New Olive Garden in Brier Creek????? (Star: stats, eat, rated)

[DPK]

Originally Posted by Bitey

Red Lobster hasn't been a Darden brand for many years now.

Yeah they were acquired from Darden by Golden Gate Capital in 2014.

For reference Golden Gate Capital owns the California Pizza Kitchen and Bob Evans brands.

[ucctgg]

Originally Posted by m378

Sometimes people hate chain restaurants just because it's cool to hate chain restaurants.

But usually it is because the food is not very good.

[m378]

Originally Posted by ucctgg

But usually it is because the food is not very good.

Apparently it's a matter of opinion. Restaurants don't become chains if people don't eat there, and continue to eat there.

[UserNamesake]

Originally Posted by Repatriot

Um, you weren't actually thinking of going there were you.....

Could've locked the thread after this post lol

Originally Posted by SFspiderman

Olive Garden is ...popular with millennials and they’ve been successful embracing to-go options.

That's news to me lol

[Repatriot]

Originally Posted by UserNamesake

Could've locked the thread after this post lol

Speaking of LOL, my comment was tongue in cheek and cheeky because I was replying to a person with 'gourmet' in her handle about OG .

....I'll get my coat......

[brickandiron]

Originally Posted by m378

Apparently it's a matter of opinion. Restaurants don't become chains if people don't eat there, and continue to eat there.

Popular does not equal good.

Cardi B is popular.

[ucctgg]

Originally Posted by m378

Apparently it's a matter of opinion. Restaurants don't become chains if people don't eat there, and continue to eat there.

But you're assuming that because a lot of people eat somewhere, the food is good.

[m378]

Originally Posted by ucctgg

But you're assuming that because a lot of people eat somewhere, the food is good.

Again, it's good enough that along with other factors (price, convenience, kid friendliness, consistency, etc), people go back. You think people would go if they didnt enjoy the food at all? Of course not. Just because you don't think the food is good, doesn't mean others don't.

[Repatriot]

ucctgg an brickandiron - too funny!

[Jkgourmet]

As I stated earlier in this thread, until earlier this year, I hadn't eaten at IT in probably a decade, but a several 'forced' visits earlier this year were surprising. The food was considerably better than expected, an outstanding value, and the service was phenomenal.

I'm not promoting or being a cheerleader for OG, but theirs thread has a lot of misconceptions and outdated information.

Olive Garden has enjoyed an amazing comeback since activist investor Starboard took a big stake in Darden in 2014 and pushed for significant changes at the restaurant chain. This included doing away with a series of culinary sins such as too much sauce on pasta, wasted food and a menu that was straying from its Italian roots.

https://money.cnn.com/2017/06/27/inv...ngs/index.html

Share of Americans who visited Olive Garden in the last 3 months in 2018, by age
Share of respondents
18-29 years 28.07%
30-49 years 29.49%
50-64 years 27.04%

Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/...t-30-days-usa/