slo’s WEDNESDAY 5/10 poll - Olive Garden Restaurant

[PrincessShmoo]

About a 5/6.

Our local one I've found the servers tend to "forget" things. Often.

One thing that really bothers me - Olive Garden, an ITALIAN restaurant, right? So why does the salad have hot peppers in it? I've asked for them NOT to put the peppers in the salad (I'm really not a fan of spicy), but it still comes with peppers. Their response, "Oh, just take them out". Yeah, OK, like the liquid from the peppers hasn't already permeated the whole salad.

We don't typically eat there a lot. There's just too much food, and I'm on a low sodium diet, which, obviously, can't be catered to with their menu.

 

[Turn the Page]

I used to enjoy it. But then DH and I went to Italy and well that's that.

I can make better pasta at home and the closest one is 1 1/2 hours away so it's not like we went often anyway.

 

[tvguy]

The closest Olive Garden is 8 miles from our house so with several mom and pop Italian restaurants within 2 miles of our house, we didn't go very often. But about 25 years ago we went and the dish the my wife normally ordered was too spicy for her to eat. We all tried it, and even our sriracha loving children said it was too spicy. My wife wrote a letter and Olive Garden sent her the recipe and said there was no spice in that dish. Well there was that night. So we haven't been back because Olive Garden is one of two restaurants on my wife's banned for life list. You don't mess with a redhead. We were on vacation last month and there was an Olive Garden next to the hotel and my wife insisted on driving several miles to another restaurant.

 

[bobbiwoz]

It’s been awhile, but I have enjoyed the salad and eggplant parm.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I gave it a 7... it is really one of my least favorite places to go. Unfortunately, the rest of the family LOVES it. I usually end up having to go a couple times a year.

I will eat the soup, so that is what I always order (that chicken stuff that I can't pronounce). I always ask for salad WITHOUT onions, but the salad is nothing to write home about. I am not that wild about Italian dressing, so a little bit of their salad goes a long way. I also will NOT eat the breadsticks. I cannot speak to the quality because I am just not a breadstick person.

 

[E&Cmom]

I gave it a 5 . I rarely go as there are better places in the area but when we do go I find something I like. I tend to stick to the same 3 things though. We later only have one Olive Garden in our whole province and while it is not that far for me it is always busy with long waits.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

...I will readily admit I love making the copycat Zuppa Toscana. It’s heavy in rotation during winter months. And just thinking about it now makes me crave it! Hmmm… and today is grocery day , feels like a soup day even if our high is supposed to be 77!

Yes! That recipe is a regular request from DH during soup season.

 

[ronandannette]

5. There's only one in our huge city (1.4 million pop) and it's actually pretty busy most of the time. It's waaaaay on the other side of town. I don't hate it but it's certainly nothing I crave and is usually years between visits for us. I do think the food there was a lot better 25 years ago.

 

[TCRAIG]

I like it but I only get the fettuccine Alfredo - I don’t like their regular tomato based sauces…love the salad and bread sticks and they do have good desserts..

 

[JLTraveling]

When I was a senior in high school, we used to go for lunch all the time. Salad and breadsticks offered a reasonably cheap and fast meal, but nicer than fast food. Since then I haven't gone that much. I do enjoy it when I go, so I gave it a 4, but there are just so many places I'd rather eat. I have friends who think it's the best thing ever though.

 

[TippyThomas]

I've never eaten at one and, based on some of these replies, I'm not missing anything.

 

[unrequited23]

I only go to Olive Garden for the unlimited soup/salad/breadsticks lunch for $9. The quality of those items is consistent and I feel the price is fair. I prefer itailian-american restaurants that use fresh pasta.

 

[tasha99]

To me, it's just okay. I wouldn't complain if someone picked it, but there are better restaurants.

 

[Hopscotch]

My teens all really like OG and I do as well. Husband would probably give it a 5 but he will eat there. I always get the same thing, chicken scampi with extra sauce. It's actually really good and the only place I eat angel hair pasta. I also love dipping their breadsticks in the chicken gnocchi soup. The kid's meals are a really good deal. My 16 year old always gets the pasta with chicken fingers and I think it comes with fries as well. It's a good size portion. They will also give the kids free soup if they want it and they love the unlimited breadsticks. We have lots of other italian restaurants nearby but this is usually the one they all agree on. The service at ours is always really good and it's always crowded even though there are lots of other restaurants in the area.

 

[Living42Day]

I've only been to Olive Garden once (not big on restaurants anyway, would rather cook myself). In that one time, my cousin/her husband got into a big argument and left halfway through dinner. They came back after about 10 minutes but it was embarrassing and awkward and neither would look at the other. I've never returned, but anytime we pass by one we always say, "Remember when Nick and Olivia got into that fight?" lol

 

[DodgerGirl]

I used to eat at Olive Garden during special occasions and when my parents and I would go eat there we liked the food and Mom and I loved the Italian peach tea they had and my dad liked the ravioli there. But I think Olive Garden started going downhill for us when we would eat there they would give us cold food and it would take a long time to get a waiter/waitress to bring us anything and that's why we stopped eating there in person and we used to have Dad pick up Olive Garden when we did takeout and it was better. I cannot figure out how Olive Garden stays in business because of all the chain Italian restaurants like Romano's Macaroni Grill and Johnny Carino's Olive Garden still remains number one. Another thing I can't figure out why you can't order Olive Garden from Grubhub or Doordash anymore because my mother likes Olive Garden and she has always wanted food from there but Grubhub or Doordash no longer delivers Olive Garden anymore and I think Olive Garden should be added to UberEats because they would gain more customers