Yeah - I went to the Olive Garden...

So yeah – it’s confession time. I like Olive Garden. I tried to deny it – I haven’t been for YEARS! It’s the mockery of “Italian” food in the blogger/foodie world. This I know! But I just couldn’t take it any longer – I had to go!

Photo Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly (ew.com)

One of my favorite Olive Garden moments came from ABC’s The Bachelor and even Entertainment Weekly and Chris Harrison remembered it! It was #6 on Top 10 Favorite Moments from the Bachelor:

6. Five words: ”I like the Olive Garden”

Not sure why this has stayed with me or why we all thought it was so funny, but it was: During a particularly awkward dinner date in season 3, Amber asked Bachelor Andrew Firestone, ”What’s your favorite, like, restaurant chain? I like the Olive Garden!” It’s true — when you’re here, you’re family!

I love that she thinks a billionaire would eat at Olive Garden…still makes me chuckle.

But anyway – I finally broke down last night and made Larry take me to Olive Garden…

Photo courtesy of Olive Garden

We, of course, started with the salad. That’s the best part of the OG is the big bowl of delicious and fresh salad. My love for the OG started here – my best friend and I used to go almost weekly – it was Kohl’s and OG – and we both loved the salad. My favorite part was finding the olives – mmm!

We also had the breadsticks – which I couldn’t find a pic of on their site. They’re buttery, garlicky and salty – a great combo!

Photo courtesy of Olive Garden

A couple years into my visits, I found the soup and I have to say – I’ve never turned back. Last night I went for a bowl of Pasta e Fagioli. It’s basically an Italian version of chili and sooo good! And you can find an awesome copycat recipe here – I’ve made it – it’s dead on! I was in heaven eating this soup last night.

Photo courtesy of Olive Garden

For the entree – I went with my standby – I was so glad it was still on the menu – Chicken Scampi! I tried it back when it was a “new” item… #imold. It was pretty darned good again last night – a little less garlic than I remember – they used to have whole cloves all over the plate! Last night I couldn’t find a one!

Photo courtesy of Andes/Tootsie.com

And then the topper – your Andes mint that accompanies your check. Larry didn’t want his – so I got two!!!!

Why Should You Go? Um – cuz it’s awesome! I know – it’s a chain – I know!!!! But I can’t help it – it makes me feel like I’m back in Cedar Rapids with my bff putting myself in a food coma after a big day of shopping. Oh and the service was great too.

* I was not compensated in any way for this post – I just freakin loved it and had to share. I even left my camera in the car because I thought, “I don’t need to blog about OG”. And then I was dying over every bite and decided I had to share.

Comments

Anonymous says

April 11, 2012 at 11:03 pm

This post has such great timing. I just drove by there today and asked my husband why we never go there. That place was my pre-Friday night movie dinner spot!

DCG says

April 13, 2012 at 4:11 am

We used to go every Valentine's Day before we moved to retail hell. I miss the breadsticks.

CP says

April 16, 2012 at 9:13 pm

Never apologize for giving a review, and never fail to give one because you think the restaurant isn't worthy! Keep on hussying on!

Jeff in Middletucky says

May 1, 2012 at 4:51 pm

The Olive Garden is the McDonald's of sit down eateries, and all that that entails. Even Taco Bell has more integrity than the Olive Garden.

JJ in Middletown says

May 12, 2012 at 8:34 am

I'm a serious foodie, and I confess, I like the Olive Garden too, at least some of them (Mesquite TX, Boulder CO, Ft. Smith AR). But avoid the one in Middletown OH like the plague, because it is. It was actually good up until two or three years ago; don't know what happened but it went bad and everyone in town talks about it. If you're in Middletown and want Italian, do Stefano's instead – yum!