Olive Garden Pasta Review

Okay so finally I have decided to start my alfredo pasta review series off with a review of what I'm considering to be the baseline best pasta. The fettucine alfredo from olive garden.

My Review series will be rating the overall dining experience based on three categories:

1. The pasta itself

2. The restaurant's service quality, atmosphere, and bang for your buck.

3. The sides and appetizers (food that isn't the pasta)

(Pasta 10/10)

It may not be for everyone, as the sauce very cheesy even without additional parmesean being added. However, as a cheese lover, I found the balance of creamy, garlicy, and cheesy flavors delicious, striking a perfect balance between those flavors. With such a heavy emphasis on the cheese flavor, it would be very easy for the sauce to be overwhelming, however, the sauce is balanced out enough by the other flavors that the cheese doesn't overpower the cream or garlic. In fact, I think the added thickness of the thoroughly melted cheese provides a delightful texture for the cream's flavor to sit on top of, and allows the sauce to cling to and coat the noodles nicely. Every time I have ever gone to olive garden since I was 6 years old, I had the fettucine alfredo, and I never ever get tired of it.

(Restaurant 6/10)

Service at olive garden is nothing to write home about for a big chain restaurant. Waiters are usually nice, and the atmosphere is cozy enough, if a bit generic. Wait times are usually not unbearably long on busy weekends.

Although the prices are not the most outrageous I've seen at a casual Italian place, at $17 for a fettucine alfredo bowl, and 21 for chicken alfredo, It's safe to say you're paying for the taste, not the portion size. In my experience, a trip to olive garden for two people, including multiple drinks, an appetizer, desert, a take home entree, and a tip will typically run between $80-$90. However, with better self control than I, you'd probably be looking at closer to $50-$60 for just two meals.

(Not the Pasta 7/10)

The salad is always a highlight of the olive garden experience. The dressing is always pleasantly tangy, and is provided in the perfect amount so as not to soak and overpower the salad, while still being present in every bite. The red onions, carrots, and croutons provide the meal with a satisfying crunch, though I typically don't go for the other vegetables, which can luckily be easily ignored and separated from your portion.

The breadsticks are bland. No seasoning, no texture, no side bowl of oil like other places. It's just lightliy oiled bread if you like that. I don't.

The most common appetizer I order is the mozeralla sticks and marinara, and they're pretty good. The highest bar these really need to clear to be good is to have melty cheese so as not to feel like frozen microwave sticks, and olive garden's sticks clear that bar just fine. Crispy on the outside, melty cheese on the inside, what's not to like?

(Overall 7.6/10) 

Any shortcomings of the restaurant experience are (in my opinion) far outweighed by the quality of the main entree, Making Olive Garden a safe, if not bland option for fettucine alfredo.