Olive garden. Fond memories, almost let down.

     The Little Slice of Italy in nearly every town. The Olive Garden is a place where I have many fond memories. I love Italian food, so naturally it's been a good place to eat through out my past. Now-a-days, I've branched out to new Italian dining, but Olive Garden has always been a bit nostalgic for me. So this trip had some pretty big shoes to fill.

     Upon our arrival, the parking lot was FULL, so I naturally anticipated a long wait, but this was not the case. We, actually, had been seated rather quickly. It was a nice table, back in the corner of the restaurant, somewhat secluded. We ordered our drinks and begin to scour through the menu for something appetizing to eat. Finally, we decided. She went with the Parmesan Crusted Bistecca (that she ordered mid-well), and I just had to try the Tour of Italy. The salad came out first, in the traditional big bowl, family style serving. We always put a little cheese on it, but the salad was already over dressed. The bits on top weren't bad, but anything more than one helping was soggy and soaking wet in dressing. So, I can't sing any high praises there.

     Our entrees did take a long time to come out, and when they finally did, I had discovered why. Instead of being cooked mid-well, the steak in the Parmesan Crusted Bistecca was well done. But we started to chow down anyway.

     First up, the Parmesan Crusted Bistecca. The steak came out really well seasoned, and tasted really good. It wasn't drowned in grease, nor was it totally dry. The mashed potatoes left something to be desired, without mixing it up in the steak sauce, then they were okay. As far as the asparagus goes, nothing really spectacular there, just asparagus. All in all, it was a pretty good dish, I tasted a bit of it, and she enjoyed the rest.

     Next up is the Tour of Italy. I had some really high hopes for this piece, because it has about everything you could want in an Italian dish. However parts of it were cold, and dry. I could tell that my dish had died on the hot plate waiting for her steak. I can't prove it, but I think they made my food before hers even though hers would take longer than mine, Big mistake. the fettuccine noodles were stuck to the plate, the food was cold, the chicken in my chicken in my chicken Parmesan was hard as a rock. If that was the tour of Italy, I think I'll stay home for my next vacation. to make matters worse was the fact that the marinara sauce had already begun to crust over, and the chicken tasted as if it had been cooked the previous day then reheated. What a disappointment, I don't know what was going on that night. But the food wasn't consistent at all. All in all, I would probably give them another chance, but be sure not to order two different types of foods. Clearly the kitchen isn't capable of multitasking.