Current Events > Why tf does Olive Garden get such a bad rap?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Sure its a chain and its everywhere but the food is really fucking good

Blame Chef Mike

It doesn't. OG rules

Agreed, and for how good the food is/how much of it you get, the prices are really good

Ive always thought it was kind of bland. Its fine.

Imo it's like Fazoli's quality but they charge $20-$25 for a plate of spaghetti. Doesn't necessarily taste bad but I have little to no reason to ever eat there when I have better cheaper options.

I havent been there in probably over a decade, but I remember their tendies being really good.

And the breadsticks of course.

Its decent for the price. It gets bad rap because people expect gourmet high quality food from them.

idk if its new or not, but they have this amazing deal where you get one entree at full price, and then can get up to 5 or 6 other entrees at $6 each for takeout. havent done it yet myself, but it sounds incredible

Ive seen actual Italians complain about it on YouTube.

littlebro07 posted...

the prices are really good

huh

???

Because it's poorly cooked trash

Silver_Patron posted...

Its decent for the price. It gets bad rap because people expect gourmet high quality food from them.

their plates are like $20 a pop

local non-chain italian place is cheaper

only time you should go to Olive Garden is when you don't have a local place cause else you are paying more for less quality

overpriced low quality italian food

they don't salt their pasta water FFS

WingsOfGood posted...

their plates are like $20 a pop

local non-chain italian place is cheaper

only time you should go to Olive Garden is when you don't have a local place cause else you are paying more for less quality

yeah this

you can go to a way better Italian place for those prices

There's a mad tv skit about it

I ain't posting that tho

(Verse 1)
Yeah, we rollin up to Olive Garden, squad all starvin,
Unlimited breadsticks, our appetites we carvin.
Italian kitchen with American lovin,
The aroma wraps around like a snug oven mitt, so comforting.
Chorus:
Olive Garden, where the green thrives in the yard,
We rapping about the flavors that hit us so hard.
Pasta and breadsticks, a symphony so divine,
We dine and shine, in this Italian shrine.
(Verse 2)
Now, Im dreamin of the Fettuccine, Alfredo creaming,
My palates beaming with flavors steaming and teeming.
The culinary tales from the boot-shaped land,
Spinach and cheese that stuffed pastas so grand.
Lasagna layered like the stories of the old,
Richness in the sauce, a tale beautifully told.
A garlic kiss upon the breadsticks, so tender,
A savory symphony, a gustatory splendor.
(Chorus)
Olive Garden, endless pasta tales weaving,
In every bite, Italian soul, were perceiving.
An edible journey, so enchanting and appealing,
With every dish, deeper were falling, feelings revealing.
(Bridge)
In the garden of olives, we weave a tale so sweet,
Where marinara rivers flow, and zesty aromas meet.
A paradise of flavors, in every single bite,
Underneath the restaurant lights, we find our culinary delight.
Pasta bowls infinite, like the love we hold,
For the stories, the meals, the warmth in the cold.
Garlic, basil, oregano a symphony so lush,
In the cozy corner of Olive, we relish the hush.
(Verse 3)
Pasta primavera, a canvas of vibrant veggies,
Twirlin on the fork, like a ballet of legacies.
Gnocchi pillows, capturing dreams so serene,
In every bite, traversing through the Italian cuisine.
Tiramisu tales, sweet whispers in the ear,
A delicate ending, rounding off the atmosphere.
We pour the stories through the olive oil gold,
Spinning tales of flavors, both subtle and bold.
(Chorus)
Olive Garden, youre more than just a chain,
Youre melodies, youre memories, dancing in the brain.
Through every noodle, every seasoned remark,
We find a homely glow, a culinary spark.
(Outro)
Heres an ode to the garden, where olives gracefully sway,
Where moments are garnished, in a special kind of way.
A wrap, a rap, for the haven so divine,
In the cozy Olive Garden, our hearts intertwine.
Note: The Olive Garden and its menu items may hold different memories and experiences for different people. This rap aims to encapsulate a generalized and light-hearted perspective of dining in the restaurant.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/7/3/AAXXxBAAE5ZZ.jpg

WingsOfGood posted...

huh

???

maybe Im just used to all the local Italian places with much better food that has much higher prices lol

OG is a lot cheaper and the food isnt bad

i worked there for a week.

food gets delivered in plastic blue tubs and basically get microwaved in the kitchen. it's all made by sysco.

its fuckin subway but pasta
literally anyone that knows how to boil water can make better shit at home for a fraction of the price

A couple of different reasons:

