a couple of glum days a month. It wasn't so bad when I was on the pill (which I'll likely go back on soon while still avoiding the Olive Garden) and when it was worse, I used to use natural progesterone cream. Mainly though, avoiding too much sugar and caffeine seem to help. Often though, I go for the holistic approach of letting myself be sad in the moment if I need to be. It passes, I get through it, and sometimes learn something in the process. (Oh, I'm so deep that I can hardly contain myself.)

Yeah, it's a hard experience. Kind of sucked. Almost ten years ago now. I didn't think it affected me as much as it did when it happened, but years later as I looked back over my life, I saw I definite change in myself when it did.

[virgdem]

8. We eat there occasionally..

My problem with OG: The food is good, but the service is not that great. And that salad is very good.

[vajraroshana]

10. I've eaten there once...

Had eggplant parmesan that tasted of freezer burn and didn't even resemble real eggplant parmesan. The sauce was bland and overly-sweet.

Haven't been back.

[Lavender Brown]

12. Even the food in the commercials looks gross

:puke:

[LeftyMom]

14. Hell no, I'm italian.

Besides, I boycott Voldemart, Starbucks and the Olive Garden and other places that have a documented history of discriminating against nursing mothers.

[tigereye]

17. I nursed there when my kid was little

never had a problem anywhere I went.

Like the Voldemart. And welcome Leftymom, from another leftymom! :hi:

[johnnie]

15. I've never eaten there

I hear from people that it isn't really that good, but I can't say either way. If I want Italian food I will go to an Italian restaurant. It's like if I want a steak I don't go to the Ponderosa, I hit the steak houses. I would rather pay the few extra bucks (if even) for the real thing.

[tigereye]

16. it's not too bad - the Berry Crostada is delectable!

there are some good dishes there and the staff are great. Good for family gatherings. I'm Irish, so most food tastes good to me. But if you want real homemade Italian food, my mother in law does it very well.

[Bunny]

36. That's so funny!

I'm Irish myself, so you could put ANY kind of Italian food in front of me and I'm going to like it! I've only eaten at the Olive Garden once, I didn't think it was THAT bad! My Italian ex-mother-in-law made the most fantastic tomato sauce! I loved Sunday dinners at her house. That was one of the few things I regretted about the divorce:).

:hi: tigereye! How's your little one?

[tigereye]

52. He is good.

He is now quoting facts that he read about Presidents to me! That is so cool. He is 8 and almost up to my shoulder. I can't believe it. My brother gave him a Grandkids for Kerry button - and I told him he should wear it to school. He is delightfully partisan. How are your kids, BunnyJ? What's new? :)

ps Irish food can be sort of uninspiring. One of my great discoveries moving to Pgh to go to Pitt was Middle Eastern food, Thai food, Chinese food, etc.

[Bunny]

53. The young bunnies are both good.

My littlest one is also 8! She too despises G. W. Bush - we call him the Texas Turd! My 12 yr. old is too cool to associate with the likes of me - I am soooo not ready for this teenage shit! I will need strong pills before it's over. :silly:

[tigereye]

54. that is funny because

my 8 year old has elements of teen to come... he is very well behaved at school, but has quite a mouth on him the last 6 months or so. HE knows best, I know nothing, etc. I work with teens, but I have to say I will probably be somewhat unprepared as well!

[HarveyBriggs]

19. Good, Cheap Meal ...

An OG salad and pasta with their simple marinara sauce is a good, cheap meal for road dogs.

I could do without the birthday singing, though.

Harvey Briggs

[MissMillie]

20. We have a good one nearby

The 3-meat ravioli was marvelous. My son loves the chicken marsala and the shrimp scampi

Gotta love the salad. And the pasta fagioli is pretty good too.

[Xithras]

21. Inexplicably, my wife loves the place

It's not that bad (I've had worse italian), you just have to keep in in perspective. The Olive Garden is to Italian food what Del Taco is to Mexican food...vaguely similar, but with totally different ingredients, tastes, and smells.

When I want real Italian food, I go to this hole in the wall restaraunt around the corner from my house that's run by a whole family of real Sicilians. Mmmmmmm

[Zuni]

27. There is a mobbed up Italian place near me that has the best calamari

and Linguini with clam sauce.

[SoCalDem]

49. Speaking of the mob... we had the BEST Italian food in Cicero, IL

at a ratty little hole in the wall place.. While we were there, some guys in big overcoats came in (it was winter), and they were greeted like ROYALTY, whisked into a back room (Just like the BadaBing Club in the Sopranos..

We ate quickly and left..just in case :)

Their tomato bread was to die for :)

[Zuni]

24. I love Olive Garden

It is a decent meal at a decent price. It is far superior to fast food.

[maveric]

47. Then you've never had "real" Italian food before.

OG is a terrible excuse for Italian food.
I grew up Sicilian (Ma's side), and tend to be a bit snobbish but OG would make all of my Bosto Italian friends and relatives sick.

[Skittles]

31. the smell in that place makes me sick

Had to go to a company lunch there and it made me queasy; I cannot stand Italian food.

[Zuni]

37. really?

I love Meditteranean food in general. Italian, Greek, even Lebanese.

[Skittles]

38. really

I can't stand the way they cover the taste of everything with all kinds of sauces, yech.

[JimmyJazz]

32. I enjoy going there with "a group of folks" myself n/t

[mac56]

33. Olive Garden doesn't deserve all the bad rap it gets.

Authentic Italian? Probably not. I'm Scots-Irish, so I don't know from authentic Italian. But it's good for what it is: faux-Italian comfort food that's a cut or two above a drive-thru chain. And yes, I love their salad and breadsticks.

[JohnKleeb]

39. Ive never been

[ghostsofgiants]

44. Dammit!

I haven't been there in like, forever!

(Clone High fans? Anyone?)

[demnan]

45. One time my Mother went to Olive Garden

and they forgot the pasta with her dish!

They apologized saying the cook in the kitchen was new. I'm with the consensis here, I think their best thing is the salad dressing.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

48. My husband pronounces it that way.

Maybe it is a Michigan thing, because he grew up there.

[Kat45]

50. I don't even know if there any near me.

But if I want Italian food, I can go to the North End (Boston) and get the real thing. And I'm Italian, so I'm used to the real thing.

[solinvictus]

51. Tried to hear in Birmingham a few years back....

the place wasn't crowded and the hostess advised us we'd have to wait for a table. Well, we did so for 10 minutes only to leave and go to a wonderful local place that is run by a Greek family.