Olive Garden

Dee Randall said:

Watching Batali & Scott do their Iron Chef with cheese while writing this.
I've never seen the chefs scurry so fast. I'm also cheering for Mario.

Today was a shopping day, so decided to eat out at the newest restaurant in
Winchester (Olive Garden) and an espresso at Borders, the new Borders
without windows in the coffee shop! Since there was no one ordering I
decided to decide what a double espresso really cost there. It was not
easy.

In a 12 oz. cup, a single shot is $1.70; one additional shot with the single
shot is $.55 making it $2.25.
In a 16 oz. cup, a double is $1.95.
Now don't ask me what an Americano is, that's a whole different ball game.

I like Americano, with heavy cream and Splenda. That's a nice way to
make coffee.

Quoted message said:

So -- I ordered a double espresso in a 16 oz. cup, asking for about 1/4 cup
of HOT water. I discussed with the person that I liked hot coffee the
reason that I wanted a little water with the espresso. The person gave us a
porcelain cup for our espressos (DH ordered same). Joy did not last long --
the person had put cold water into the espresso.

As we were getting a new Mp3 player installed in our car we had time to go
to Olive Garden -- we had planned it this way -- even though it was around
1:00 pm, it looked like an hour's wait. We went back at 2:00 and were
served at 2:30. DH ordered steak with noodles with alfredo/gorgonzola.
Quite good. Me -- cheese raviolis -- nothing to write home about, but
edible. Salad not as good as the I remember a few years back, I've never
liked the little soft long garlic rolls. The wine that they were serving
for $4.95 & $5.95 a glass I was familiar with and would not buy the wine for
private use. So I decided to try the $3.25 per glass house brand and it
wasn't bad, so we both had a glass. No coffee, no dessert. Lunch with 1
glass wine each with tax and tip, a little over $37.00. They have a
different menu at night.

Since they have such an overwhelming amount of customers they are glad that
Red Lobster will be coming soon. We'll try that once and just stick with
straight fish -- no noodles.

Aren't Olive Garden and Red Lobster the same company?

Quoted message said:

Dee Dee

--Bryan

On 23 Mar 2006 21:50:23 -0800, "Food Snob" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Aren't Olive Garden and Red Lobster the same company?

Same customers, at least.

-sw

In article <[email hidden]>,

Steve Wertz said:

On 23 Mar 2006 21:50:23 -0800, "Food Snob" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Aren't Olive Garden and Red Lobster the same company?

Same customers, at least.

That too. I've never ever seen one without the other right next door.

--
Dan Abel
[email hidden]
Petaluma, California, USA

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dan Abel said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Steve Wertz said:

On 23 Mar 2006 21:50:23 -0800, "Food Snob" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Aren't Olive Garden and Red Lobster the same company?

Same customers, at least.

That too. I've never ever seen one without the other right next door.

This is a Canadian site, but it talks about all of North America:

http://www.redlobstercanada.restaurantjobs.hcareers.ca/

Here's part of what it says:

"Darden Restaurants, Inc. is the largest publicly traded casual dining
restaurant company in the world. We serve more than 300 million meals
annually at 1,381 restaurants in 49 states and Canada. Our five
restaurant concepts are Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama
Breeze and our newest concept Seasons 52."

--
Dan Abel
[email hidden]
Petaluma, California, USA

Quoted message said:

As we were getting a new Mp3 player installed in our car we had time to go
to Olive Garden

I wonder if the best Olive Garden in the world is in Italy. :-)

"Steve Wertz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 23 Mar 2006 21:50:23 -0800, "Food Snob" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Aren't Olive Garden and Red Lobster the same company?

Same customers, at least.

-sw

Ha, Ha, that's a good one -- but I think that's very true for both.
Dee Dee

"Abe" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

As we were getting a new Mp3 player installed in our car we had time to
go
to Olive Garden

I wonder if the best Olive Garden in the world is in Italy. :-)

There is no question about that.
Need plane fare.
Dee Dee

In article <[email hidden]>,
"Dee Randall"

Quoted message said:

Since they have such an overwhelming amount of customers they are glad that
Red Lobster will be coming soon. We'll try that once and just stick with
straight fish -- no noodles.

Both were owned by General Mills before they spun off their restaurants
to Darden Corporation. (I think that's the name.) I like the OG salad.

Best walleye I ever had was at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. :-)
--
-Barb
<www.jamlady.eboard.com> Updated 3-21-2006 Hot Stuff!

"If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all."

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dan Abel said:

Here's part of what it says:

"Darden Restaurants, Inc. is th
. Our five
restaurant concepts are Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama
Breeze and our newest concept Seasons 52."

"Restaurant concept." Nice phrase.

--
-Barb
<www.jamlady.eboard.com> Updated 3-21-2006 Hot Stuff!

"If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all."

