I have been to Sizzlers twice, Once I was about 10? I just remember a overcooked steak. About 10 years after that I remember going on a date with Tabitha to one. I just remember the smell of it more. a mix of meat and heavy perfume worn by the woman a few tables over.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
edited July 2019
Olive garden seems like it used to be better and is much saltier these days. I still love salt so I don't think my tastes have changed?
Around here for the longest time OG was the only place in town for decently priced Italian food. Everything else was super expensive. Luckily for the last 10 years or so we've seen a resurgence in local eateries and there are much better options for around the same price which I love being able to support.
The big advantage The Garden still has is its centrally located at the mall with plentiful parking. It does make it nice for a quick bite with family from out of town who want something more than fast food but don't have the time or navigation sense to manage downtown driving and parking to try to hit up a restaurant that might only seat 20-30 folks.
Well for a time it was either go to FT Collins for Olive Garden or have decent Italian with jerks back home.
There is an Italian restaurant here I have never been to it but what I have strange is it's remained a Italian place even though in the 12 years I have lived here it's had 7+ owners/rebrands
Olive Garden is better than Applebee's in terms of salty franchise food
but if I want Italian, I will always go to Johnny Carino's first, because it's better and also the only other Italian place around here where you can get dinner for under $20
What's kinda funny to me personally is that I really looked forward to going to Olive Garden as a kid despite the fact that my mom is a very skilled home cook and can make food that tastes far better than OG. She definitely made better lasagna.
OG still has unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks and that's worth their existence.
I went to a two-star Italian place and had a seven course meal that ruined all other Italian food for me.
I went to a mom-and-pop Greek place like that here in Houston eons ago; double-date, four courses *with* booze and we didn't even break $120.
*sigh*
Those were the days.
I love multiple course meals. Always something to look forward to next. They're best at the end of the evening so you can go straight home, take your pants off, and be a bum on your couch.
What's kinda funny to me personally is that I really looked forward to going to Olive Garden as a kid despite the fact that my mom is a very skilled home cook and can make food that tastes far better than OG. She definitely made better lasagna.
OG still has unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks and that's worth their existence.
If you're on a budget or it's the only game in town, I can't begrudge those circumstances. However, learning to cook from my family and professionally has been all kinds of rewarding, especially now that I'm no longer in my twenties with the metabolism of a hummingbird.
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
Here, have this delightfully earnest review of an Olive Garden by an 82-year-old woman
Is shitting on Olive Garden classist isn't Olive Garden one of those shitass chain restaurants where you pay fifteen bucks for a plate of something bad
As a kid, places like Olive Garden and Red Lobster were a rare treat because it was expensive for my my parents to take all of us out to dinner at a place where the bill would total out near or over $100.
So like, it does kinda feel bad to have people shit on a restaurant that you considered aspirational because you were poor af, even if their arguments (i.e. a local Italian place is better for the same price) might hold water.
This is me, but Cracker Barrel.
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JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
Too wholesome for the Bad Food Thread. Instead, have this classic attempt at self-annihilation via mozzarella sticks.
You ever get that feeling where you empathize so closely with a story of someone's self-inflicted insanity that you start to lose your grip yourself? No? I should really stop doing this, then.
I know that happened because this line completely destroyed me. It's the hardest I've laughed in months!
4:36 p.m. I realize that my shoulders have, of their own volition, begun slipping up and down to the tune of "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" by Jet. I am now an active participant in the casual fun TGI Friday's atmosphere.
I also love the ones who act as if it's a sin against god and all his creations.
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
I tell you what, it was a chore finding that review because I had to dig down through 5 billion articles referring to it and commenting on it and making fun of it and pointing out how Anthony Bourdain came to the lady’s defense and Jesus Christ Google I just wanted the original review
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
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BaidolI will hold him offEscape while you canRegistered Userregular
even if olive garden isn't amazing, it's still a solid 4ish on a scale of 1-10
so you know it's at least going to be edible and all the food will come out at once
local joints can be hit or miss, if you live in a food desert you may not even have a choice, where I lived in upstate NY the closest restaurant was a ponderosa that was a 45 minute drive away, unless you count the local trucker restaurant (the grist mill) that makes similar food but the quality could be a 6-7 or a 2-3 depending on which cook was cooking. Ponderosa was a solid 5, not good, not bad, but at least consistent. There were hole in the wall restaurants scattered throughout each little village but again, quality varied night to night.
Finding consistency when you're poor is what most poor parents went for, something people can at least enjoy without sending 1/3 of the dishes back during the meal
not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
When I was growing up, olive garden was the italian place that was close enough to eat at and also not super expensive. We were about 30 minutes outside of a not-that-big city in a flyover state so we kinda took what we could get.
So sometimes when I want italian food I still get OG because it is what my dumb brain remembers as pasta, despite having vastly, vastly superior options.
rhylith on
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MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
edited July 2019
(huff...puff)
Did I miss the Olive Garden talk? Cause this needs to be re-shared:
olive garden is bad food and some sorta itallian food simulacra, but it is consistent and edible, which is exactly what big chain restaurants want
I legit like carrabas and will always choose it over OG, but if somebody offered to take me to OG and paid I wouldn't really mind at all
If someone is paying to take me to dinner they can take me pretty much wherever they goddamn please.
