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| - Ever watch those cooking reality shows and think "holy crap, that chef is waaaaaay too sweaty to be in a kitchen?" Yeah, that was totally my waiter. When he wasn't hovering over me with threat of rain, we were treated to Forrest Gump-esque stories about his Momma and the long line of servers he was descended from. Other than being a little weird, he was fairly prompt. Oh, does anyone have any idea why I needed 15 freaking menus for lunch? I felt like a tourist brochure rack had exploded on our table - and I couldn't find a reason for so much literature at an Olive Garden - unless they are starting a cult.
On to the food! We split the calamari and the endless soup, salad and bread sticks. It was a little odd when he brought the soup and salad out before the calamari - but perhaps he figured it was a business lunch and didn't want to hold us up. The batter on the calamari was perfect! Sadly, the rings themselves were a little too chewy and the batter slid right off - I ended up eating more of the batter than the rings. They seemed to get cold really fast too.
The salad, well it was iceberg lettuce, with some croutons and some olives - and I think a few slices of carrot. Somehow they managed to not get dressing on it, but since I've had on sale bagged salads that were more appetizing, I wasn't too broken up over it.
Are you wondering why I gave them 3 stars yet? First, it is OG - ya kinda know what to expect, but after the sweat hog, limp salad, and suddenly naked calamari, there are 2 things that saved the day: the soup and bread sticks. The Chicken Gnocchi Soup was great - not too heavy, a good ratio of dumplings to chicken and soup. Dipping those perfectly baked bread sticks was blissful. They also did a decent job with the Italian Soda, the mix was right, but a little smaller than I would have liked.
Overall, it was a decent lunch, but I don't feel like I earned an Italian stamp in my passport.
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