Yep, it's a chain. Yep it's the but of a lot of jokes by the "In the know" set. Yep, it is kind of inexplicable how long the wait can be on weekends. Yep, I know it's more politically correct to eat at a locally-owned family restaurant.
But you know what?
I've never once had a bad meal there. I've never once had less than top-shelf service there. I find Olive Garden restaurants have consistently higher quality not only compared to the other franchise stores in it's price range, but also notably better than some family owned Italian restaurants I could name.