Olive Garden

Actually, let's make the best of a bad situation. While in Venice I
actually came up with a list of clues that a restaurant has bad food:

1. There's plastic food in the window.
2. The menu posted outside is translated into forty different
languages.
3. A blackboard outside says you get a free can of soda with every
pizza.
4. The eaves of the building are decorated with flags from many lands.
5. The owner is standing in the doorway yelling (in English), "Good
food! Good food!"
6. The chef is standing in the doorway smoking.
7. The restaurant has a logo that includes a soccer-playing dog.
8. Everything in the bread basket is hermetically sealed in plastic.
9. There's an ATM machine cut into the front window.
10. You're in Venice.

(Actually, I just threw in that last one for Mr. Aitken. 😉 )

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Actually, let's make the best of a bad situation. While in Venice I
actually came up with a list of clues that a restaurant has bad food:

1. There's plastic food in the window.
2. The menu posted outside is translated into forty different
languages.
3. A blackboard outside says you get a free can of soda with every
pizza.
4. The eaves of the building are decorated with flags from many lands.
5. The owner is standing in the doorway yelling (in English), "Good
food! Good food!"
6. The chef is standing in the doorway smoking.
7. The restaurant has a logo that includes a soccer-playing dog.
8. Everything in the bread basket is hermetically sealed in plastic.
9. There's an ATM machine cut into the front window.
10. You're in Venice.

(Actually, I just threw in that last one for Mr. Aitken. 😉 )

While I don't doubt your experiences (there are an awful lot
of tourist trap restaurants in Venice -- and the rest of Italy),
my wife and I had just the opposite experience (although it's
been several years). We used the Arthur Frommer guidebook
and our own devices. Actually had one of the best chinese
meals we've ever had in Venice. Native Venetian food
concentrates on, among other things, the local seafood. If
you want marinara, you're much better off in southern Italy.

By the way, except for number 10, your guidance is right on.

I just received their monthly rent check for storage. It comes from GMRI,
Inc. and they also own Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze and Smokey
Bones. These are listed on the bottom of their check.

--

Joe Cilinceon

Quoted message said:

We used the Arthur Frommer guidebook and our own devices.

Now *that's* the way to disagree. Thanks, Tom.

There definitely are great restaurants in Venice, and I found a couple.
But these are the REAL exception to the rule, and as your use of
Frommer indicates, you have to go hunting for them.

As you say, the seafood is fantastic, but seafood isn't cheap. Both
the restaurants I'd recommend are at least $50 per person (which is
what I, an irredeemably cheap [censored], call "quite expensive."😉
Naturally there are different prices for the residents -- rumor has it
they pay somewhere around half the menu rate -- which leads to my call
of "overpriced."

If there is "excellent cheap food" in Venice -- and it isn't a sandwich
-- Mr. Aitken is keeping the name of the place to himself.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

We were in Florence many, many years ago and there were
so many people on the streets and in the stores that you could
hardly move. I would never want to go there again.

Dee, that's my sentiment exactly. I know *somebody* told me to go
there, but when I got home everybody pleaded the Fifth. All my friends
said they hated it, for those exactly reasons. The streets are too
small, it's too crowded, there are AGGRESSIVE bums and drunks, and huge
speeding tour buses and suicidal kids on Vespas ready to flatten
anybody who lets their mind drift for a second.

Venice, on the other hand, is absolute heaven on earth. I went there
during some magical window: it was warm enough I didn't need a jacket
(well, for a couple days), and there were NO tourists. I've been to
some great places -- Paris, London, south of France, San Francisco --
and nowhere comes close to Venice. Honestly, for the rest of my life
I'm going to be haunted by its startling, unbelievable beauty.

I went with DH and then later went back with a girlfriend (GF) on a trip
and we drove ourselves down those sheer cliffs along the highway down to
Dubrovnik -- what a thrill! In Venice GF and I stayed at a hotel on St.
Marks square, went to the glass-blowing factory on a nearby boatride and
bought a couple of pieces. Just this last year I bought a couple of
bracelets (evil-eye) made from the glass made from this glass factory. Fun
to have them.
DH and I had an ugly 2 days in Venice, raining and blowing wind; but GF and
I had beautiful weather, like you.
A site that will remain in my memory forever, absolutely forever (until I
die, of course) is coming out of the train station and seeing that view!
OMG! Nothing like it!
Dee Dee

"Tom Royer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Actually, let's make the best of a bad situation. While in Venice I
actually came up with a list of clues that a restaurant has bad food:

1. There's plastic food in the window.
2. The menu posted outside is translated into forty different
languages.
3. A blackboard outside says you get a free can of soda with every
pizza.
4. The eaves of the building are decorated with flags from many lands.
5. The owner is standing in the doorway yelling (in English), "Good
food! Good food!"
6. The chef is standing in the doorway smoking.
7. The restaurant has a logo that includes a soccer-playing dog.
8. Everything in the bread basket is hermetically sealed in plastic.
9. There's an ATM machine cut into the front window.
10. You're in Venice.