You say that, but last time someone took me out to a thank you dinner, it was to the Cici's buffet next to the plasma bank. I've eaten gas station sushi, and that pizza was the most worrying thing I've ever put in my body.
olive garden is bad food and some sorta itallian food simulacra, but it is consistent and edible, which is exactly what big chain restaurants want
I legit like carrabas and will always choose it over OG, but if somebody offered to take me to OG and paid I wouldn't really mind at all
If someone is paying to take me to dinner they can take me pretty much wherever they goddamn please.
You say that, but last time someone took me out to a thank you dinner, it was to the Cici's buffet next to the plasma bank. I've eaten gas station sushi, and that pizza was the most worrying thing I've ever put in my body.
If you end up there again, just fill up on the cheese bread and the desserts. The pizza sucks (mainly in that the crust is awful), but the cheese bread is pretty decent for some reason.
I'll ride hard for buffet pudding pizza for some reason.
Posts
You prrrrrricck!!!
Around here for the longest time OG was the only place in town for decently priced Italian food. Everything else was super expensive. Luckily for the last 10 years or so we've seen a resurgence in local eateries and there are much better options for around the same price which I love being able to support.
The big advantage The Garden still has is its centrally located at the mall with plentiful parking. It does make it nice for a quick bite with family from out of town who want something more than fast food but don't have the time or navigation sense to manage downtown driving and parking to try to hit up a restaurant that might only seat 20-30 folks.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
There is an Italian restaurant here I have never been to it but what I have strange is it's remained a Italian place even though in the 12 years I have lived here it's had 7+ owners/rebrands
but if I want Italian, I will always go to Johnny Carino's first, because it's better and also the only other Italian place around here where you can get dinner for under $20
I went to a mom-and-pop Greek place like that here in Houston eons ago; double-date, four courses *with* booze and we didn't even break $120.
*sigh*
Those were the days.
OG still has unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks and that's worth their existence.
I love multiple course meals. Always something to look forward to next. They're best at the end of the evening so you can go straight home, take your pants off, and be a bum on your couch.
It just legitimately bland and sickeningly oil soaked food. I cant eat there anymore
It's my favorite, edging out (and sometimes including) seafood. "Mexican" (the American version) is up there too.
If you're on a budget or it's the only game in town, I can't begrudge those circumstances. However, learning to cook from my family and professionally has been all kinds of rewarding, especially now that I'm no longer in my twenties with the metabolism of a hummingbird.
https://www.grandforksherald.com/lifestyle/2350615-eatbeat-long-awaited-olive-garden-receives-warm-welcome
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
This is me, but Cracker Barrel.
https://gawker.com/my-14-hour-search-for-the-end-of-tgi-fridays-endless-ap-1606122925
You ever get that feeling where you empathize so closely with a story of someone's self-inflicted insanity that you start to lose your grip yourself? No? I should really stop doing this, then.
This is an amazing piece of nihilistic literature, 5 stars on Yelp, I could actually feel my arteries hardening.
I adore how some of the grandmas are like "yeah this is ok"
Need some stuff designed or printed? I can help with that.
I also love the ones who act as if it's a sin against god and all his creations.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I bought frozen mozarella sticks today as a response to this.
Unfortunately, they are not TGIF brand.
so you know it's at least going to be edible and all the food will come out at once
local joints can be hit or miss, if you live in a food desert you may not even have a choice, where I lived in upstate NY the closest restaurant was a ponderosa that was a 45 minute drive away, unless you count the local trucker restaurant (the grist mill) that makes similar food but the quality could be a 6-7 or a 2-3 depending on which cook was cooking. Ponderosa was a solid 5, not good, not bad, but at least consistent. There were hole in the wall restaurants scattered throughout each little village but again, quality varied night to night.
Finding consistency when you're poor is what most poor parents went for, something people can at least enjoy without sending 1/3 of the dishes back during the meal
I legit like carrabas and will always choose it over OG, but if somebody offered to take me to OG and paid I wouldn't really mind at all
So sometimes when I want italian food I still get OG because it is what my dumb brain remembers as pasta, despite having vastly, vastly superior options.
Did I miss the Olive Garden talk? Cause this needs to be re-shared:
Language NSFW (Start at :30 in)
If someone is paying to take me to dinner they can take me pretty much wherever they goddamn please.
I beg your pardon, you irascible rapscallion, I most certainly did no such thing.
(This is why I was picked on as a child.)
This will be here until I receive an apology or Weedlordvegeta get any consequences for being a bully
You say that, but last time someone took me out to a thank you dinner, it was to the Cici's buffet next to the plasma bank. I've eaten gas station sushi, and that pizza was the most worrying thing I've ever put in my body.
Someone filled it with cilantro
Wud yoo laek to lern aboot meatz? Look here!
If you end up there again, just fill up on the cheese bread and the desserts. The pizza sucks (mainly in that the crust is awful), but the cheese bread is pretty decent for some reason.
I'll ride hard for buffet pudding pizza for some reason.