Olive Garden vs. Red Lobster

[sjmin209]

Originally Posted by VMan

It won't be fantastic, but it won't be bad, and everyone can find something that appeals to their tastes there.


It depends what you mean by "bad." In many of these places, much of the food is frozen, not fresh, and anything that can be prepackaged and preservative-laden (think sauces) is.

 

[Augustus Medici]

I refuse to believe that as well.

But, as far as SYSCO restaurants go,Olive Garden's not bad.

 

[odoreater]

Why's it so hard to believe that a chicken parm at Olive Garden would be better than chicken parms in Italy? Just because a restaurant is in Italy it automatically means that they have to have better foods than in American restaurants? That's marsupialed.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by odoreater

Why's it so hard to believe that a chicken parm at Olive Garden would be better than chicken parms in Italy? Just because a restaurant is in Italy it automatically means that they have to have better foods than in American restaurants? That's marsupialed.
It goes against everything we know to be true about food. That a soulless corporate box with flash frozen, pre-cooked, portioned, pre-packaged foods can be "better" than the cuisine its actually imitating? I'm not saying that its not true... I'm just saying that its definitely the exception, and not the rule if true. I've eaten at The Olive Garden, and frankly, been relatively unimpressed. I found their sauce (the heart of Italian pasta IMO) to be bland. The Old Spaghetti Factory is my cheap italian/american knockoff restaraunt of choice.

 

[montecristo#4]

Originally Posted by odoreater

Why's it so hard to believe that a chicken parm at Olive Garden would be better than chicken parms in Italy? Just because a restaurant is in Italy it automatically means that they have to have better foods than in American restaurants? That's marsupialed.

Yeah, hasn't anyone seen the Olive Garden commercial that talks about their chef training facility in Tuscany?

This thread is making me hungry.

 

[drake]

Why would anyone willingly go to Olive Garden or Red Lobster? :: confused ::

 

[Augustus Medici]

Originally Posted by montecristo#4

Yeah, hasn't anyone seen the Olive Garden commercial that talks about their chef training facility in Tuscany?

This thread is making me hungry.

Well I'll be damned. I always thought that was BS, but apparently it's even got CIA cred.

 

[kapay]

I always found the food I ate at OG to be terrible while my one experience at RL to be pretty damn good (and it should have been considering it was one of their most expensive menu items). Food aside, I also found OG's service to be just as bad. Never really had a good experience one way or another (maybe I should try a different OG). Nothing good or bad to say about RL's service though.

 

[odoreater]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

It goes against everything we know to be true about food. That a soulless corporate box with flash frozen, pre-cooked, portioned, pre-packaged foods can be "better" than the cuisine its actually imitating? I'm not saying that its not true... I'm just saying that its definitely the exception, and not the rule if true. I've eaten at The Olive Garden, and frankly, been relatively unimpressed. I found their sauce (the heart of Italian pasta IMO) to be bland. The Old Spaghetti Factory is my cheap italian/american knockoff restaraunt of choice.

I've eaten at the Olive Garden too and been unimpressed (then again, in NJ authentica Italian cuisine is available all over the place), but, that doesn't mean that it's not possible for something there to be better than it's counterpart at an Italian restaurant. If someone says it's impossible for that to be the case, that's just marsupialed IMO.

'nuff said

 

[LSeca]

Olive Garden is fine for casual dinning. I actually think their tiramisu is better than much more expensive and authentic Italian places.

 

[globetrotter]

if you are used to american style italian food, then OG may very well be better than places in Italy. you can't get a lot of stuff that is common in american italian resteraunts in italy - in the same way you can't get sweet and sour pork in most resteraunts in china.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

if you are used to american style italian food, then OG may very well be better than places in Italy. you can't get a lot of stuff that is common in american italian resteraunts in italy - in the same way you can't get sweet and sour pork in most resteraunts in china.
WTF... I have now lost all interest in going to China. I bet you are going to tell me that they don't give out fortune cookies after every meal either! Is the whole world crazy? Are we all living a lie? I beg you all, stay in America, where everything make sense! My dreams have all just been shattered. My childhood a sham, I turn to my last remaining friend - quaaludes. Goodnight, cruel world. Goodnight.

 

[seanchai]

Originally Posted by montecristo#4

Yeah, hasn't anyone seen the Olive Garden commercial that talks about their chef training facility in Tuscany?

I tried to find it when I was in Tuscany two summers ago. I loved the real Tuscan food I had there but eventually wanted something that wasn't salted meats. American-style chicken parm would've hit the spot.

 

[Violinist]

since the entire essence of italian cuisine is very fresh ingredients... olive garden is ****. I can taste the ******* MSG or whatever the hell they use. It's been a long time since I've been there, but you just know everything comes out of a plastic bag.

If you want to see how good any italian restaurant is, just order bruschetta or a simple pasta dish with marinara. You can tell by the tomatos and the freshness of the basil (not to mention quality of olive oil).

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by Augustus Medici

Well I'll be damned. I always thought that was BS, but apparently it's even got CIA cred.

Apparently it might be true:

http://www.olivegarden.com/culinary/cit/tour.asp