(Actually, I just threw in that last one for Mr. Aitken. 😉 )

While I don't doubt your experiences (there are an awful lot
of tourist trap restaurants in Venice -- and the rest of Italy),
my wife and I had just the opposite experience (although it's
been several years). We used the Arthur Frommer guidebook
and our own devices. Actually had one of the best chinese
meals we've ever had in Venice. Native Venetian food
concentrates on, among other things, the local seafood. If
you want marinara, you're much better off in southern Italy.

The best Venetian restaurant I ever ate in was in Tokyo -- high rise, first
class -- or at least I thought so at the time.
You might wonder why we ate Italian in Tokyo -- DH used to like to use the
Michelin guide -- tee hee.
Dee Dee

Quoted message said:

As you say, the seafood is fantastic, but seafood isn't cheap. Both
the restaurants I'd recommend are at least $50 per person (which is
what I, an irredeemably cheap [censored], call "quite expensive."😉
Naturally there are different prices for the residents -- rumor has it
they pay somewhere around half the menu rate -- which leads to my call
of "overpriced."

The meal I mentioned in Venice was seafood platters for my wife and I . Our
son had Veal Parmesan. It was not a bounteous seafood platter. There was a
small piece of fish with a sauce, some shrimps, a few calamari. It was a
pretty skimpy meal, especially for a "platter". This was back in 1993, and
with a bottle of wine and coffee for my wife and I and a soft drink for our
son, one piece of cake that one of us ordered ...... $315. I would
suggest that 13 years later, you 'd be hard pressed to find a place there
for $50 per person.

Quoted message said:

If there is "excellent cheap food" in Venice -- and it isn't a sandwich
-- Mr. Aitken is keeping the name of the place to himself.

"Dee Randall" <[email hidden]> hitched up their panties and posted
news:[email hidden]:
<snipola>

Quoted message said:

We were laughing about a person's relating to us that they had a long
wait at this Olive Garden, so they went out and watched a DVD in their
van. I suppose those little battery-operated beepers worked all the
way out to the parking lot.
Dee Dee

LOL... We pretty much avoid a lot of places like Olive Garden. We have too
much diversity in St. Louis, and the chain type of restaurant is not to our
liking. Now, I do like Olive Garden and Pasta House for lunch; besides I
like Kim Tucci (Pasta House owner) and one of his ex-wives. Lunch is
usually reasonable but I usually only go for the salad. Unfortunately I'm
usually stuffed all day long 😉

Michael <- can NOT resist artichoke hearts

--
"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she
served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been
found."

--Calvin Trillin

Dave Smith <[email hidden]> hitched up their panties and
posted news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

The meal I mentioned in Venice was seafood platters for my wife and I
. Our son had Veal Parmesan. It was not a bounteous seafood platter.
There was a small piece of fish with a sauce, some shrimps, a few
calamari. It was a pretty skimpy meal, especially for a "platter".
This was back in 1993, and with a bottle of wine and coffee for my
wife and I and a soft drink for our son, one piece of cake that one of
us ordered ...... $315. I would suggest that 13 years later, you 'd
be hard pressed to find a place there for $50 per person.

I'll never forget when Steven's father took the entire family out to The
Chase for my birthday. There were 10 of us. When Harry got the bill he gave
it to me to see how much to tip. The entire bill was $1500. Gratuity was
automatically added in at 15%. I made him pay an extra $150 😉 Damned, he
was a good doobie and I really miss him. We got to fight about the bill all
the way around the corner to our my and Steven's condo. Unfortunately at
Kingshighway and West Pine we were slammed into by someone running from the
police. Well, I almost smothered from the front and side airbags in his
car. In the ER he told me I got my comeuppance from forcing an added tip
😉 He stayed with me and took me home in a taxi. It was 1 block. Hell, as
soon as Steven walked in the door they hauled him in to work. Everyone else
seemed to get home okay. I wasn't hurt much but those darned air bags...

Michael

--
"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she
served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been
found."

--Calvin Trillin

"Michael "Dog3" Lonergan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Dee Randall" <[email hidden]> hitched up their panties and posted
news:[email hidden]:
<snipola>

Quoted message said:

We were laughing about a person's relating to us that they had a long
wait at this Olive Garden, so they went out and watched a DVD in their
van. I suppose those little battery-operated beepers worked all the
way out to the parking lot.
Dee Dee

LOL... We pretty much avoid a lot of places like Olive Garden. We have
too
much diversity in St. Louis, and the chain type of restaurant is not to
our
liking.

