July 5, 2024
Would you believe me if I told you I’d never been to Olive Garden before? Well, believe me Gastrodudes and Gastrodudettes.
That is until recently.
Why? I love Italian food. I have for most of my life. I’m not huge into chains anyway and know all the Italian spots and go there. That’s it. Never appealed to me to go to Olive Garden. Despite the fact that when you’re there…you’re family.
Anyway, I FINALLY went to the store in Wichita, Kansas on Rock Rd.
What are my thoughts? Better than I expected, but compared to the Italian I am used to and like, it was average. Average is fine. My mom always told me that growing up.
I ordered two meals. The “Tour of Italy” which came with a classic Lasagna, Fettuccine Alfredo and Chicken Parmigiana AND the Grilled Chicken Margherita with Broccoli. Each entree came with a soup and breadsticks. I got the Pasta E Fagioli soup (the broth based soup) and the Toscana soup (the cream based soup).
I thought the Grilled Chicken Margherita was excellent. Honestly. It was a great dish. The pesto added a nice touch to it. As far as the Tour of Italy, it wasn’t anything to write home about. I thought the Fettuccine was a little tough and though I liked the grilled chicken dish the Chicken Parmigiana was not cooked as thoroughly as I’d liked. As far as the soups — I really enjoyed the Pasta E Fagioli and thought the Toscana was bland and I didn’t eat much of it.
So, overall it was an alright experience. It is not something that I’d go out of my way to do again, but it was good enough of an experience that if a group of people wanted to go, I would be fine joining and getting the Grilled Chicken Margherita again.
Side note — I met the manager, John, and he was a real interesting and nice guy that is clearly passionate about his store. And the service was great as well.
— TKG
