Jenise: Ali Velshi says The Olive Garden is his favorite restaurant

I was just watching CNN and he just admitted it to being his favorite restaurant. Then he went ahead and applauded how they organize their wine list. Then he interviewed one of the Mondavi sons on air.....

Somebody has got to take that boy to a new restaurant!

Gee, you don't think ad budgets and PR had anything to do with that, do you?

I don't recall ever being in one, because we just don't generally go to chains. But a grateful participant gave me a gift card for The Olive Garden as they were leaving this week. I didn't even know we *had* one here, but apparently we do indeed.

(I *think* they were grateful.....)

Gee, you don't think ad budgets and PR had anything to do with that, do you?

Mondavi, I have no doubt, but Velshi vowed this was not any "official" ad for The Olive Garden - it's just a place he goes often, so he said today.

He's been talking up Olive Garden for at least three years, Paulo -- bitching then about its policy of adding 15% for a tip to the bill. But he seems to visit often according to the transcripts of CNN programs online.

He's been talking up Olive Garden for at least three years, Paulo -- bitching then about its policy of adding 15% for a tip to the bill. But he seems to visit often according to the transcripts of CNN programs online.

I've never heard him do that until today, Bob. I was dragged there a few years ago and thought they had a lot more variety on their wine list, but the food was not to my liking - pasta overcooked, yadee ya. Maybe Velshi IS getting money for mentioning them on air!!!!

He may or may not be, but CNN is certainly receiving some sort of consideration.

[Jenise]

Oh no...say it isn't so. This is totally inconsistent with his taste in glasses. Not that Olive Garden doesn't do some things well, but after I got in a minor tiff with Sam Platt here about Olive Garden, I decided to give them another try. And so I went one to one here in Bellingham, and I explained to our waitress that I was there on a dare of sorts, explaining that I'd had horrible experiences at several of their Texas locations. I figured this would be good to insure that we had an exemplary experience and I could come back here and say, "You know what, it's a lot better than I thought."

Well, she took the bait and assured me that she'd make personally sure I wasn't disappointed. We ordered a shrimp and linguini dish and another featuring short ribs. The latter was excellent, cooked perfectly all the way around. The shrimp? The pasta was ridiculously overcooked. Not just not al dente or even normal-doneness, but flabby-overcooked. So Bob's dish was hauled away, after the waitress defended her efforts on our behalf and showed us how she'd written AL DENTE in big letters after each dish on her order. In order to avoid having to eat separately, we co-ate my dish then his when it arrived. We were offered a free dessert, which we turned down--we don't eat desserts--and they didn't comp anything.

Then a few weeks later a girlfriend asked me to lunch there. I ordered lasagna. It was well-seasoned, but the portion was overly tiny (about 3 inches square, maybe 2 1/2) and barely warm. (I'm sure they cook it, set it aside, then nuke the portions as they're ordered.) Anyway, I'll go again if someone invites me, but voluntarily? No. Even when warned, the clueless teenagers who do the cooking in these places can't get it right.

Maybe I just don't get the geniuses who qualify for the trip to Italy.

Do you know that clueless teenagers do the cooking? I never go there but I was under the impression that they sent their cooks for training at Olive Garden schools. I am told by my friends that Olive Garden here in Redding is very popular and my observation confirms it is always very busy.
My husband goes there regularly with an elderly friend who orders one large meatball with sauce for lunch. The service is excellent and the staff pays attention. Gene seems to like the salads.
Don't you think that each Olive Garden has a restaurant manager who oversees the daily cooking, serving, etc. and that some might be better than others? As I said, I never go there, so I am speculating.

I abhor Olive Garden. And I do not say that lightly. Mostly for the same reasons as anyone else...overcooked pasta, slop on a plate, etc.

But, I especially hate the voice of the Olive Garden guy in the commercials. Every time one of those commercials airs, I go on a rant about how much it bothers me (much to my wife's chagrin)...I don't know what it is. His inflection? The way he sounds so excited about that crap? But it just bothers me to no end. Please, please, please Olive Garden: hire someone else to narrate your commercials!

Ah, the things I miss because I don't watch television.

Am I supposed to know who Ali Velshi is, other than his having bad taste in Italian restaurants?

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Do you know that clueless teenagers do the cooking? I never go there but I was under the impression that they sent their cooks for training at Olive Garden schools. I am told by my friends that Olive Garden here in Redding is very popular and my observation confirms it is always very busy.
My husband goes there regularly with an elderly friend who orders one large meatball with sauce for lunch. The service is excellent and the staff pays attention. Gene seems to like the salads.
Don't you think that each Olive Garden has a restaurant manager who oversees the daily cooking, serving, etc. and that some might be better than others? As I said, I never go there, so I am speculating.

Karen, training people to cook pasta is one thing, making them care about getting food right is another. Olive Garden is no more than a Sizzler for Italian-ish food. The restaurants are always packed--I've never driven past one that wasn't obviously successful so clearly a lot of people love the food. But what I know is that I have been to Olive Gardens twice each in two different states now and have yet to have a completely successful meal--even with a waiter who was primed to give us the best meal possible.

They are clustered in an area and serviced by one commissary. Same set up as their sister, Red Lobster. I think a lot of the food sauces, and some dishes like their cooked short ribs are boiling bagged in individual portions. Just like the Ho Jos. Made as idiot proofed as possible. Believe it or not when they first were developed ( in nthe 1970's) they had a windowed pasta kitchen where you could watch the fresh pasta being made.

If someone takes me to Olive Garden, I eat only one thing: the bottomless pasta fagioli soup and salad. Hard to ruin that.