1. Its food is crappy quality. As a major chain it has to not be picky about where it gets its ingredients which leads to most of the food having no sourcing. This also leads to large quantities of things being pre-prepared, quite a bit of which being things that become dramatically worse when not done fresh/the moment before you receive it.
2. Its options are limited. While it carries many of the hyper generic stuff that started in America, most of its dishes have little to do with the food cooked in Italy so anyone who wants Italian is going to be left somewhat disappointed.
3. It's pricy. Despite low quality, lack of options, and much of the food being pre-prepared you are paying a bit of a premium versus something like Fazoli's despite being essentially identical.
4. It's a chain. You rarely can get massive online consensus on something unless it is something that most people have access to. Thus you can have a crappy one-off Italian place that is worse, but because you might be the only one that has been to it no one else is going to chime in to agree with your position.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN2C7whAOEA

I don't mind it, even if it's just microwaved.

It's not as good as Carraba's, but it's better than Fazoli's.

Never had a problem with it.

Hayame_Zero posted...

I don't mind it, even if it's just microwaved.

It's not as good as Carraba's, but it's better than Fazoli's.

Ok but its way more expensive than a jar of Raos pasta sauce with premium pasta with worse quality

I was maybe 13 or 14 and went with my sister, her sister in law, and niece.

The sister in law has a twist tie in her fettuccine. She told the server who apologized and said "the meals come prewrapped in plastic with those twist ties on before they're reheated". They gave her another serving and let her keep the original.

The food is made, twist tied in plastic wrap, and reheated when ordered.

Haven't been there in over ten years but from what I remember:

Breadsticks are great.

Salad is really good too.

Pasta and entrees are okay but bland.

Back when the prices were lower, I would go for lunch, get one the cheapest options on the menu and pig out on the bottomless breadstick and salad bowls.

Now that the prices are a lot higher, it's nowhere near as good of a deal.

I only went there for their Gnocchi soup, but ever since I found a copycat recipe, I haven't been

Red Lobster is owned by the same Corp and gets and makes their food the same way.

MrResetti posted...

I was maybe 13 or 14 and went with my sister, her sister in law, and niece.

The sister in law has a twist tie in her fettuccine. She told the server who apologized and said "the meals come prewrapped in plastic with those twist ties on before they're reheated". They gave her another serving and let her keep the original.

The food is made, twist tied in plastic wrap, and reheated when ordered.

this is how most restaurants that serve pasta do it btw
the pasta is boiled part of the way, portioned and bagged, and then when ordered, dropped into a pot of constantly boiling water sitting on the range, usually with individual strainers lining the rim

MrResetti posted...

I was maybe 13 or 14 and went with my sister, her sister in law, and niece.

The sister in law has a twist tie in her fettuccine. She told the server who apologized and said "the meals come prewrapped in plastic with those twist ties on before they're reheated". They gave her another serving and let her keep the original.

The food is made, twist tied in plastic wrap, and reheated when ordered.

Chef here. Let me preach on it.

Short version: Authentic pasta dishes take FOREVER to prep and do not hold well. Noodles aren't too bad (good italian places use something that looks like a deep fryer but filled with water to fast-cook noodles) but anything like lasagna etc is definitely gonna be pre-made or have a VERY long wait time compared to most other entrees. As a result, most dishes are in fact pre-made. This is a very common industry practice.

That said, there are different levels of "pre-made". On the worst end of the spectrum, the entire dish is fully assembled and frozen, then microwaved to thaw it out and ran thru an oven to "finish" it before it is plated. The middle of the road is what is described here. The dish is fully prepped at the beginning of dinner service and held chilled (but not frozen) until ordered at which point is it reheated and served. The best way of doing it, and the way most high end places do it, is all of the ingredients are pre-prepped but not assembled. So for a lasagna the meat is fully cooked and held hot, noodles are par cooked (IE cooked al dente where you would normally cook lasagna noodles til soft), sauce is cooked and held hot. Then when ordered the dish is assembled and slapped in an oven until the cheeses melt and the noodles finish softening.

The reason more places don't do this is because if not enough of the dishes are ordered than are prepped then you have to waste out the ingredients at the end of the night. The first method, freezing dishes, you can keep the dish for weeks until someone orders it. In the second case it can be frozen at the end of service or even held for a day or two. The final method, however, the hot-held ingredients can only be kept for about 4 hours before they have to be trashed. Corporate kitchens DO NOT like wasting out food

Prices have gotten crazy lately, and the menu has shrunk quite dramatically since pre-COVID days.

Stock price of the parent company (Darden) has been doing great compared to other restaurant stocks though, if that tells you anything. Its all about creating shareholder value now (cut costs, increase profits) rather than providing a top notch, quality dining experience. Be good enough to where people still want to come, but not too good.

