Kitchen

[kzeks]

On 3/24/2015 momtodogs said:

If we want Italian we go to Macaroni Grille....love to eat there but it is about 1.5 hours from our home.

If we want Italian we go to a real Italian family Restaurant...

:

I am glad to hear that Olive Garden has cut it's portions...

Too many restaurants serve large portions that are not

good for the American's health...

[pebma]

I was just recently at our Olive Garden. They don't serve French fries, burgers, or steaks at our local restaurant which is one of the reasons my husband hates to go there. He has to have his French fries. The food is always good, although it is definitely an Americanized version of Italian food. The breadsticks have always tasted fresh enough even if the garlic flavor tastes of garlic salt. We both have an entree and beverage (although not wine) and our bill only comes out to around $38.00 for two. We don't usually have the wine but I have noticed the prices are all listed. I certainly wouldn't order something I didn't know the price of and then get all upset about it after the fact. If price was a concern, and it sounds like it was, the cost of the wine should have been determined before ordering. It sounds like different restaurants in this chain are run very differently with regard to choices and quality however it is difficult to feel too sorry for the OP about the cost of the meal if they didn't ask about the cost of the wine before ordering.

[BeckiWV]

On 3/24/2015 Cookie06 said:

Wow I am surprised by all the complaints. My husband and I had dinner there just a few weeks ago and it was absolutely delicious. I guess each one is different.

Me too. The one is my town is always clean and I like it there. I have always enjoyed their salad. I usually get capellini pomodoro (with whole wheat pasta substituted) for my entree and it's always good. Hubby likes the bread sticks but I would rather have the bruscetta appetizer.

I fully realize it is not authentic Italian (which is, of course, amazing) but I still like it anyway.

I don't go there everyday but yeah, I like it now and then.

[jbinrwc]

I ate at the local Olive Garden once and it was mediocre at best. I'm sure that the quality varies from location to location. I am blessed to live in an area where we have many restaurants serving authentic, delicious Italian food at reasonable prices which are not much more than you would pay at Olive Garden. When I want Italian, I have many choices and I realize that I am very spoiled compared to those of you who have limited choices.

[Wackers3]

I haven't been there in years now but always liked how cold and fresh their salad was back then. Never been a bread eater so can't comment on how the breadsticks were. I also liked their Pasta di Foz*** (don't know the correct spelling) soup a lot back then.

It used to be a good option for a quick lunch with friends. I would guess that in some areas it might still be decent as that can always come down to local staff/management.

[adoreqvc]

Had decided to try the Olive Garden Restaurant in Lancaster, PA spcifically located at the entrance of the Rockvale outlets.

It was an experience which was a real disgusting eye opener.

Years ago Olive Garden served tasty food, was kept clean, and there were no flies constantly landing on the food and drinks. Also the flies did not keep landing on customers which was really disgusting to say the least.

No longer is Olive Garden on our menu for human consumption.

The bread sticks tasted off and the entrees were really quite salty and unappealing.

The flies buzzing around everything was a total turn off. Their sticky hanging fly catching papers were loaded with dead flies.....how disgusting is that to look at?

We spoke to the Manager and complained loudly about the flies landing on all the food and drinks on our table as well as landing on us.

He did apologize and kept trying to swat them away but understood that this was a definitely Board of Health issue, and we were totally justified in leaving, and not eating or drinking anything.

I will add this was the only restaurant in Lancaster on route 30 which had the abundance of flies.

"All the other neighboring restaurants we frequented during our 3 week summer stay were free of flys".

Can't help but wonder what the flies were so attracted to.....and if it was as disgusting as that in their serving areas where customers eat, I shudder to think of their kitchen, refrigeration and storage areas.

[adoreqvc]

We have not been back to Rockvale Outlets Olive Garden Restaurant, and wonder if they cleaned up their act since our last visit there.....I certainly hope so.

[winamac1]

On 3/24/2015 Venezia said:

winamac1 - no, he didn't see it. They handed him a little placard with the wines and other "drinks". He's ordered wine in OG before and none of them were that expensive. We were away from home, so this wasn't an OG we were familiar with. However, where we are, it's not that uncommon that drink prices (even coffee and soda) are not listed. We have to ask. In this case (we were pushed for time), he just didn't. Our mistake.

I can't comment on anyone else's experience with OG or any other restaurant. I just know what happened to us. And I'm done justifying it.

Thanks for the clarification Venezia. I can totally understand your level of frustration, and I didn't believe for one second you couldn't have spent $91 at Olive Garden--especially if a bottle of wine was involved.

Not that you really care, LOL, but I think it's probably DH's "fault" he didn't ask the price of the bottle of wine. I know, for a fact, Olive Garden puts wine prices on their menus. The special "card" menu may not have had it, but I think he should have done his due diligence and asked. I would never order a bottle of wine without knowing the price--but that is just me.

I don't think Olive Garden is cheap at all- especially with wine and a meal consisting of fish and wine.

I don't eat there anymore, but I have a few times in the past. We probably spent, without a bottle of wine, over $70 and that was just including one glass of wine.

I know when I used to be able to take customers out to lunch, many years ago, with NO wine, it ended up $20 a person.

[Campion]

It varies by restaurant but it's definitely not what it was 10 yrs ago. Yes, it's faux Italian but in our rural burg, it's actually the safest place to eat. I take clients frequently even though it's not even a very good version of OG. It's what we have.

The salad used to be nice and crisp, now they dump those dried bags of salad into the bowl that are no better than raked leaves. The breadsticks are either underbaked or reheated and stale. Sometimes the food is good, sometimes, they can't figure out how to thaw and reheat something.

My favorite item (capellini with a fresh -ish tomato sauce) was taken off the menu during the latest revamping. The waitperson told me, after I looked for it in vain on a very sparse and dull menu that it could be made for me specially. Went with the "adopted" grandkids for our joint birthday party (we share birthdays) and it was mediocre at best but that's what the kids like to eat.

I'm not hopeful about them. They were trying to rev it up after a disappointing year of sales and instead, to me, it seems duller and more fast-food-like than ever.

[debic]

I've always had good food at Olive Garden myself. Probably depends on the area and who's doing the cooking. Where we go the Macaroni Grill is uneatable.