Olive Garden

[LISA]

I figured that since I went here tonight, I might as well have written about the food I had. Russ and I met up with Shawna, Michelle and Donna after I was done work. There were SO many people in the place and lots of Christmas parties going on to...many tables had presents around them!! It IS the season.

Even though we got there later on, I ordered the MIX IT YOURSELF appetizer...something light for the night! I chose the stuffed mushroom caps, calamari and mozzerella fingers (they were shaped like triangles though) for $9.75. That was a good price for a really good dish...you get little portions of everything though, but lots of stuffed mushroom caps which are SO juicy and tender! It also came with 2 kinds of sauces to dip in. I really liked this dish a lot and would order it again. I looked at their dessert menu and WOW does their stuff look really good...for the 2 times that I have been to the OG, I think I ordered one rose sauce tortellini which I did NOT like...but had the seafood fettucine which was good. I like the idea of getting free breadsticks and salad though....never hurts!!

But don't get their bellini's..that time when I tried my first one, I thought it was good-but as you know, Joey's and Moxies holds the record.

So Olive Garden isn't too bad when you order the right dish...of course I don't really know which dishes are the best to begin with!!

[Amethyst]

I thought the food at the Olive Garden was good, but the service certainly wasn't.

I was so excited opening my Christmas presents that I managed to knock over an entire full glass of iced tea.  Now, normally when this happens at a restaurant, the server will come over with a cloth or something and at least, well, NOTICE.

I ended up wiping up everything myself with the one cloth napkin that was on the table.  Then I picked up the glass and put the napking in it, because it was all wet and messy.

Still no waitress.  Finally, Shawna stopped a busboy on her way to the washroom and sent him over with a cloth, so he cleaned things up.

Still no one came to ask me if I wanted another drink or anything.

Finally the waitress came to see if the people who had just arrived at the other end of the table wanted drinks.  Then she started to walk away.

So, obviously, she never checked to see if anyone needed refills and she didn't even notice that instead of a drink, I had a glass full of napkins in front of me.

I called her over, and then she was all apologetic that she hadn't noticed, but, umm... maybe I should forget to notice about leaving a tip???

~Michelle

[LISA]

Yeah you could forget to leave the tip and then apologize for forgetting while you are walking out the door! haha I had wondered about the service there that night...did you see how long she took to get my order?? DUH!

I remember the last time we were there, Russ ordered stuffed mushroom caps-after about 5 minutes the manager came out and said something about how sorry he was that the order wasn't ready but that they would give him the caps for free. That was a nice surprise even though we were expecting for the caps to take at least 10 minutes anyways!

I guess this gal wasn't working with a full deck that night-I can't blame her though it seemed massively busy and the full moon WAS starting to work its way...maybe we just gotta give you childproof glasses when you go to a restaurant from now on...ya know, to match the bib! HAHAHAH

[*Alicia*]

I went here with a friend last night after going to the Waterpark in Edmonton! While I thought it was a good deal to recieve free bread sticks and salad, just for my meal which was Spaghetti and meatballs cost $13.50 but then I also ordered a side of Alfredo sauce for the breadsticks and that was an additional $3.50 

The food seemed good but was kinda pricey though 

[Amethyst]

Well, then stay away from the Italian place I went to last weekend!  The entrees were all in the $20 range and no better than Olive Garden.  My friend had her birthday there and the place came recommended by her future sister-in-law who is Italian, but the place really disappointed.  We were a big group, so perhaps that was part of the problem.

~Michelle

[LISA]

Alicia, you went to Edmonton? Did you ever get home from when you were in Calgary? lol

I find it INSANE that an additional dish of Alfredo sauce cost $3.50!! Goodness-did they make it from scratch or something? That is nuts! I wouldn't spend anywhere near that amount for pasta-I can make my own at home for far cheaper. That is why I barely order pasta dishes when going to these restaurants!

Michelle-which restaurant are you talking about? I know that lots of them are SUPER pricey so you gotta be reaaaaaaaaaaaaally careful with going there.

As for the Olive Garden, they say "All you can eat breadsticks and salad" but really their high prices actually charge you for the salad and breadsticks..they just make it seem like you get them for free-anyone in their right mind knows that pasta and meatballs probably costs 5.00 to make!

[Sharon]

I've never tried the Olive Garden, but when I was in the States two summers ago I wanted to try it, but just by looking at it from outside it looked expensive, so I ended up not going...

[Amethyst]

It's kind of mid-range.  Not fancy and super pricey, but not inexpensive either.

~Michelle

[LISA]

The food isn't that great of a deal-then again there are tons of pasta dishes and I just remember the one gross dish I had of ravioli in rosee sauce-it was DISGUSTING! blech-however, I am sure not all their dishes are alike. It IS the home of the Bellini but even those aren't that great!

[Amethyst]

Yeah, Olive Garden really depends on what you order.  I have had some dishes there that were really good and others that were certainly not.  It's funny because I have some friends who LOVE it and always want to go there and others who can't stand the place and refuse to eat there.

Their breadsticks are great and as long as you find the good dishes, you're okay, but it's really hit and miss.

~Michelle

[Sharon]

One thing for sure I really don't like is when Alfredo sauce is all watery...isn't rosee sauce supposed to be served with tortellini? I could never think how that could go with ravioli...

[LISA]

Michelle is right-it is a hit and miss...I actually remember eating a shrimp and scallop fettucini alfredo dish there and liked it! Oops! lol It was still far more expensive than it should be.

Sharon, ravioli and tortellini are really the same thing, except ravioli is cut in big squares and tortellini are shaped in small rounds. Rosee sauce is usually used for smaller cut pasta but it was groooooooss-just cause it was more of a watered down red sauce with chunks in it!

I have to say that I don't mind basil pesto sauce quite as much nowadays-but nothing is more satisfying than Alfredo sauce, even though I get sickened by it after, it is sooooooo good-thankfully I don't eat it much!

[*Alicia*]

Alicia, you went to Edmonton? Did you ever get home from when you were in Calgary? lol

Duh lol yes I did get back to Red Deer but then a friend of mine wanted to hang out-went out for a couple drinks this past weekend and I got a free birthday shooter.

As for the Olive Garden-really my opinion of it is meh! I could make my own pasta for less than what I paid for at this place.

[Amethyst]

Well, all you girls are welcome to make your own pasta.  But the whole point of GOING to a restaurant is to sit back and let someone ELSE do the work!!

~Michelle

[Sharon]

So long as they do a good job  ...But if they are too lazy to make their own sauce and they buy seasoned tomato powder in bulk and mix it with water (like they do at Georgio's here), then I'll be making my own sauce.