I like the Olive Garden.
I know, that’s a loaded statement. Chain restaurants are one of the things that link us in this large and diverse nation, and for whatever reason, Olive Garden is the one that everyone loves to hate, and I’m not sure why. The soup, salad, and breadsticks make a fine vegetarian lunch, one I often enjoyed as a business traveler navigating suburban office parks.
The entrée portions are enormous, but if you fill up on that health soup and salad, then mark off a good two-thirds of the food on your plate, you won’t overdo it. Even better, you won’t have to make lunch for a few days.
That’s a bonus!
Now, I know what excellent Italian food. If you are taking me out for my birthday, there are several places I’d prefer over Olive Garden. Some of these places have Michelin stars and everything! But here’s the thing: they’re in major cities. My husband sometimes takes me to Spiaggia, with its Michelin star, for special occasions, and we both enjoy the food there immensely.
But not every occasion calls for an expensive meal, and not everyone has easy access to chefs doing haute takes with top-notch ingredients. Some towns have excellent local red-sauce spots started by Italian immigrant families, but not all do. I’ll go out on a limb and say that Olive Garden is the best Italian restaurant in LaCrosse, WI, Springfield, MO, and Fargo, ND.
To me, it’s simple: these are different types of experiences. Slurping scattone on a cold winter night at my high-school friend Candy’s house in Youngstown, Ohio isn’t the same as devouring a plate of rigatoni with vodka sauce at the Vernon Park Tap in Chicago’s Little Italy. Neither of these experiences is the same as a birthday dinner at a trendy Wrigleyville hot spot like Coda di Volpe, or are they the same as a nice family party at a restaurant centrally located to various relatives, that can handle the vegan nieces and the aggressively carnivorous brother-in-law, where there will be no concern about an accessible bathroom for the cousin who smashed up his leg playing hockey, and the bill will be manageable even if your uncle pulls his disappearing act when the check arrives. Everyone will get decent food and leave happy.
People argue that Olive Garden isn’t authentic, but what is? Italian-American home cooking is the result of a century of people adapting basic country cooking from Sicily to American ingredients, techniques, and changing tastes. It’s not what people cook in modern Italy. Recipes evolve, tastes change, and the best cooks innovate. Cookbook author Marcella Hazan introduced Italian techniques and flavors to a wide audience. Her amazing cantaloupe sauce isn’t anyone’s beloved nonna’s secret recipe. It’s her invention, based on a memory of a meal at a restaurant owned by another inventive chef. It’s a better recipe, not a worse one, for being something new.
Like most chain restaurants, the majority of Olive Garden’s food is standardized and prepared in commissaries rather than whipped up fresh in the kitchen. Meanwhile, in Italy, cafes in tourist areas are popping frozen entrees into the microwave, with less care or finesse. (By law, Italian restaurants now need to identify dishes prepared from frozen on their menus. Visitors wanting freshly made food better be prepared to pay up and check the Michelin list.) At Olive Garden, your pre-made dinner will have an enthusiastic display of gooey, melted cheese and come served with all the fresh soup and salad you can eat. It won’t have ice crystals or taste reheated.
Olive Garden is not hip. It is not a place to see or be seen, nor does it have cozy neighborhood charm. It’s a perfectly good corporate chain offering perfectly good food in an inoffensive and wheelchair-friendly, accessible setting. It can handle families, and it serves champagne and rich desserts for those who are celebrating a special occasion. There is far more in our culture to be offended about that that.\
One recent weekend here in Guadalajara, I was bedridden by an intestinal illness and engulfed with homesickness. After three days of saltines and strawberry-kiwi electrolyte solution, I wanted soup. Where could I get a good vegetarian soup in Guadalajara? Why, the Olive Garden!
I set myself up with a good book in a booth and enjoyed the afternoon. The soup was amazing. And yes, I had all the breadsticks I could eat; that day, exactly half. I’d say I got my money’s worth.
