Long before Olive Garden arrived in Grand Forks five years ago, I was a fan. I would plan a stop at the Olive Garden in Fargo for lunch on the way to Bismarck so I could have soup, salad and breadsticks.
It was pleasant. It was economical.
And I was delighted when Olive Garden became part of the lineup of restaurants along 32nd Avenue South. In its time here, Olive Garden has become one of the leading, predictable and affordable places to meet and eat.
While I have ventured around the menu in ordering meals at Olive Garden, I still go back to what they bill as "Zuppe e Insalata" for $7.99. With the soup, I enjoy the breadsticks and salad-although I have a hard time finding more than one or two black olives.
A 6-ounce Tuscan Sirloin with mashed garlic potatoes ($17.99) was the choice of Les Klevay (LK) when he and his wife, Martha Klevay (MK), had dinner recently at the Olive Garden. MK chose Citrus Chicken Sorrento ($14.79) from the lighter Italian fare choices.
They were, for the most part, pleased with dinner at the Olive Garden. The Tuscan Sirloin was served medium rare, as ordered, and look exactly as pictured on the menu. MK found the chicken tender and tasty with lots of zucchini and tomatoes and some onions. But she didn't notice any artichokes mentioned in the menu description.
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Wine featured on the Monday evening in January was Columbia Crest H-3 (Horse, Heavens, Hills) Merlot 2013. MK said a sampling found them ordering a bottle.
Olive Garden is warm and inviting in the fashion of a Tuscany farmhouse with tables, booths and larger windows. It has become a place where friends enjoy meeting. The parking lot is large and convenient. There is a bar and lounge near the entryway.
Some prefer the large, high-backed wooden booths at the Olive Gardens. Others find them difficult to manage getting in and out and want to sit at the tables.
Olive Garden is one of the Darden Restaurants Inc., which was reported in the Wall Street Journal in December as swinging to a profit in the last quarter of 2015. It was reported Darden Chief Executive Gene Lee told investors of signs of consumer confidence. He said they were buying appetizers, desserts and high value items. While some Olive Garden customers were opting for the $9.99 menu, half of them were adding protein to choices with $12.99 meals.
Investors were reported to be pressing for corrections in criticism that Olive Garden soaks salads in too much dressing and forgets to offer wine. They were asking for a fix in the problem of tossing out breadsticks after almost every meal.
The Grand Forks Olive Garden is one of more than 800 in a division of Darden Restaurants with headquarters in Orlando, Fla. The restaurants got their start in 1982 as a unit of General Mills and became units of Darden in 1995, according to company reports.
Olive Garden
3160 32nd Ave. S.
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Grand Forks
Reservations: (701) 746-2038
General Manager: Casey Pohl
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily with 11 p.m. closing Friday and Saturday
Seating: 250 in booths and at tables
Eatbeat Report Card: Olive Garden has become a popular spot to meet and eat in Grand Forks. Staff is welcoming. Ambiance is warm and cheery. The soup, salad and breadstick luncheon for $7.49 is a draw. So are the kids' meals that include a drink and side for $5.69. On the downside, some foods sometimes seem pre-prepared and heated up rather than made from scratch in the kitchen. Olives can be hard to find in salads. For some, it is hard getting in and out of the high-backed booths.
