Question: Why is Olive Garden always busy

[Chefcook]

I tried to rep ya for this but apparently you were my last rep victim!! My girlfriend LOVES to cook (as evidenced by the extra 20 pounds I've earned since meeting her). We'll go to a "restaurant", not a McSomething, and have a meal we really enjoy, then she starts surfing the net or checking one of her literally hundreds of cookbooks and then replicates the meal for us at home. Damn I love this girl!!! She finally found and successfully replicated Carabbas' Lentil soup recipe the other night, Yummy!!!!

She sounds like a keeper for sure. The only woman I have ever been able to get to cook for me is my mom and my daughter.

 

[Harry2110]

I'm not a food snob and I don't claim to have a sophisticated palate. But I have eaten at Fazollis and would much prefer to go there than what I ate last night.

Maybe Castleton was having an off night?

didnt castleton also have a ecoli outbreak once?

 

[Harry2110]

the real question here is.... How in the world are pricier restuarants, IE: Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Kelseys, Longhorn, still very busy??? Seems like everytime I want one of the above, they are always packed!

I knew someone that would go to red lobster and just order a drink and eat the rolls. He never got kicked out or asked to leave.

 

[Bigum1969]

I'm not a food snob and I don't claim to have a sophisticated palate. But I have eaten at Fazollis and would much prefer to go there than what I ate last night.

Maybe Castleton was having an off night?

My comment should've been in purple.

Olive Garden is dummy-downed Italian food for sure.

 

[Hoosier8]

Olive Garden is always busy because people like my daughter like it and she represents unsophisticated Midwestern tastes. There is a reason that Indianapolis is the second largest test market for chain restaurants.

You can find something you like there so you can enjoy your experience. For me it is the soup and salad with zuppa toscana.

Too bad they shut down the 38th street restaurant.

 

[nox]

Olive Garden is always busy because people like my daughter like it and she represents unsophisticated Midwestern tastes. There is a reason that Indianapolis is the second largest test market for chain restaurants.

You can find something you like there so you can enjoy your experience. For me it is the soup and salad with zuppa toscana.

Too bad they shut down the 38th street restaurant.

which market is number one?

IMO Olive Garden is only good for engagements and MAYBE anniversaries if it's a big one.

 

[rockhopper46038]

Just one of the pluses and minuses of seeing the back end of restaurants.

Preach it.

So has an Italian specific restaurant recommendation thread been done yet?

I admit I was spoiled with the time I spent in Italy...once you've sampled Italian food in the city of Bologna, I think you've reached the pinnacle. (And the pizza in Naples! - Pizzology and Napolese both come close in their own way, but neither hits it just right).

Having said that, I used to enjoy Sangiovese up in Castleton, Enrico's off of Keystone and Broad Ripple Ave, and the wife has always been a fan of Mama Corrolla's at like College and 54th (sorry these are all Indy-centric).

Haven't been to any of these in a while, though...my eating out lately has all been in taverns or pubs.

 

[indytechnerd]

OG = Unlimited Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks. It's all I ever order and we only go for lunch.

For good Italian..Sal's in Plainfield, Ambrosini's in Terre Haute

 

[rich8483]

my wife loves it b/c of the unlimited bread sticks. its freakin' BREAD. i hate the place.
she also totally loved fazolis for the same reason. cheap ass.

 

[steve666]

The easy answer... because the customers don't know any better.

 

[Titanium Man]

They also swarm to Red Lobster, and think they've gone to heaven.

 

[indyk]

Thread from the dead!!



Its because the women looooove their salad.
Its like crack to a crack head.

My wife is all about that salad
She and her friends go there to eat it ALL the time.

 

[Hotdoger]

I have eaten at Maggianos and enjoyed it.

Did you let the valet parker have the BMW?

 

[Knife Lady]

I love all Italian food.

 

[Expat]

I love all Italian food.

all?
Roman-Style Tripe Trippa alla Romana Recipe : Mario Batali : Food Network

I would try it though.

 

[FatsMcKay]

Because people like the breadsticks. I like some stuff that Olive Garden has but its not the best italian food around. How many italian restuarants are there that are outstanding? I dont like bravo that much and its much more expensive. I think Amalfi is the best in Indianapolis.

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

Why is Olive Garden always busy?

I'll tell you why they're always busy. One word: thebreadsticksarefriggindeliciousandiknowimrighton!

 

[MrSmitty]

Damned if I know!! I can make spagetti at home for about $2

 

[jamie12]

I think it's the salad.

 

[Kase]

I think it's the salad.

Lol, almost to the classifieds

Anyway, I ate eat the OG in Laffayette a couple months ago, and I thought it was really good I'm also the most un-picky eater in the world, so that probably explains it. I'd eat if it was cooked right and had a splash of hot sauce