Marilyn Haggerty's amazing Olive Garden review and the subsequent viral shitstorm

I just started reading this, seems like it is relevant to this thread's interests.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517rHnCIMIL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

the physical deterioration scott describes is brought home to me every time I stop at a Florida Turnpike rest stop before midnight and peek into the Sbarro.

i could make a yummy spaghetti and meatball dinner for four with fresh garlic bread - and even grate fresh parmesan on the garlic bread before i put in the oven for you cheese lovers - and do it for, like, 20 bucks. in 30 minutes. average cost of mcdonalds meal per person is probably what? 6 bucks or more? plus gas money to get there and back? and a salad. i'd make a salad. still cheaper probably.

i concur with scott and i must repeat my annoyance at the idea stated in that awl piece that going to a small, family-run chinese restaurant is somehow 'snobby'

― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Wednesday, March 14, 2012 10:06 AM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

capn save a gold here

Here's the real problem with places like OG. This item is a freakin' appetizer:

Item 	      Calories 	Total Fat (g) 	Sat. Fat (g) 	Sodium 	Carb. (g) 	Fiber (g) 	Protein (g)
Bruschetta 	950 	   13 	            2.5 	 2860 	  173 	          6 	           35 

950 calories!!!

holy shit @ at that sodium count

for BRUSCHETTA.

I assume they're referring to chowhound-style authenticity trawling and not just the mere act of visiting your local chinese restaurant.

well that probably is for a table of people tbf

I mean who orders a big plate of bruschetta and then chows down on the whole thing alone

I assume they're referring to chowhound-style authenticity trawling and not just the mere act of visiting your local chinese restaurant.

― the prurient pinterest (Hurting 2), Wednesday, March 14, 2012 10:32 AM (5 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

they're talking about j gold

Whadathey brusch it with?

well, who orders a "calzone" at Sbarro and eats it?

xxp Yeah, these people:

http://buffman.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/WALL-E-humans_320.jpg

Item 	                      Calories 	Total Fat (g) 	Sat. Fat (g) 	Sodium 	Carb. (g) 	Fiber (g) 	Protein (g)
Fettuccine Alfredo (dinner) 	1220 	   75 	            47 	          1350 	  99 	           5 	           36 

1220 calories, 75 fat grams, 1350mg of sodium. It's what's for dinner!

I assume they're referring to chowhound-style authenticity trawling and not just the mere act of visiting your local chinese restaurant.

― the prurient pinterest (Hurting 2), Wednesday, March 14, 2012 10:32 AM (5 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

they're talking about j gold

― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Wednesday, March 14, 2012 10:32 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Right, who I don't know very well but I assume he's this kind of food critic. Like Robert Sietsema but more irritating, is the impression I get.

i could make a yummy spaghetti and meatball dinner for four with fresh garlic bread - and even grate fresh parmesan on the garlic bread before i put in the oven for you cheese lovers - and do it for, like, 20 bucks. in 30 minutes.

good for you, i couldn't

Right, who I don't know very well but I assume he's this kind of food critic. Like Robert Sietsema but more irritating, is the impression I get.

― the prurient pinterest (Hurting 2), Wednesday, March 14, 2012 10:35 AM (14 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you get the wrong impression, he is awesome

- capn save a gold

no you probably could unless you don't have hands or something xp

i heard an interview with her son on local npr. he writes for the wsj! nothing too revelatory but he did have to explain to his mom what 'going viral' meant.

i do wonder why anyone would go to a chain restaurant if they live in a big city like london that has a wealth of superior, cheaper restaurants, but y'know everyone ends up in a pizza express a couple of times per year. i find most proper fast food like mcdonald's really gross though. i HATE it when i see people trot out the "everyone should cook their own food" line, fuck off!

lex over 50% of people in the uk and i guess in the us too don't live in a big city like london.

j gold is awesome, they are just using him as a counterpoint because he wrote a "real restaurant reviewers review" of olive garden

iatee, kitchen and computer uselessness is a big part of lex's schtick -- it's a readymade something to throw a tantrum about when he just feels like throwing a tantrum -- so he'll never ever learn how to cook, or allow anyone to teach him

I think I've mentioned this before, but when my nephew graduated from HS I took him on a trip to NYC (he lives in NE Ohio, about 45 miles from Cleveland). He wanted to eat at: The Hard Rock Cafe (there's one of those in Cleveland, ffs), ESPNZone and Taco Bell. In New York. I got him to eat breakfast at Junior's one morning and that was a struggle. Drove me nuts.

i also just remembered that when i went to miami to do a travel feature, the PRs actually took us to this weird out-of-town mall and started giving us these spiels about how many brands had opened outlets there. and then i THINK for lunch they actually took us to...an olive garden. i can't remember exactly whether it was but it was a chain italian restaurant with totally faux-rustic decor which fits the descriptions i'm reading. the food was edible in a bog standard kind of way and the portions were gigantic. i have no idea why miami tourist board wasted a morning on taking us to that mall, all the journalists in the group were very bemused and also bored.

lex over 50% of people in the uk and i guess in the us too don't live in a big city like london.

yes i know, i'm saying IF they do i don't get why they'd go to a chain restaurant. if they don't that doesn't apply!

people who think my inability to cook is a schtick have obviously never seen me in the kitchen. and why would i allow computers to repeatedly ruin my life if i really knew how to control them.

