The "italianity" of the Olive Garden is highly questionable IMHO, but I always found the food quite decent for a chain restaurant and I've never been disappointed.

Yes, I've been there.

It's an insult to Italian food.

Or, it's Italian food for people who don't know what real Italian food tastes like :D :D :D

Uhhh, no JS.

I'm a first generation Italian that knows what "real" Italian food tastes like. It doesn't have to be from a "snooty NYC" restaurant. A mom & pop shop can serve it up just fine. As a matter of fact, my local pizzaria often will cook up special dishes for me if I just ask. Sometimes I'm too lazy to cook it myself & they're more than happy to do it for me ^^

My how that area has changed! I lived in Simpsonville back in 1983-84 and the best you could hope for was Bennigans, I think out by the Mall. I've driven past that California whatever (it faces 85, right?) and I like the look of the building - that's not necessarily a sign of fine dining, but I'm more encouraged by that than a shack with an old coondog lying on the front steps. A guilty pleasure back in those days was lunch at The Clock (#?). I made it a point never to read the health inpection column in the paper, though. I worked in a plant with a cafeteria and it was there I first tried grits (horrifying the rest of the plant by pouring maple syrup on them) and stromboli (I kid you not) which has never been surpassed by any I've eaten since.

To take this one step further.. Most, if not all, chain Italian places as well as the local pizzarias do not server real Italian food. They serve a version of special holiday meals.

If Italians actually ate Lasagne, baked ziti, or Carbonara regularly, they would have the same high level of cholesterol and heart disease as Americans do.

At home we only ate those high fat & calorie laden foods on holidays - as in once or twice a year at Christmas & Easter.

I seem to remember that it's name is California Dreamin.

The Staxa____ family have a number of restaurants in the area which are pretty decent. Stax's Grill (in the same strip center as Toys 'R Us) was the one I ate at the most when I lived in the area. Stax's Peppermill is more upscale. Stax's Original is more downscale (meat 'n three, good breakfast). I never was a big fan of Stax's Omega.

Also, I really enjoyed the Peddler Steak House (part of a regional chain). Just be aware that the steak being cut in front of your is larger that it appears. If you want a 12 oz steak, tell them. Salad bar was limited but usually fresh. Also try the Texas toast.

I'm sorry to hear about the food poisoning, BamaVol; I know what that's like. I've gotten it twice after eating at Red Lobsters (different restaurants, different grilled meats). While I'm a fan of Outback, that chain seems to be one of the most consistent for undercooking their meats. I have ordered beef medium well (say an 8 on a 1 to 10 scale) on a number of occasions only to have it served medium rare (4) to medium (6); of course, ordering it well done usually results in a very overcooked piece of meat (say a 12). Until the state agencies who regulate restaurants require the use of temperature probes to determine at least minimal doneness, some unlucky souls are occasionally going to get hit with the consequences of undercooking in any of these restaurants who may be using inexperienced cooks. While I don't know that either your son's situation or mine were the result of undercooking, it wouldn't surprise me.

TRRed,

Hard to prove anything, especially since I wasn't present for the meal. But, he and the others present said it was ordered medium and served very bloody.

His older brother has been a grill cook. I always defer to him on the grill. He tests doneness by pressing on the steak and is always correct, but has been doing this for several years. A probe thermometer would be a good substitute for experience I would imagine.

Great Italian food does not need to come from an overpriced, snotty restaurant in Manhattan. Some of the best Italian food I've ever eaten, aside from Mom's of course, comes from small pizzerias where everything is made fresh and only when you order it.

JS, if all you're eating at is the overpriced, snotty Italian resturants when you come to the Metro NYC area, then you're missing out on quite a bit.

And I'll match any of what you refer to as our "crappy restaurants" against any other Italian restaurants in the country. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. :D

Oh my goodness, I ate at Stax Peppermill one time (Pelham Rd & Haywood). It was, without a doubt, the most overpriced, disgusting and inedible snot-food "luxury" dining experience I have ever had. Horrible! :td:

One other thing. The snotty, uptight New Yorkers that you and others run into are usually not native New Yorkers. They move there for the glamour, night life and the money. The city changes them. Native New Yorkers have grown up in that environment and are used to it, so they, shall I see we, don't get sucked into the "NYC" life.

And while I'm here, comparing Italian restaurants in NYC to Italian restaurants in some parts of the country is like comparing BBQ restaurants in some parts of the country to those in NYC. I've eaten in great BBQ places in Atlanta, Birmingham and Memphis, among others. I've also eaten in "Authentic Southern BBQ" restaurants in the NYC area, including my own suburb. And they all can't compare to those Southern BBQ places I've eaten at.

So you see, it goes both ways.

Outside of my travels to Italy, the best Italian food I've had has been in the family owned restaurants in Boston's North End. Without a doubt. ^

Italian immigrants didn't settle in the south with or without your trailer trash with which you seem to identify.

For real Italian cuisine, you go where the Italian immigrants spread their roots--to New York (much of Brooklyn), Boston (the North End), Philly (south Philly), and Chicago. These areas I put in parentheses aren't exactly in the high-rent districts. :D So those of you with axes to grind against NYC and italian food, think again. Try a family owned restaurant in Bensonhurst. Ask anyone here who has been on dhammer's Brooklyn Reality Tour about authentic italian cuisine they enjoyed with Dan as their leader.

The best italian food I've had was in EZE.

Olive Garden is good comfort food. It along with Red Lobster is just good food for the general masses. Moderately priced, with large portions. I'm against giving *any* company special tax breaks just to come in. If they want to enter the marketplace, then let them compete on a level playing field with the other restaurants.

America does it's "thang" with most food that comes in. Chinese, Mexican and Italian are all changed to match what the locals want. Many people don't even know the truth behind many of the restaurants they go to. Thinking that Outback is a real Ozzie restaurant, or Carrabas is a family run restaurant.

Many of us who know Italian food are indeed natives so whatever your views of "NYC" life is, those are your views. They may not reflect reality for a native. I find it bizarre that distinguishing Italian cuisine from chain cooking makes one snooty. Your view I guess.

That said, your comparison with barbeque is a good one. You can't find good bbq in New York. In fact, smoking pits aren't even legal in the city. So how can anything be authentic. Likewise, you aren't going to Olive Garden for any remote sense of authentic Italian cooking. In terms of "cuisine" it's on par with the likes of Applebee's. :D

I've never been to a Red Lobster. So let me ask....given it's name, can I assume that one can order a boiled lobster by the pound (1 - 1 1/4 lbs, 1 1/4 - 1 1/2lbs, 1 1/2 - 2 lbs)? I would assume with lobster in it's name, this is a standard entree on the menu.