Melba's Jammin' <[email hidden]> hitched up their
panties and posted news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dan Abel said:

Here's part of what it says:

"Darden Restaurants, Inc. is th
. Our five
restaurant concepts are Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama
Breeze and our newest concept Seasons 52."

"Restaurant concept." Nice phrase.

We've just gotten a new one called "Big Bear Grill", or something like
that. I got a to-go menu. Pretty standard steak like place. I would
definitely call it a "Restaurant concept."

Michael

--
"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she
served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been
found."

--Calvin Trillin

Dan Abel <[email hidden]> hitched up their panties and posted news:dabel-
[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Steve Wertz said:

On 23 Mar 2006 21:50:23 -0800, "Food Snob" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Aren't Olive Garden and Red Lobster the same company?

Same customers, at least.

That too. I've never ever seen one without the other right next door.

I think they are owned by the same corporation. I'll not go to Red Lobster
but I like some of Olive Garden's menu items and I love their salad. Now
that I think about it, I like Pasta House's salad too. None of them are
memorable enought to go back to on a routine basis.

Michael

--
"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she
served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been
found."

--Calvin Trillin

On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 00:03:20 -0500, in rec.food.cooking, "Dee Randall"
<[email hidden]> hit the crackpipe and declared:

Quoted message said:

Watching Batali & Scott do their Iron Chef with cheese while writing this.
I've never seen the chefs scurry so fast. I'm also cheering for Mario.

Today was a shopping day, so decided to eat out at the newest restaurant in
Winchester (Olive Garden) and an espresso at Borders, the new Borders
without windows in the coffee shop! Since there was no one ordering I
decided to decide what a double espresso really cost there. It was not
easy.

In a 12 oz. cup, a single shot is $1.70; one additional shot with the single
shot is $.55 making it $2.25.
In a 16 oz. cup, a double is $1.95.
Now don't ask me what an Americano is, that's a whole different ball game.

So -- I ordered a double espresso in a 16 oz. cup, asking for about 1/4 cup
of HOT water. I discussed with the person that I liked hot coffee the
reason that I wanted a little water with the espresso. The person gave us a
porcelain cup for our espressos (DH ordered same). Joy did not last long --
the person had put cold water into the espresso.

As we were getting a new Mp3 player installed in our car we had time to go
to Olive Garden -- we had planned it this way -- even though it was around
1:00 pm, it looked like an hour's wait. We went back at 2:00 and were
served at 2:30. DH ordered steak with noodles with alfredo/gorgonzola.
Quite good. Me -- cheese raviolis -- nothing to write home about, but
edible. Salad not as good as the I remember a few years back, I've never
liked the little soft long garlic rolls. The wine that they were serving
for $4.95 & $5.95 a glass I was familiar with and would not buy the wine for
private use. So I decided to try the $3.25 per glass house brand and it
wasn't bad, so we both had a glass. No coffee, no dessert. Lunch with 1
glass wine each with tax and tip, a little over $37.00. They have a
different menu at night.

Since they have such an overwhelming amount of customers they are glad that
Red Lobster will be coming soon. We'll try that once and just stick with
straight fish -- no noodles.

Yahoo!!!! 53 Batali; Campbell 40!!!!
On to Emeril making Comfort Foods, making a kicked up green bean
casserole --- you be the judge - I wouldn't consider that a comfort food;
others might.
Dee Dee

What a pile of garbage yuppie [censored] you are. I hope you die soon.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I wonder if the best Olive Garden in the world is in Italy. :-)

Quoted message said:

There is no question about that.
Need plane fare.

I just got back from Italy and I'll tell you, the food is worse than
Olive Garden (at least where I went: Venice, Florence, Milan). There
are soooo many tourists that they can serve any kind of cr@p and still
stay in business. Sure, there are good restaurants, but they were
quite expensive and off the beaten track.

I can't really complain: prosciutto or grilled vegetable sandwiches
were just a couple bucks, and Campari soda or prosecco (local
champagne) washed them down. But I never ate so many sandwiches in my
life, and by week three I was *dying* for a plate of spaghetti with a
nice marinara sauce.

On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 00:03:20 -0500, in rec.food.cooking, "Dee Randall"
<[email hidden]> hit the crackpipe and declared:

Quoted message said:

So I decided to try the $3.25 per glass house brand and it
wasn't bad, so we both had a glass.

Who drove afterwards?

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I just got back from Italy and I'll tell you, the food is worse than
Olive Garden (at least where I went: Venice, Florence, Milan). There
are soooo many tourists that they can serve any kind of cr@p and still
stay in business. Sure, there are good restaurants, but they were
quite expensive and off the beaten track.

I can't really complain: prosciutto or grilled vegetable sandwiches
were just a couple bucks, and Campari soda or prosecco (local
champagne) washed them down. But I never ate so many sandwiches in my
life, and by week three I was *dying* for a plate of spaghetti with a
nice marinara sauce.

