Olive Garden First Time Visit Was Disappointing: Review

Olive Garden meal — I went to Olive Garden for the first time. Irene Jiang / Business Insider

2020-02-20T17:57:45.000Z

When Business Insider asked if I'd be interested in trying some Italian restaurant chains with Irene Jiang, the retail team's resident taste-tester, I jumped at the chance.

I mean, who doesn't love Italian food? And with no boyfriend to celebrate Valentine's Day with, I desperately needed some good pasta and calamari to calm my poor broken heart.

Olive Garden was first on the list. I was told it's one of the most famous Italian restaurant chains in America, with hundreds of locations. But since moving to the US from China two years ago, I'd actually never heard of the chain, nor had any of my friends ever suggested eating there.

Still, I was super excited to try it. Before we went, Irene told me, with a mysterious smile, "You know, it's an American Italian chain, so it might be different from what you think."

And after my first meal at the restaurant, I totally see her point. From the environment to the food, Olive Garden was not what I was imagining when I enthusiastically volunteered for the task.

Here's how my first visit to Olive Garden went.

We went to an Olive Garden restaurant in Times Square. If Irene hadn't taken me, I would have definitely missed this place. Its name was on an LED screen that was constantly changing.

We saw that at least part of this location was under construction. I was a bit worried.

Luckily, this long, narrow escalator seemed to be taking us to a different world.

I have probably watched too many romantic movies and gone to too many small family-run Italian restaurants, but I was expecting an intimate inn-like vibe — this spacious and bright space did not seem Italian to me at all.

This painting of Venice was literally the most Italian thing I saw.

But the big windows overlooking Times Square did impress me. Listening to relaxing jazz music while watching one of the busiest sites in the world — that was an experience.

I panic every time I have to pronounce Italian food names, but I had Irene ordering for me this time. We ordered two lemonades, an appetizer sampler, soup, salad, a "Tour of Italy," and a chocolate-brownie lasagna.

We asked for the dishes to come out together, and they did — much quicker than I expected. This is what we got in less than 15 minutes.

I was immediately intrigued by the sampler ($17.29), which comes with a choice of three appetizers. We chose calamari, mozzarella sticks, and lasagna fritta.

All prices are pretax and accurate to the Times Square location of Olive Garden we went to.

I grabbed some calamari first. It was perfectly fried, but I couldn't really notice the squid inside. If I were blindfolded, I would be able to tell only that I was eating fried food. The marinara sauce, though, tasted divine.

It was my first time eating lasagna fritta. For me, Italian food is always a guilty pleasure, and I hoped there would be more creamy ricotta inside.

The high-caloric visual I needed was fulfilled by the mozzarella sticks. The elastic cheese inside just kept going and going.

I don't usually balance my meal with fresh vegetables at Italian restaurants, but since we ordered the salad ($11 with soup), I had to try some.

The salad was just ... salad. It was neither good nor bad.

The zuppa toscana had quite an unusual look for an Italian soup. It was not creamy at all, and it had giant potato chunks in it.

The soup was really salty, and the potatoes seemed as if they were added after the soup was cooked. The tastes did not match.

I was saving Olive Garden's famous free breadsticks to go with the soup. But now I found I preferred to eat them on their own. The bread tasted fresh, and it was slightly crispy and salty.

Finally, our Tour of Italy ($26.79) arrived. It included chicken Parmesan, Alfredo pasta, and lasagna.

The waiter offered to sprinkle some cheese on the dish, and there was simply no way we could say no to that.

We each took half of the goods.

Here was my half. The serving size was quite satisfying. The taste, not so much.

I tried some lasagna first. It tasted pretty average.

And by "average," I mean I would never feel the desire to eat this unless I had no other choice. Some frozen Italian food products might even be better.

The chicken Parmesan, on the other hand, tasted pretty weird.

Usually I would say nothing can go wrong when you have breaded and fried chicken, tomato sauce, and cheese together. But here, the tomato sauce was lacking in flavor, while the chicken was overly salted. Even cheese couldn't save this combo.

We quickly gave up on the chicken and turned to the pasta.

Sadly, the pasta failed us. It was very light, and I felt it could be softer.

Finally, we got to the chocolate-brownie lasagna ($10.49). Dessert time! The highlight of the meal ... or not.

This is the expression Irene and I had after our first bites: "Ex- ... excuse me?"

Not only was it way too sweet, but it tasted more like those cheap cakes full of artificial ingredients and flavors, not something from the dessert heaven that is Italy.

