Why do people flock to The Olive Garden?

[Jack Davenport]

The food is terrible. The meatball marinara at Subway is more authentic Italian.

 

[Mayhem]

:dunno: I've never had a problem with Olive Garden. It's been a while and where I live now makes franchise restaurants a little pointless, but I have no bad memories.

 

[Jack Davenport]

I guess I have been spoiled by real Italian cuisine all of my life.

 

[Harley Spencer]

I suppose it all depends on what sort of tastes you like. There's an Italian place in my town that is nicer than a lot of places, and it is popular, but both of the times I went, I hated the food I had. The chicken Alfredo was too sweet and so was the one marinara dish that I got. I don't really like sweet when it comes to Italian.

I like Olive Garden, but I don't go very often because I'm a huge Parmesan cheese lover. They don't have Parmesan cheese in shakers on the table, they put it on your dish for you and you tell them when to stop. If I really had them continue cranking that little contraption until it was as much cheese as I really wanted, they'd be standing there for a good two minutes. You know the size of the typical Parmesan shakers at restaurants? I empty about half of a shaker onto my pasta dishes. I don't want to make my server stand there grinding half their shaker onto my pasta. So I don't go very often, and when I do, I'll get an appetizer as a meal, something that I don't need Parmesan on, like that chicken flat bread thing.

It's also money. More expensive items tend to automatically cause people to think it's of higher quality than less expensive items. And it's also the atmosphere of the restaurant that makes it seem nicer than others. Olive Garden is very pretty, they serve good wine, they play calm music as opposed to rap, rock, country, or hip hop, and the decor is rather nice. I'm sure that if other restaurants, like Subway, changed their decor to, say, chandeliers, serve wine, serve you your dishes to your table on nice platters, raised their prices, took down the wall menu and had actual menus, etc., they might be perceived as a higher quality restaurant.

I might also add that I bet more people go to Subway than Olive Garden, because more people can afford Subway and it's faster. Not everyone can afford to go out to a nicer restaurant. And a lot of people go to Subway for the health reasons, although they don't necessarily actually get the healthier choices. Subway has a healthy rep, so a lot of people think all of their stuff is healthy and will help you lose weight, when really it's only a few select options that are on the healthier side.

 

[xfire]

I don't know why people flock to Olive Garden, at least not the one in my area. The food is horrendous and the service sucks, too. None of the "casual dining" franchises where I live are worth a fuck. I'd rather cook it myself at home.

 

[Petra]

I haven't been for about 8 years and wasn't overly impressed then. I can remember when they finally built one in a city about 40 minutes away, my parents drove all the way over just for Olive Garden.

Of course, I know of a few excellent Italian places locally that even have real Italians. ;-)

 

[Mayhem]

One thing I would have said earlier if my cat hadn't hogged my attention, if you order something like marinara from a place like Olive Garden, you're kinda asking to be disappointed. I stick with cream and/or butter sauces when I'm in a franchise joint. Marinara is too personal to people who love it to hand over to a law student working a job.

 

[too fast]

I might also add that I bet more people go to Subway than Olive Garden, because more people can afford Subway and it's faster. Not everyone can afford to go out to a nicer restaurant.

Agree and I'm skinny but when I eat I eat a lot and don't want to wait long nor can I always afford it.

 

[Red Spyder]

I've never had a problem with Olive Garden. And believe me, all it takes is ONE mistake by any restaurant and I'm gone. Like Chili's. I haven't been there this whole year because last time I was there for their yummy baby back ribs they burned them. Not juicy, not tender, not tasty, first time I've ever complained in a restaurant and I don't like to complain. All I do, if it's edible, I'll eat it, pay the bill and leave never to return. In this case, they did fix it for me by taking the plate back and didn't charge me for it, but I ordered a burguer instead, to go.

Anyway, some Olive Gardens, Red Lobsters, and Chili's here in S. TX are brand new, some cases less than a year old, other cases less than five years old, so maybe that has something to do with the quality of the food? Would an older franchise start getting complacent? :dunno:

 

[seeprice]

Living in Upstate New York it is always embarassing when people go to the Olive Garden around here...there are wonderful AUTHENTIC Italian places every where, but they go to the Olive Garden? But if you live somewhere like North Dakota or Idaho or something I get it.

 

[Elwood70]

Because:

1. They don't live near a city with an authentic neighborhood known as "Little Italy"

or​

2. They do live near it, but are too chickenshit to go to the city.


Olive Garden is about as Italian as fuckin' Taco Bell is Mexican...

I don't think Olive Garden is bad, just bland

 

[Will E Worm]

I was there once.

 

[lurkingdirk]

Because, when you're there, you're family.

And who doesn't want to have more, awkward, Thanksgiving-like family dinners?

 

[Facetious]

There's an Olive Garden Restaurant about two miles from my home, it's been there for approx 10 years, I have not yet patronized it. I'm an outcast, sorry. :shy::dunno:

Now, if you want to talk about the Hooters across from ebay h-q, that's a magnet! :boobies: :drool2:

Outback Steakhouse in my area isn't so shabby either for a decent plate of food and a nice environment.

One thing I would have said earlier if my cat hadn't hogged my attention...]

Let me guess... part or full Siamese...(?) :o

:1orglaugh

Yep, it's that time of year again to brush out the winter undercoat in prep for the summer... that's prolly what's goin on.

 

[Kingfisher]

The food is horrendous and the service sucks, too.

I haven't been in years, so I can't say. I do know that I will never step foot into a Red Lobster after someone in the family decided it would be a good place to go.
That truly is where "seafood goes to die"...

 

[Facetious]

The food is terrible. The meatball marinara at Subway is more authentic Italian.

Most people don't have a clue what authentic italian cuisine is about as the mum and pops hole in the wall type city joints are far and few between if found at all. I think that we'd have to go back a few generations in this country in order to find a true authentic italian plate of food.

I hate change sometimes........... Correction, most of the time.

I haven't been in years, so I can't say. I do know that I will never step foot into a Red Lobster after someone in the family decided it would be a good place to go.
That truly is where "seafood goes to die"...

Beach wash up after the sewage spill, exactly.:1orglaugh

I don't eat seafood (or most any food for that matter) unless I know of it's origin.
Go to your Safeway or average large grocery store chain and you can see for yourself all of the foreign grown (farmed) shrimp etc.
Mmmm! farmed shrimp from Vietnam, Indonesia or China.... only the best exports to America. ukey:

 

[Straight Shooter]

As a person of Mexican descent, I have no idea why people flock to Taco Bell. Sorry but that's not real Mexican food

 

[Justaman]

I like their salad and breadsticks with Alfredo sauce. I don't care for the entrees much. Pretty bland.

 

[BAYAMONXXX]

Olive Garden's italian food is Fugazi just like Sbarro pizza restaurant.

 

[STDiva]

Nobody goes to these places for authentic Italian or Mexican. They go because it's quick, easy and cheap.

I've never been to Olive Garden. I don't think there is any up here in Canada.