*shocked look* BLASPHEMY! Olive Garden is the most wonderful restaurant on earth. :P I could LIVE off of their salad and breadsticks for the rest of my life.

Wow! Sounds like there must be dozens of good restaurants in Manhattan.

Oh, Tess. The shame! Damn ... those biscuits are rather tasty though. *slaps self* Sorry, forgot myself for a moment.

A bunch of restaurants just opened up about 10 minutes from us. WHY couldn't they be quaint restaurants with good, reasonably-portioned food? No, instead we have: Red Lobster, Bennigans, TGIFridays, Applebees and Olive Garden. AHHHHH!!!!!

Tess, you just lost that dinner I agreed I'd happily buy you when you visit.

Are you telling me that there are restaurants in NYC that sell cheesy/garlic biscuits that taste better than those at Red Lobster??? I want NAMES, addresses and if you could scan a menu that'd be great. :)

Oh, meaning there are amazing restaurants there. While somewhat close to Times Square (46th St. between 8th and 9th Avenues), it's incredible. This is where a lot of folks going to a show stop for dinner beforehand.

What my darling wife said. Once you get about two avenues away from Times Square, it's a much different world. For Italian, there are countless places. Actually, pick any ethnic food and you'll find it here:

Ethiopian? No problem.

Thai? We have it.

Mongolian? Yup!

And don't even get me started on the joys of Restaurant Row . . .

Mimi's on 52nd and Second has great food, if you're in NYC and looking for Italian. No need to brave the crowds in Times Square to eat at Olive Garden. And I bet the food is better, too. ;p They have this amazing infused olive oil for dipping with their fresh-baked bread. Oh, yummy!

Yeah, I know this is slightly off the topic, but I'm hungry!

And I'll happily do so, Tess. :-*

Jodi,

I'll happily let you buy me dinner at any of the fine restaurants in Manhattan when I visit.

Now you settle down with your bad self...

:)

Read the post. The question isn't whether or not Olive Garden, et al. suck, but why the hell someone would choose to go to a chain restaurant in a large city such as Manhattan when there are literally thousands of alternatives.

The next person to tell me how great the salad bar is at Olive Garden is going to be forced, face-first, into its bottomlessness.

Olive Garden has the best house salad in the world, bar none.

And they put a consistent meal across, chain or no chain.

As a chain, they may be the best. I have been to plenty of independents that suck as well!

But me and Dawg like the corner B&G with the burg and bean soup. Best source of flatulence there is.

LOL jb

By the way, care to link exchange?

Hey c'mon, who doesn't love Olive Garden's bottomless salad bowls? But I'll boycott TGI Friday's just based on their name

But... but... but... Olive Garden has the best Eggplant Parmisian I've ever tasted! It's all I ever order! I'm a... chain restaurant luzer. Of course, in Wichita, Kansas, we don't have quite the options one does in NYC. :)

Ha! And anyone who utters the phrase, "I'm in the mood for seafood, let's go to Red Lobster" should probably just crawl in a whole and die. But I don't feel strongly about it or anything. ;)