Though quite full, we found ourselves still going back for some calamari.

But the best part of the meal, surprisingly, was the lemonade ($4.75). I got the blueberry, and Irene got kiwi melon. Both were refreshing combinations of sour and sweet.

We couldn't stop sipping.

In general, I found Olive Garden wasn't Italian enough for me. If I'm trying to get some real Italian food and an authentic experience, this is definitely not the place I'll visit. And if I just want some average food, the prices are too high to get me to come back.

I just ate at Olive Garden for the first time, and I don't think I'll be going back. Here's why.

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

I just ate at Olive Garden for the first time, and I don't think I'll be going back. Here's why.

We went to an Olive Garden restaurant in Times Square. If Irene hadn't taken me, I would have definitely missed this place. Its name was on an LED screen that was constantly changing.

We saw that at least part of this location was under construction. I was a bit worried.

Luckily, this long, narrow escalator seemed to be taking us to a different world.

I have probably watched too many romantic movies and gone to too many small family-run Italian restaurants, but I was expecting an intimate inn-like vibe — this spacious and bright space did not seem Italian to me at all.

This painting of Venice was literally the most Italian thing I saw.

But the big windows overlooking Times Square did impress me. Listening to relaxing jazz music while watching one of the busiest sites in the world — that was an experience.

I panic every time I have to pronounce Italian food names, but I had Irene ordering for me this time. We ordered two lemonades, an appetizer sampler, soup, salad, a "Tour of Italy," and a chocolate-brownie lasagna.

We asked for the dishes to come out together, and they did — much quicker than I expected. This is what we got in less than 15 minutes.

I was immediately intrigued by the sampler ($17.29), which comes with a choice of three appetizers. We chose calamari, mozzarella sticks, and lasagna fritta.

I grabbed some calamari first. It was perfectly fried, but I couldn't really notice the squid inside. If I were blindfolded, I would be able to tell only that I was eating fried food. The marinara sauce, though, tasted divine.

It was my first time eating lasagna fritta. For me, Italian food is always a guilty pleasure, and I hoped there would be more creamy ricotta inside.

The high-caloric visual I needed was fulfilled by the mozzarella sticks. The elastic cheese inside just kept going and going.

I don't usually balance my meal with fresh vegetables at Italian restaurants, but since we ordered the salad ($11 with soup), I had to try some.

The salad was just ... salad. It was neither good nor bad.

The zuppa toscana had quite an unusual look for an Italian soup. It was not creamy at all, and it had giant potato chunks in it.

The soup was really salty, and the potatoes seemed as if they were added after the soup was cooked. The tastes did not match.

I was saving Olive Garden's famous free breadsticks to go with the soup. But now I found I preferred to eat them on their own. The bread tasted fresh, and it was slightly crispy and salty.

Finally, our Tour of Italy ($26.79) arrived. It included chicken Parmesan, Alfredo pasta, and lasagna.

The waiter offered to sprinkle some cheese on the dish, and there was simply no way we could say no to that.

We each took half of the goods.

Here was my half. The serving size was quite satisfying. The taste, not so much.

I tried some lasagna first. It tasted pretty average.

And by "average," I mean I would never feel the desire to eat this unless I had no other choice. Some frozen Italian food products might even be better.

The chicken Parmesan, on the other hand, tasted pretty weird.

Usually I would say nothing can go wrong when you have breaded and fried chicken, tomato sauce, and cheese together. But here, the tomato sauce was lacking in flavor, while the chicken was overly salted. Even cheese couldn't save this combo.

We quickly gave up on the chicken and turned to the pasta.

Sadly, the pasta failed us. It was very light, and I felt it could be softer.

Finally, we got to the chocolate-brownie lasagna ($10.49). Dessert time! The highlight of the meal ... or not.

This is the expression Irene and I had after our first bites: "Ex- ... excuse me?"

Not only was it way too sweet, but it tasted more like those cheap cakes full of artificial ingredients and flavors, not something from the dessert heaven that is Italy.

Though quite full, we found ourselves still going back for some calamari.

But the best part of the meal, surprisingly, was the lemonade ($4.75). I got the blueberry, and Irene got kiwi melon. Both were refreshing combinations of sour and sweet.

We couldn't stop sipping.

In general, I found Olive Garden wasn't Italian enough for me. If I'm trying to get some real Italian food and an authentic experience, this is definitely not the place I'll visit. And if I just want some average food, the prices are too high to get me to come back.

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

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