I never heard anything so ridiculous in my entire life. If you go to
Italy and can't find excellent cheap food you have only yourself to
blame. It's like going to Germany and complaining about the beer.

--
Peter Aitken

"Michael "Dog3" Lonergan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dan Abel <[email hidden]> hitched up their panties and posted news:dabel-
[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Steve Wertz said:

On 23 Mar 2006 21:50:23 -0800, "Food Snob" <[email hidden]>
wrote:

>Aren't Olive Garden and Red Lobster the same company?

Same customers, at least.

That too. I've never ever seen one without the other right next door.

I think they are owned by the same corporation. I'll not go to Red
Lobster
but I like some of Olive Garden's menu items and I love their salad. Now
that I think about it, I like Pasta House's salad too. None of them are
memorable enought to go back to on a routine basis.

Michael

I believe I've written about the last time I went to Red Lobster -- my food
was garbage, some sort of crab alfredo -- absolutely disgusting. But I'll
go again when one opens here -- one time probably -- but it will only be
grilled fish, grilled fish, grilled fish!

I was disappointed a bit in the salad they served yesterday; it was
definitely not up-to-standard. But still OK.

We were laughing about a person's relating to us that they had a long wait
at this Olive Garden, so they went out and watched a DVD in their van. I
suppose those little battery-operated beepers worked all the way out to the
parking lot.
Dee Dee

Quoted message said:

I never heard anything so ridiculous in my entire life. If you go to
Italy and can't find excellent cheap food you have only yourself to
blame. It's like going to Germany and complaining about the beer.

First, let me ask a question. Why are people here so quick to negate
-- not refute, not question -- other peoples' opinions? Aside from the
sheer egotistical gall of it, hasn't anybody ever heard of TACT? There
are polite ways to question somebody's veracity, and the word
"ridiculous" doesn't feature in any of them. For the second time in
two days I find my opinion being leapt on by some clueless yahoo, and
frankly I thought this was a nicer newsgroup than that.

Mr. Aitken, do me a favor: Go to Google and search for "+venice +italy
+food +overpriced +tourist." You'll get four hundred hits. The first
one says "And to be honest, no-one goes to Venice for the food. It is
among the least interesting in Italy, little more than nosh if it’s
authentic, and often very ... "

We'll never know what Venetian food is often very, because the page is
gone, but anybody who scored over a hundred on their SATs will probably
guess the next word is "bad."

The second hit, at epinions, says "Expensive and lousy food, tourist
traps." And another one farther down says "Venice has a reputation for
having uninspired restauranteurs. It's the only place in Italy where
you long to return to America for food. . . ." Gosh, which is EXACTLY
what I said.

In the future, Mr. Aitken, stay the hell away from my posts until
you've learned some manners. I have better things to do that argue
with egotistical little yahoos.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I wonder if the best Olive Garden in the world is in Italy. :-)

Quoted message said:

There is no question about that.
Need plane fare.

I just got back from Italy and I'll tell you, the food is worse than
Olive Garden (at least where I went: Venice, Florence, Milan). There
are soooo many tourists that they can serve any kind of cr@p and still
stay in business. Sure, there are good restaurants, but they were
quite expensive and off the beaten track.

I can't really complain: prosciutto or grilled vegetable sandwiches
were just a couple bucks, and Campari soda or prosecco (local
champagne) washed them down. But I never ate so many sandwiches in my
life, and by week three I was *dying* for a plate of spaghetti with a
nice marinara sauce.

I can believe what you say. We were in Florence many, many years ago and
there were so many people on the streets and in the stores that you could
hardly move. I would never want to go there again. We went to Verona,
looked at our hotel -- I still remember the name -- Romeo and Juliet --
cancelled, had a coffee at the concert stadium in the middle of the town
where we were forced to listen to the music blaring out of the forum which
gave us a complete headache and we high-tailed it to Riva del Garden -- Ah,
I relive those few days at Riva often.
Now that I look back on that 3 week trip I can recall nothing exceptionally
about the food; but I was not so aware of food at that time.
Thanks for your travel-log -- I love to hear these little personal travel
stories.
Dee Dee

Quoted message said:

We were in Florence many, many years ago and there were
so many people on the streets and in the stores that you could
hardly move.  I would never want to go there again.

Dee, that's my sentiment exactly. I know *somebody* told me to go
there, but when I got home everybody pleaded the Fifth. All my friends
said they hated it, for those exactly reasons. The streets are too
small, it's too crowded, there are AGGRESSIVE bums and drunks, and huge
speeding tour buses and suicidal kids on Vespas ready to flatten
anybody who lets their mind drift for a second.

Venice, on the other hand, is absolute heaven on earth. I went there
during some magical window: it was warm enough I didn't need a jacket
(well, for a couple days), and there were NO tourists. I've been to
some great places -- Paris, London, south of France, San Francisco --
and nowhere comes close to Venice. Honestly, for the rest of my life
I'm going to be haunted by its startling, unbelievable beauty.