British Expatriate Network

I would like to say officially for the record that I think the Olive Garden is awful. My friends love the place. The talk of it like it's a mecca for food. But no, the food is crap. It might not help that I think Italian-American food is about as interesting as Steve Davis, but The Olive Garden manages to make it double the dullness for thrice the price. I honestly would rather eat my own sick than go there again.

Is there anywhere that you can't stand eating?

I found with these chain restaurants that I only ever ordered one thing off their menu - and it's not too hard to find one decent thing. I was amazed the first time I went to Olive Garden to find that the main offerings were things like spaghetti and meatballs (who eats that when they are out?).

A good thing I remember about Olive Garden is that they give you bread and salad, and they promote booze. Oh, and big tables - a top priority for us.

But Macaroni Grill is much better.

I like their cheese and mushroom stuffed ravioli. Like great being enormous pillows coverd with cheese sauce.

why do British people on holiday in Florida go nuts for Ponderosa?

I mean it's cheap shit alright, but apparently they flock there in the thousands to the place.

Because of the silly name, perhaps?

I hate the Olive Garden with a burning vengence, notwithstanding the fact that I have not stepped foot in one for over ten years. (If you are about to suggest I should try it again may all manner of hellfire and brimstone descend upon ye blaspheming demon.)

Bungle -- please do not attribute your dislike to your dislike of Italian American food in general, as the Olive Garden does not serve it, but serves instead a cruel joke against all that is good, and Italian, and American.

Their food even looks disgusting in their advertisments. Everything there is doused in heaps of tasteless mass produced "cheese" (I use quotes as I don't wish to offend cheese). Sorry, but endless plastic tasting "bread" (ditto) sticks don't help.

The only foods I ever enjoyed at Olive Garden were the side-salads and breadsticks. As for the rest of their menu - crap, American-Italian food offered at inflated prices, IMO. roll I agree with Ameriscot - I think Macaroni Grill is much better and, although I wouldn't rush to go back, I would go there again.
Never eaten at Ponderosa and never will. It just sounds as if the food would be.......yucky. ???
Of all the 'chain' restaurants, I detest eating at Longhorn. On the whole though, I don't like eating at 'chain' restaurants. There are only a couple of privately owned restaurants here and they far surpass the quality of 'chains'.

I hardly ever eat in chains, not because they are chains, but because they tend to be bad. Three exceptions -- P.F. Changs, Il Fornaio and Houstons. Never had a bad meal in any of those, in any location.

Of course, one of the joys of moving back to NYC at the end of this month will be I will never have to eat a chain. There are, you may have heard, one or two restaurants in New York.

Only chain places I eat at are Denny's and IHOP.

For proper food, I go to a decent restaurant. No children, decent food and drinkable plonk.

/wouldn't go to Olive Garden if you paid me.

One thing that I have noticed as I travel extensively these days is how fortunate we are in Santa Cruz to maybe have only one two or even three chain restaurants (possibly) in total. We most certainly have some of the best independent restaurants in the region locally.

Having spent the last four days in Hotlanta I was saddened to see the number of chain restaurants and how very few "local/indiginous - for lack of a better word - restaurants" there were. Considering the true historic cuisine of the South (peaches for example - I was looking for a nice sweet Georgia peach and guess where most of them come from - yeppers - California). Sad.

We only went to one "chain", Smokey Bones, and the food was so so (I had pulled pork) but the service was right out of Office Space (how much flair can you wear).

That said, the night before we went to an Indian/Pakistani restaurant around the corner from our hotel and the food was gorgeous, all buffet (almost Balti in nature). To boot we were the only Caucasians in this place, which in one corner all the men were facing Mecca having saying prayers, the women in another corner chatting, the children were all well behaved and the food, oh my.

The rest of our trip we tried to find places that were native but it's hard...

All I wanted was some more pulled pork and a nice sour sop (sauce) on some good bread.

I've never eaten at the Olive Garden but recall that ad campaign - with the Italian grandfather weeping with tears of joy at the wonderful authentic food on offer (just like from his childhood in Sicily) - made me laugh. If a 'real' Italian grandad' went there he'd be sick. sad


I really dislike 'fusion' restaurants of any kind and try to avoid them. The trendy waiters and waitresses are always a bit surly. Elaborate decor. Incomprehsible Menu. They take a traditional national dish - like Thai Green Curry and turn it into a pizza or a meringue and char you double for doing so!

Well, I'm with Scramble. My 'unrefined' ( :wink: ) tastes quite like it there and this is my favourite dish.

Have you been talking to Mr Underpants? :lol:

Mr. B is on Target again.
We were spoiled by the greatest Italian food in the world, Titas of Edmonton, Canada.
Their roast chicen and soups were out of this world I have never met there equal yet.

taste like shit

Nuff said