I haven't eaten a lot of Olive Garden the last few years. It's not because I don't like it...if you want overly creamy, high calorie 'Italian Food', Olive Garden is consistently tasty. It's not even because I have come over all kinds of healthy. Nope...the real reason is that we only have one Olive Garden in the Tri-Cities(a community of over 250,000)....and the one we do have is a zoo from open to close.
Seeing how packed our local one is, it's tough for me to believe that on a national level, Olive Garden is in increasingly deep financial doo-doo.(It's easier for me to believe that sister restaurant Red Lobster is in trouble). But, the paper has been full of articles saying just that...and now there was one today about how a Hedge Fund company that wants to take over Olive Garden produced a THREE HUNDRED page report about everything that was wrong with Olive Garden(and how the can fix it if they are given a chance).
One of the main things...Olive Garden is giving out too many breadsticks.
HELLO!!!!!!! As adequate as their pasta and soup is...their fresh, warm bread sticks are the best things that end up on the table. If I didn't have access to 7 or 8 of them to sop up the pint of garlicky alfredo sauce that get's dumped on my fettuccini, I wouldn't bother to go.
Maybe it's time to go stand in line for 45 minutes, to help prop up their bottom line.
From what I've seen, Olive Garden locations are bad. They moved in years ago; the strip mall around them died, and they didn't move to the nice new strip mall down the road.
ReplyDeleteSpeed bumps were all the craze back in the late 90s/early 00s, and they are an insult to the middle-class. I'm not driving my car over two speed bumps and random potholes to get to your store; I'll just eat at Carraba's or Outback or TGIF.
Inadequate parking in your strip mall is an insult. If half the stores are closed, why can't I find a space? Where are all these people going. Screw it, I don't want to eat at Olive Garden that badly.
You know what's nice? Being able to park near the restaurant, and walk to the movie theater or bookstore or whatever else.