I just said why.

47 g of saturated fat?! I think it only takes about 40 grams in the span of your entire life to ensure a heart attack.

eating healthy and cooking for yourself would be way cheaper than eating at olive garden. i'm sure i could make a good healthy meal that costs less than four people eating at mcdonalds too!

Okay, I take exception to this. Your average meal for 2 at OG is what, 30 bucks? 35? Maybe you're just a better shopper than I am, but it's hard to make a good homecooked meal for less than that. My wife often gets frustrated about how hard it is to make real Mexican food on a budget, because there are so many vegetables involved and all that's expensive. Getting an avacado, 3 bell peppers, and two tomatoes alone is like $10. I like the "save money by eating in" line too but once you add up grocery bills - just doesn't happen

The math might check out if you're incredibly good at using everything you have. But, yeah, I'm not the type to have a pantry full of options, so any time I get the urge to make even just homemade mac & cheese, I end up dropping at least $15 at the grocery store to get all the ingredients.

where in the world do you guys shop?

And what the fuck is wrong with you?

(them, I mean, not CAD)

Getting an avacado, 3 bell peppers, and two tomatoes alone is like $10.

whaaaaaaat

are the bell peppers made of gold or something

yeah i don't habitually cook so i don't have the ingredients, and buying ingredients is a waste of money because i don't cook so they won't get used up and will rot or go off

"using everything you have" is really the key point here. that's hard to do if there's any level of complexity to what you're cooking. like if I'm making chicken and rice w/ a salad, that's pretty easy and fairly cheap. but still it runs around $15-20. you're not saving that much money!

Not only is that in itself ridiculous, but if you actually make a quantity of that food requiring three peppers and two tomatoes, you should have leftovers for two for at least two more meals.

people who think my inability to cook is a schtick have obviously never seen me in the kitchen. and why would i allow computers to repeatedly ruin my life if i really knew how to control them.

I don't believe this, there is a lower limit to how 'bad a cook' you can be, and that lower limit does not go below 'making pasta'. if you have two hands and can follow simple instructions you can make pasta. if you cannot that does not mean you are 'bad at cooking', it means you can't follow simple instructions.

fwiw I mostly eat cheap takeout too and avoid cooking when I can because I am a lazy mofo and enjoy taking advantage of a place with lots of cheap and delicious food that other people can make for me.

my grocery costs for 2 ppl are $90-$110 a week and i shop at whole foods!

you can't make a meal for two at home for under 30 bucks!!?? honey, we need to talk...

Asda online:

1 large Avocado = £1
3 red peppers = 80p each (I looked for Bell Peppers, I got bicycle locks!)
Pack of 6 toms = £1

Not a lot like $10, really.

good avacados run about $2.50. otherwise, you can get the small ones, but you'd need two. tomatoes - 79 cents apiece. bell peppers are cheap if they're green but good mexican food requires the red and yellow ones, which are $1.79 (or more)

Seriously we spend about $600/mo on groceries for two including a lot of nice organic stuff, in NYC mind you, and eat almost all our meals at home. Just because you are unable to manage adult life does not make the Olive Garden a good deal.

this happened to me when i would go to the local Friendly's chain here that closed recently. seeing the unhealthiness. it was pretty glaring. whole families. i felt bad for them!

― scott seward, Wednesday, March 14, 2012 9:14 AM (35 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah. my girlfriend and i have an occasional craving for crappy late-night food of the denny's/waffle house variety. one night for some reason we went to shoney's (i guess because it has a salad bar) and there were a handful of families there, and nearly all were morbidly obese -- like 350+ pounds for normal-height, not-been-to-golds-gym people.

i'm not judging those people (i'm really not, i know all too well the way brain chemistry shifts and you just can't be satisfied with anything but super-greasy giant meals), but it was a striking scene.

also the food was crazy gross.

Okay, I take exception to this. Your average meal for 2 at OG is what, 30 bucks? 35? Maybe you're just a better shopper than I am, but it's hard to make a good homecooked meal for less than that. My wife often gets frustrated about how hard it is to make real Mexican food on a budget, because there are so many vegetables involved and all that's expensive. Getting an avacado, 3 bell peppers, and two tomatoes alone is like $10. I like the "save money by eating in" line too but once you add up grocery bills - just doesn't happen

it's all about cooking enough for a few days and making it last. then you don't throw out half of that expensive bell pepper, etc.

bell peppers to be fair are crazy expensive in the midwest. tomatoes not so much.

are your avocados imported from the moon or something? xp

Not only is that in itself ridiculous, but if you actually make a quantity of that food requiring three peppers and two tomatoes, you should have leftovers for two for at least two more meals.

no, that's not true. you can easily use them all in one meal. the stuff we cook is very heavy on that.