Rarely eat there, and apparently fewer people are. Is it a case of “it used to be better/cheaper”?
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/revamps-olive-garden-red-lobster-fall-flat-140907745--finance.html
I don’t like red Lobster but I am a big fan of Olive Garden.
I don’t eat at either place often but I do enjoy both.
I probably go to each less than 3 times a year.
I never eat at those two. Red Lobster isn’t even on my list of places to dine and I prefer Carraba’s to Olive Garden. The OG nearest me is always packed on the weekends so I don’t believe they’re having trouble. At least not in my area…
Now Applebee’s… I cheer everytime one of those closes up. I really can not stand that place.
Same here. I’ve fallen out of favor a bit with Red Lobster since their meal quality seems to have slipped a bit but as for OG, yea I love me some OG.
I am from the coast so I do not care much for chain seafood restaurants. Olive Garden is a solid “OK,” but there are many competitors in their market.
Always a great meal at the OG.
Olive Garden the “Dennys” of what is promoted as decent Italian food.
Red Lobster might be ok if you are in the midwest where fresh seafood simply doesn’t exist but I’m amazed that anyone in coastal regions would ever eat at one.
I know people who eat lunch at OG because they have some kind of unlimited soup and sandwich special or whatever and I agree that it’s better than McDonalds…but the people who pay the prices to eat dinner there mystify me.
Won’t eat at OG at all. The only good thing at Red Lobster is the cheddar biscuits. I’m Italian and love to cook. So I’m a snob when it comes to Italian food. OG does bad Italian. Carrabas is better but still not the real thing.
I love Olive Garden, mainly for their breadsticks! However, the one in my town has lost a lot of business after getting sued because about half a dozen people were hospitalized with food poisoning from the salad there a few months back. Since then it’s take a huge hit.
Used to quite enjoy the Olive Garden’s salad and breadsticks, some of their desserts were tasty, but most of their meal dishes I thought were only so-so. Red Lobster I can’t personally stomach. Surprised olive Garden is having any issues though the one down by me is usually doing brisk business.
Are you in NC? Same thing happened here in Fayetteville.
There are so many awesome Italian restaurants in NJ, there is no need for places like the Olive Garden. Same could be said for seafood places but I have no idea why, my wife and I love Red Lobster lol
Never liked Dead Lobster.
Olive Garden is o…k but not nearly good enough to go there if I have other options. The chains Bravo and Carrabba’s are, IMHO, much better, along with almost any proprietary Italian restaurant.
I think a lot of restaurant chains have a lifecycle, people go there as kids, like them, go there tons as an adult, then trail off, while their own kids see them as an old fogey’s choice and just don’t go there much. There was a regional chain in Michigan called Bill Knapp’s which was pretty good, but went through that exact cycle, and was bankrupt and gone around 2003 or so. A lot of their customer base had simply died off.
It’s hard to eat Italian food from a chain when you are Italian and make better food at home. It’s like making pasta with Prego at home…
Caraba’s is closer to home cooking than OG.
Yuck!
Olive Garden is NOT Italian food.
Red Lobster is NOT sea food.
I avoid most large chain restaurants like the plague. Ditto for fast food joints. Processed over-salted junk that just makes you fat…no thank you.
Plenty of REAL sea food places here and individual-owned restaurants and small local chains.
-brickboy240
Olive Garden
There must be a variation in different states because all of the restaurants that I have dined at were mediocre at best.
I went a month ago with family because someone had a gift card. The service was terrible and the food didn’t seem worth the price $22.00 for a chicken alfredo dish.
I have had frozen dinners from Stouffer’s that tasted better.
If you ever have the pleasure of dining in a true Italian restaurant with homemade style prepared fresh ingredients then you will appreciate how lousy Olive Garden and the other chain restaurants are in comparison.
Red Lobster is not much better as well.
If you live near a large city or in a large city…there is absolutely no reason to ever go to Olive Garden.
Chances are your town has decent to good Italian food somewhere else.
Olive Garden and it’s ilk are for old people with no taste buds left or country hicks living nowhere near populations with decent restaurants.
Nobody else should ever darken their door…sorry.
-brickboy240
My thoughts exactly…
Country hick…pffft. I’ve got a 500 yard rifle range 8 miles from my house. I like the country.