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| - First things first, I LOVE Olive Garden. I've been told that's sacreligious because I'm half Italian, but good food is good food. Lucky for me, I got to try twelve rounds of Olive Garden delicacies in this newly remodeled McIntyre Square location as part of a Yelp Elite event . I am SO glad I wore stretchy pants. I'm surprised I didn't have to ask my fellow Yelpers to roll me to my car when we were finished!
This was my first time dining at this particular location, so I can't speak for what it looked like previously... but I can tell you that the new renovations are wonderful. It's bright and airy but still has that authentic rustic Italian feel to it.
Now for the food: we started off by sampling the new appetizers -- I think my favorite was the fried mozzarella! The breading is very light and didn't overshadow the oozy and delicious mozzarella inside like some fried mozzarella apps do. I also enjoyed the shrimp fresca, which is served with a dipping sauce that had a lovely little kick to it, and the chicken piadina app, which was like an Italian quesadilla. My favorite dish overall was the chicken and broccoli pot pie entree. A pot pie at an Italian restaurant you say? Yep! The delicious golden crust blanketed the cavatappi, crisp broccoli, tender chicken, and that aaaamaaazing OG alfredo sauce. I would definitely consider ordering this as an entree. It's a bit difficult to share just because it's hard to transfer a spoonful from the serving plate to your own, but who said I was gonna share it? :)
We also got to sample the new Northern Tour of Italy, though by this point in the meal I was rather stuffed and only able to pick a few bites from the trifecta. Needless to say, when they placed the grand finale in front of me, the Sicilian cheesecake with strawberry sauce, I miraculously found room for a few more bites. Definitely do yourself a favor and order a slice of this ricotta goodness.
If you haven't figured it out yet, the new menu items are amazing and Olive Garden continues to be one of my favorite restaurants. The staff at this location are nothing short of rockstars: from the managers and corporate representatives that were on hand to the wait staff and kitchen staff that we had the honor of thanking at the end of the night. Five stars all around!
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