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. Iāve only eaten there twice in my life (40 yrs).
Iām not a pasta person, nor am I huge into sauced meats, so āItalianā cuisine is never high on my list when eating out.
I was there once with friends, so I didnāt 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, itās 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 ārealā Italian food is or not.
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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: āWhat are you doing here?ā
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Considering the USAās most prominent (rather, ubiquitous) dining exports, itās quite plausible to think fast food provides at least one daily meal to the average American family.
I know, hence my momentary dyslexia. 
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Does anyone know of any blind taste tests? Iād like to see how a few OG dishes would stack up against local āhole in the wallā pizza/italian joints, mid range and some higher end places. I searched Google for a few minutes and didnāt find anything.
I have never been to Olive Garden . I would have no problem eating there . Might not be my first choice but" weāre all family here ". You never know when you might have to borrow some money or need a ride home .
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Its not Italian for sure. If you just want a bite to eat and donāt mind chain food, I still think itās pretty awful, but Iām a New Yorker with great Italian restaurants everywhere. Iād rather go out for pizza than eat at Olive Garden.
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Itās 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 Iām a poor judge of the value of eating out
