Tell me about Olive Garden!

1andrea

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 12, 2006
Hello!

I’m planning my gazillionth trip and we’ve never been to Olive Garden and I’m not sure why!!

Can you let me know what you thought of it please and post any pictures of your meals.

Thank you xx
 
Olive Garden is kinda like Bella Italia, but American Italian if you get what I mean. Its a chain restaurant so Im sure you will get Americans telling you not to go, the food is crap, blah blah blah. But honestly for us Europeans, who dont have Olive Garden, its just another part of the American experience. I love it :)
 
We enjoy Olive Garden they do some nice vegetarian Italian options, we found you need to book a table at weekends
 
I would definitely say to give it a go!
OG gets a bad wrap because it’s an Americanized chain restaurant & while that might be true, the food is consistently good, the portions are sizable & it’s affordable. I think it has a warm, homey feeling & we have been lucky to always have good service.
I’ve been to all kinds of Italian restaurants & don’t hold OG in a bad light because it’s a chain.
Try the Chicken Scampi... it’s delicious!
 


Meh. It's Italian-ish kind of food.

It can be tasty I guess. Their bread sticks are ok. Most of the food gives me indigestion.
 
I enjoy Olive Garden and they normally have specials on if you check their website. Early bird specials too.
 
Go for Olive Garden & Try Longhorn Steakhouse , Texas Roadhouse , And Manny's Chop House

All on Hwy 192 10 min drive from Animal Kingdom Entrance

All are far better & cheaper that what is offered inside the Disney Dining area.
 


Anyone who calls this place real italian food needs to go find some. Its an ok place but it will not blow your socks off. The prices are a bit nuts. If you want 2 meatballs its like 3$ extra. Also if you dont like the veggy salad and just want ceaser dressing and romane its 3$ more aswell. To each there own but I wont ever go back.
 
Olive Garden is kinda like Bella Italia, but American Italian if you get what I mean. Its a chain restaurant so Im sure you will get Americans telling you not to go, the food is crap, blah blah blah. But honestly for us Europeans, who dont have Olive Garden, its just another part of the American experience. I love it :)


Thank you!! I love the American experience and love lots of American chains so fingers crossed I like this one! x
 
I would definitely say to give it a go!
OG gets a bad wrap because it’s an Americanized chain restaurant & while that might be true, the food is consistently good, the portions are sizable & it’s affordable. I think it has a warm, homey feeling & we have been lucky to always have good service.
I’ve been to all kinds of Italian restaurants & don’t hold OG in a bad light because it’s a chain.
Try the Chicken Scampi... it’s delicious!

Ive had a look at the menu and I was onsidering the Chicken Scampi!! Thanks xx
 
Go for Olive Garden & Try Longhorn Steakhouse , Texas Roadhouse , And Manny's Chop House

All on Hwy 192 10 min drive from Animal Kingdom Entrance

All are far better & cheaper that what is offered inside the Disney Dining area.



To be honest Im not a big Steak Fan, I have been to Longhorns before and enjoyed it though! xx
 
Anyone who calls this place real italian food needs to go find some. Its an ok place but it will not blow your socks off. The prices are a bit nuts. If you want 2 meatballs its like 3$ extra. Also if you dont like the veggy salad and just want ceaser dressing and romane its 3$ more aswell. To each there own but I wont ever go back.


I think Ill be wanting Caeser dressing too!!
 
I love breadsticks!!

Then go for lunch as they are basically all you can eat. (talk about the American experience, lol)

Or at least they were. I don't know as I haven't been to one in years.

For a slightly better dining experience in the Italian flavor, I prefer Carrabba's. They are a chain as well but, IMO of course, have way better food and atmosphere for a slightly higher price.

If you want a real American chain restaurant dining experience, go to Chili's/Applebee's/TGIFriday's/ (basically the same restaurant and use the same food distributor).

In these types of places you will find relatively inexpensive tasty but meh quality food cooked with care in a microwave or reheated as it was already prepared and portioned at 8 AM that morning. You get huge portions that could likely feed your whole family on one plate. Make sure to get the 2 for one bud light and endless soda refills to wash it all down. Then split a ridiculous desert sometimes served on a skillet for no apparent reason!!

Hehe, sorry I worked in these types of places for so long I became incredibly jaded.
 
We really enjoy Olive Garden. Are there better non-chain Italians, yes, but it is what it is and it does a pretty good job. Free unlimited breadsticks and salad (salad is very good).
 
Its good for the price, clearly not cooked fresh, especially dishes like Lasanga, and the Marinara sauce is clearly out of a tin.

Casual dining, so no need to dress up. As others mentioned, kinda like Bella Italia. The one on I-Drive can get busy, the one in on the 192 near Celebration is often alot quieter.
 
All I can say is that last time we went, my adult niece got food poisoning from the sausage and spent the next day throwing up everywhere. We missed our reservations for lunch at the the castle and the little one missed her BBB. Never ever will I go there again.
 
Sorry to Hijack the thread, but on a similar note, can someone explain Cheesecake Factory to someone whose never been?
 
I recommend Carrabba’s instead. The food and experience is much better than Olive Garden. For us, Olive Garden is way too salty and the red sauce is not that great. I agree with a previous poster, it tastes like tin...so it must be canned sauce.
 

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