Is it safe to say that Garlic Bread to Pasta is equivelant to Fries with Burger? Is this a fair comparison? Of the various Pastas I have at various restaurants globally, the majority of them come with a complimentary Garlic Bread. The ones that generally don't come with Garlic Bread are usually those Cold Pasta Salad.

If we are talking proper Italian pasta, no.

However for the Globalised version that would seem a fair statement.

I have family in Salerno. Lunch is almost always pasta. I have never been offered or seen garlic bread. The same goes for most restaurants I have eaten at in Italy that are primarily for locals.

I remember that we ate there in between Switzerland/Italy lines. I ate lasagna and it was so delicious to eat there in Southern Switzerland. It was quite so enjoyable that I ate small conzone and I am never see it before. Coudl be very interested things to do.

It can be, however I prefer a French baugette or some other white bread variety with my pasta.

It's just refined carbohydrate overload!

My thought - Garlic bread is often offered to mask the fact that the rest of the food is pretty bland and boring. By filling you up and overwhelming your senses with the butter and garlic, you don't notice the rest of the meal isn't up to it.

It's pretty much an invention of the Italian American restaurant, outside the tourist areas you probably won't find it that often in Italy (though you probably won't find that much pasta either)

But it's so good! I'd go with the burger+fries analogy - since the foodies are hatin

In visits to Italy dating back to 1962, I don't ever recall encountering what we 'Merkins would view as "Garlic Bread", nor would I expect it when seeking out better Italian food in the US. "Bruschetta" (in all its manifestations and incarnations) is on a different level, although much of the Bruschetta these days approaches the "Pizza on Toast" category. I do recall a (Ligurian?) morning favorite, a "day old' loaf, split and toasted topped with pesto or a topping of oil, garlic and a modest dose of anchovies.

On the other hand, on visits to Spain over the same half-century, I've rarely passed up the Spanish versions of bread toasted with oil and garlic, with the little bowl of fresh tomato pulp for a topping applied after toasting, a standard at the tapas counters.