OKAY - I give UP!! What is up with all the threads regarding the Olive Garden??

[Bullwinkle925]

:shrug:

I know I've missed something somewhere.

[KitchenWitch]

1. Were you around during the Olive Garden flamefest a few months ago?

The things that turn into flamewars here in the Lounge...

[Bullwinkle925]

5. I've been on/off for a while.

i've noticed lately (the past month) a lot of Olive Garden threads. ????

[KitchenWitch]

6. Here is the readers digest version

Someone posted a thread requesting some ideas for places to eat in Manhattan. Someone posted that she and her husband enjoyed eating at the Olive Garden in Times Square. The food snobs jumped down her throat with both feet.

[Bullwinkle925]

7. Holey Moley Abalone.

I see - that's all it was, eh? Well, Foodies or not - I do like their white bean soup.

[KitchenWitch]

8. It is

It got pretty ugly. For no discernible reason other than snobbishness. :eyes:

Although Olive Garden is not my favorite place to eat, I do enjoy eating there occasionally. Never tried the white bean soup. Must try that.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. The Olive Garden is evil.

You must never eat there, especially if you go to New York. It's just one of the rules. If you do go, while you are there you must at least try not to breast-feed a baby, smoke, or talk loudly on a cell phone.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. Oh, you don't want to know.

Suffice it to say it is now in the annals of topics that will induce real or feigned flamewars.

[Bullwinkle925]

4. oh come on - please, please, please, please!

I gotta know (esp. since I love their white bean soup).

[underpants]

9. It's just a joke on the group think of homogenized America

the same thing that brought you Coors Light, SUVs, and Dane Cook.*

Everyone has to pick an accepted way of being themselves just like everyone else.

Personally Cracker Barrel is way worse but hey what can you do?


* that joke is stolen from a DUer

[Bullwinkle925]

10. Okay - a "Velveeta" moment, eh?

Sheesh! I guess in the hierarchy of restauranteering, Olive Garden is above McDonalds and lower than
the Cliff House here in SF. But then again, - why in God's name does it deserve a flamewar??
Too many people have too much time on their hands??

[LostinVA]

11. It actually was mainly a joke flame war

And then some people got really pissed off, which made it even funnier.

I loathe Olive Garden because it makes believe it's real Italian food when it isn't, and it costs WAY too much.

[Bullwinkle925]

12. It's Italian fast-food.

Although, as I've said - the bean soup is truly good. The only thing I order there whenever I go - maybe once a year at the most??

My fave place for Italian in my 'hood' is Sazio's in Castro Valley. Tiny place owned and operated by true Italians - food is delicious and the service is absolutely spot-on. They'll even break into song when the mood hits them.

[CTyankee]

13. It is because it is standardized and that has made it of lesser quality

When I was in Italy, everywhere I went I could just go into a restaurant or trattoria and have a great meal. It didn't have to be expensive or "fine dining," it was just plain wonderful. Sometimes it was truly plain. One of the best was a place in Perugia where they served thinly shaved black truffles over a pasta tossed with the local Umbrian olive oil. That was it.

And if you want bean soup in Tuscany they have several versions of ribolitta (reboiled) a bean soup with greens and other vegetables. I have never had a bean soup comparable to what I ate there.


It is just a cultural thing. It's too bad that as Americans we are missing out on a great cuisine that the Italians enjoy every day, and at reasonable prices. Wine, without sulfites, ran about $3 a bottle in Rome, Florence and Perugia.

[Bullwinkle925]

23. Some day I hope to 'eat my way' through Italy.

I don't understand, either, why fine food can't be served in restaurants here. Seems people love their chain eateries.
There is a little Mom & Pop Greek restaurant my daughter and I also love to go to. Not that expensive - wine list is good and the food is delicious and authentic.

[CTyankee]

24. It's just so amazing. I had researched restaurants in every town

I was going to visit and actually went to two of them. The other ones were "accidental" and they were treasures! Sometimes the wines were really local -- a little vineyard the restaurant had in the back!. REad up on the regional dishes beforehand so you know what they offer in the restaurants and tratts. I had the most interesting dishes that way! We also relied on the hotel staff giving us recommendations for places in the neighborhood. That worked really well in Rome and in Montecatini Terme. What NOT to do: if you are on a tour, DO NOT bother with the "special" dinners they include inthe hotels. They all come out tasting like American food. We learned to skip them (even tho they were included in the trip) and just find a place on our own.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. Yar.

It got really weird really fast.

[cwydro]

14. And don't even start

about how to make fried chicken....

[matcom]

15. EVERYONE knows how to do THAT

you make it whilst smoking :D

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

18. If frying chicken causes a flame war,

... then you have the oil too hot.

Disclaimer: I don't really know how to fry chicken. I only grill it. Medium heat, pour beer on it once in a while.

[LostinVA]

19. And, don't forget the infamous marinara sauce thread

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

17. Here's the real thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=5283951

Spin off of original, but not nearly as flamey thread.

Can't remember what was in the deleted portion, but it must have been a doozy.

[Bullwinkle925]

22. Oh My ......

I did, indeed, miss something. Yikes.

[AwakeAtLast]

20. I'm not sure if this is life imitating art but

an Olive Garden in Indianapolis had to close for FOUR DAYS after 300 people got sick. It may take me awhile to venture to one.

[LostinVA]

21. As I said when the news broke: we know they didn't overdose on garlic