My kid loves it though, so.. we frequent it quite a bit. Would much rather patronize the local place that sells fresh pasta dishes for half the cost, but whattreya gonna do.

CE_gonna_CE posted...

My kid loves it though, so.. we frequent it quite a bit. Would much rather patronize the local place that sells fresh pasta dishes for half the cost, but whattreya gonna do.

Perhaps, remember that you are the parent.

They microwave frozen meals that give you instant diarrhea

Questionmarktarius posted...

Perhaps, remember that you are the parent.

We pick where to go out on a rotation, one week the kid picks, next week I do, week after my wife does.

I've shared my Sarah Hyland related hate for Olive Garden several times on CE. Fuck Olive Garden

Jiek_Fafn posted...

I've shared my Sarah Hyland related hate for Olive Garden several times on CE. Fuck Olive Garden

What's the deal there?

Sarah Hyland is a goddamn national treasure, they best not fuck with her.

DrizztLink posted...

What's the deal there?

Sarah Hyland is a goddamn national treasure, they best not fuck with her.

Lemme see if I can dig up an old post from that site. It's a long story

It isn't bad. It's just fine.

I have trouble paying for pasta at a restaurant in general though as it's so incredibly cheap to make on your own.

It's one of those places I'll never suggest, but won't gripe about going to.

Olive farting

I haven't actually been to an Olive Garden in years but they had a reputation for mushy pasta and dry overcooked meat.

DrizztLink posted...

What's the deal there?

Sarah Hyland is a goddamn national treasure, they best not fuck with her.

Found my old post:

Oliver Garden can rot in hell.

Years back while watching porn on my laptop, a commercial for Olive Garden popped up on the TV. As Sarah Hyland popped up and told me that I'm family at Olive Garden, I was struck with a brilliant idea.

I immediately wrote her a letter asking her to meet me at Olive Garden. I gave her the time, date snd location of the Olive Garden that I'd meet her at. There were two weeks in between sending out the letter and the event. So she had plenty of time to change plans if necessary. To insure that she'd show, I signed it "step brother". I also, playfully mentioned that we could go dryer shopping afterwards too. I figured she'd understand.

The night of the big event, I put on my best polo and khakis from when I worked at Best Buy. I didn't want to presume anything, but I also put on my best condom in case she couldn't wait until we went to Home Depot afterwards and we had to sneak into the bathroom to take it to the next level. I was fully prepared.

I showed up a little early, so I thought nothing of waiting 45 minutes or so. Our date wasn't until four, and I wanted to seem excited for it, but I'd pretend like I just got there minutes before. The waitress brought me breadsticks and was very patient. 4 o clock rolled around and she wasn't there. I figured she was being just running late. 4:05, nothing. 4:06, nothing. 4:07, nothing. 4:08...still nothing.

It dawned on me that I had been stood up. I did the only thing I could. I cried. I cried like a big dumb girl. Eventually, my waitress noticed when he brought the next round of breadsticks. She asked me if there was anything she could do and asked if I wanted to come back to her apartment to see what she could do to console me. Her shift ended at 4:30 and she had nothing to do all night long. I declined as I didn't want to wait that long and also she said her apartment only had a bed and nothing else to do. Seemed pretty boring to me.

The rest of the staff noticed my loud sobbing and took it upon themselves to try and remedy the situation. They made some calls and just as I was about to leave, their plans came together. In walked Sofia Vergara. She came in and sat with me and we had dinner together. At the end she gave me a full mouth kiss and put her number in my phone. Instead of putting her name in she put it under "I want to give you dick blowjobs".

Worst night of my life. Sarah Hyland stood me up and I made a fool of myself in front of the OG staff. Then they gave me some second rate actress that put a fake name in my phone.

Olive Garden is dead to me.

It used to be terrible. Apparently they turned it around.

But it's still salty butter stuff you can easily make better at home

If you have good Italian restaurants nearby everything but the salads and breadsticks tastes like dog food.

DarkFists posted...

I only went there for their Gnocchi soup, but ever since I found a copycat recipe, I haven't been

I like their pasta with beans soup (cant post the fword name). I also found a recipe online, but I still go back as sometimes I just dont feel like cooking, and around $10 for endless soup is a not that bad a deal imo.

Mistere_Man posted...

I like their pasta with beans soup (cant post the fword name). I also found a recipe online, but I still go back as sometimes I just dont feel like cooking, and around $10 for endless soup is a not that bad a deal imo.

Yeah, it's definitely a decent enough deal for soup lovers haha

DarkFists posted...

Yeah, it's definitely a decent enough deal for soup lovers haha

I am definitely a soup lover.