First meal at Olive Garden, Cross County, Yonkers...

A not too bright one I hope :wink:

1 Like

It is! It’s known best for its lousy but reasonable food generally served with never ending salad and overly salted bread sticks!!!

1 Like

It is not to be a criticism.

Olive Garden is head and shoulder above many other American food institutions, like McDonald and KFC. No one would think Americans eat burgers and fried chicken all day long, but Olive Garden, now that look plausible, right?

Also, an average meal in an average American household is likely taste worse than Olive Garden.

I don’t know about that. You are painting a pretty extreme tapestry.

2 Likes

I would say yes, this is probably true. My sister is an average cook and I would choose Olive Garden over her cooking any day, if only because at least at OG I could be assured of a decent salad and a choice of at least a couple of decent entrees, cooked by a professional who would at least not overcook the salmon (hopefully).

1 Like

LOL - no but Ischia is!

And crazy combos - ziti topped lasagna, etc!

Italian grandmas on Olive Garden :laughing:

2 Likes

I saw this and loved it!

Glad to hear that you were pleasantly surprised!

I actually like their salad and make an internet copycat of their dressing. I’ve only eaten there twice in my life (40 yrs).

I’m not a pasta person, nor am I huge into sauced meats, so “Italian” cuisine is never high on my list when eating out.

I was there once with friends, so I didn’t select the restaurant. I just had the unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks, which was perfectly fine but I recall they were highly priced. The friend I was with, who ate there enough, kind of had the "ah ha! " moment after saying we should have orderered pastas, where the above was included, taken them homeand the price would have been almost the same.

The other time I recall my mom and I were out shopping. We were hungry and heading home, 45 minute drive. We hit up the Olive Garden rather than the food court which did NOT have great options. Our consensus was for the price point there were far better local Italian restaurants! We also noted the portions at the time were out of control!

Yeah, it’s easy to hop on the "too good to eat at Olive Garden"train until it stops somewhere like Rapid City, SD where I can vouch that OG is one of the better restaurants in town.
Not everyone has the same choices, whether they know what “real” Italian food is or not.

1 Like

Funny! As we were leaving OG someone in the crowded lobby pulled me aside. It turned out to be a friend from New Rochelle who is a longtime member of the Casa Calabria Society with his family. And he says to me: “What are you doing here?”

1 Like

Considering the USA’s most prominent (rather, ubiquitous) dining exports, it’s quite plausible to think fast food provides at least one daily meal to the average American family.

I know, hence my momentary dyslexia. :blush:

14 posts were split to a new topic: American diet and authenticity of imported cuisine in USA

delete

Does anyone know of any blind taste tests? I’d like to see how a few OG dishes would stack up against local “hole in the wall” pizza/italian joints, mid range and some higher end places. I searched Google for a few minutes and didn’t find anything.

I have never been to Olive Garden . I would have no problem eating there . Might not be my first choice but" we’re all family here ". You never know when you might have to borrow some money or need a ride home .

1 Like

Its not Italian for sure. If you just want a bite to eat and don’t mind chain food, I still think it’s pretty awful, but I’m a New Yorker with great Italian restaurants everywhere. I’d rather go out for pizza than eat at Olive Garden.

1 Like

It’s been quite a few years since I ate at an OG. I remember it was with the kids and although the food was OK, nothing special, I thought the price was high for what it was. but I cook 90+% of our meals so I’m a poor judge of the value of eating out