Local Restaurant Review: Olive Garden (Harbison) (Columbia: home, restaurants, price)
Columbia areaColumbia - Lexington - Irmo
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Note, this is not in "Food and Drink" because it is a review of a local store, not the entire chain, or the food category...
Ok, for those of you who will say, "You can't expect great food from Olive Garden." I say, "Why not?" It is a kitchen, with chefs and food inside. You should at least be able to expect "OK."
I went today because I wanted a treat and because I like Fettuccine. For perspective, prior to this trip I went to the Macaroni Grill and ordered a similar meal about six months ago and found it quite good. Just to give it a chance I decided to try OG today.
It was terrible. The Fettuccine had absolutely no seasoning. It was as if the chef had his taste buds surgically removed years ago and cannot remember what seasoning is. Along with the noodles, I also ordered stuffed mushrooms. They were big and wet; they had a good texture, but again no zing at all. The cheese and whatever else they are using as stuffing were OK, but could not rescue the overall lack of taste in the mushrooms. The only hope I have now is for the salad - how bad can it be? But I won't know until tomorrow's lunch.
All-in-all, I feel that what I get in the "Stouffers" box is a far better meal at a fraction of the cost; but I wanted better than Stouffer's tonight.
One more thing. I ordered out, and had to drive 1.4 miles to home before I could "dig in." This is about a 10 minute drive. Should the meal have lost all of it's heat in that short time?
Maybe in six months I will try the MG version again, this OG meal is not worth it at any price.
There is no "chef" in an Olive Garden. There is a kitchen manager and cooks. The kitchen manager likely has restaurant experience but is not a trained chef. There is no need. Most everything is "speed scratch." Nothing is created. Every restaurant has to be the same so the recipes are standardized. It's mix, heat and serve.
The alfredo sauce comes already made, frozen in a bag. It's thawed overnight in the cooler or in cold water in a sink and simply heated up.
Why bother reviewing a "microwave" chain? There are so many better, locally owned options.
I couldn't agree more. Columbia had some very good Italian restaurants. Chain restaurants are for people who aren't from the area and don't want to risk an independent.
Trying unknown local restaurants is one of my favorite things about going to new places. In the age of the internet, it's easy to learn where the good local spots are and there is no reason to go to a bland chain unless that's what you prefer or you're in a soulless area with no other option. I think this explains why places like Olive Garden, Applebee's, etc., are struggling these days.
A big national chain like OG is going to have every menu item focus-group tested to death until what remains is something blah and predictable that doesn't offend any local palates, is low in salt for their older clientele who are told to watch their intake, and can be easily and quickly replicated by line cooks with little training. It exists for the customer who wants the appearance of experiences without the risk of getting a single toe outside their comfort zone.
A big national chain like OG is going to have every menu item focus-group tested to death until what remains is something blah and predictable that doesn't offend any local palates, is low in salt for their older clientele who are told to watch their intake, and can be easily and quickly replicated by line cooks with little training. It exists for the customer who wants the appearance of experiences without the risk of getting a single toe outside their comfort zone.
So, if this is true, why do you think Macaroni Grill has a much better Fettuccine or that the same meal in the Concord, NC location is pretty good? It is typical that people will say, what do you expect... What I am saying is that this particular store has horrible food compared to other locations that I have been to and enjoyed. Yes, they are all national chain restaurants. But no, the individual stores are not all terrible.
Olive Garden prepares very little on site. The majority of their food is prepared in regional kitchens, flash frozen and sent to stores. Outside of boiling spaghetti noodles, chopping salads and baking bread sticks not much cooking goes on in the restaurant.
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