We have hardly anything else except chains and really not that many until
abt 5 years ago -- at least I've not seen it. Olive Garden just opened and
it might be the only time we'll eat there. We did that with Chili's, and
the other chain restaurants here like Ruby Tuesdays, Pargos, etc. Some of
the barbecue chains we haven't even tried. There was a hyped NY type
Italian restaurant that opened up a few years ago, but it was nothing to
write home about. We went to a German restaurant in another town that had
good reviews and a few people we know like it -- I don't know what's the
matter with us -- we just don't like anything well enough to trot back more
than once or twice unless it's an emergency.
Tee Hee
Dee Dee

"Dee Randall" <[email hidden]> hitched up their panties and posted
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

We have hardly anything else except chains and really not that many
until abt 5 years ago -- at least I've not seen it. Olive Garden just
opened and it might be the only time we'll eat there. We did that
with Chili's, and the other chain restaurants here like Ruby Tuesdays,
Pargos, etc. Some of the barbecue chains we haven't even tried. There
was a hyped NY type Italian restaurant that opened up a few years ago,
but it was nothing to write home about. We went to a German
restaurant in another town that had good reviews and a few people we
know like it -- I don't know what's the matter with us -- we just
don't like anything well enough to trot back more than once or twice
unless it's an emergency. Tee Hee
Dee Dee

My fave place to hang is Pho Grand. It on Grand Avenue and a wonderful
Thai place. Grand Avenue is the Thai spot here. Lots of neat reasturants.
The Hill has a ton of Italian from all regions. I won't go into my Charlie
Gitto's story 😉 I was banned for life, for about 3 years 😉 We have so
many cultures here. There is an Indian place (forget the name) on Maryland
Avenue I used to walk to. I loved their food. Cafe Balaban is my total
favorite. It's on Euclid and was just a couple of blocks from where I
lived. They catered to the yuppie crowd more interested in beeing seen
than eating. I still love going there. Their chops and beef wellington
are the best I've had. We have Chueys in Dogtown. It is my all time
favorite Mexican restaurant. We have a tone of places. I tend to return to
my favorites. When I lived in Columbus Ohio chain restaurants were
rampant. I hung at Lindey's in German Village. Everything there was
perfect.

Michael

--
"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she
served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been
found."

--Calvin Trillin

Michael \'Dog3\' Lonergan said:

Quoted message said:

wife and I and a soft drink for our son, one piece of cake that one of
us ordered ...... $315. I would suggest that 13 years later, you 'd
be hard pressed to find a place there for $50 per person.

I'll never forget when Steven's father took the entire family out to The
Chase for my birthday. There were 10 of us. When Harry got the bill he gave
it to me to see how much to tip. The entire bill was $1500. Gratuity was
automatically added in at 15%. I made him pay an extra $150 😉

Why? It sounds like the waiter already has a sizeable tip.
If I were paying for the meal and the bill included an automatic 15% tip , more
of a service charge than a gratuity), you would dbe welcome to leave any extra
tip that you thought necessary.

Quoted message said:

Damned, he
was a good doobie and I really miss him. We got to fight about the bill all
the way around the corner to our my and Steven's condo. Unfortunately at
Kingshighway and West Pine we were slammed into by someone running from the
police. Well, I almost smothered from the front and side airbags in his
car. In the ER he told me I got my comeuppance from forcing an added tip
😉

Yep. He's right :-)

Michael \'Dog3\' Lonergan said:

We've just gotten a new one called "Big Bear Grill", or something like
that. I got a to-go menu. Pretty standard steak like place.

Who orders steaks to go? Maybe they could put a popscicle stick
in it so you can eat it while driving.

-sw

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I wonder if the best Olive Garden in the world is in Italy. :-)

Quoted message said:

There is no question about that.
Need plane fare.

I just got back from Italy and I'll tell you, the food is worse than
Olive Garden (at least where I went: Venice, Florence, Milan).

[...]

Quoted message said:

by week three I was *dying* for a plate of spaghetti with a
nice marinara sauce.

They don't do that in the northern part of Italy.

There's a great northern-italian restaurant in Phoenix called Tomaso's
that has had to screw up its menu because people don't understand that
pasta isn't their schtick. Luckily, they couldn't make a good pizza,
so that never got on there too. There are a hundred places to get
baked ziti around here; this one should have its niche and not have to
worry about losing customers who "don't get what they were expecting."

--Blair

Steve Wertz said:

Michael \'Dog3\' Lonergan said:

We've just gotten a new one called "Big Bear Grill", or something like
that. I got a to-go menu. Pretty standard steak like place.

Who orders steaks to go? Maybe they could put a popscicle stick
in it so you can eat it while driving.

I will raise my hand on that one. We had a wonderful restaurant in my town.
It was our favourite restaurant. The food was wonderful, but it was quite
reasonable, $20-23 for a three course meal. The owner had to give it up
due to heart problems, but after recuperating for a year or so he started
offering take out dinners that he cooked at his house. I get an email every
Wednesday night with his menu for Thur. and Fri. and you have to call by
noon on Fri to order. Just let him know what time you want to pick it up
and it will be ready when you get there. I have done it a few times and the
food is great. I ordered the steak once. It was good.

However.... I will admit it is the exception rather than the rule.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I never heard anything so ridiculous in my entire life. If you go to
Italy and can't find excellent cheap food you have only yourself to
blame. It's like going to Germany and complaining about the beer.

Quoted message said:

First, let me ask a question. Why are people here so quick to negate

Some are, some aren't. No personal offense to anyone, but Peter does
have a tendency to jump on posters if he disagrees with them, and says
some rude/harsh things over simple differences of opinion. Some people
on Usenet are just like that. It's up to you how you deal with them,
because they aren't going to change, so I'm not sure telling Peter to
stop reading your posts is going to accomplish anything.

Stacia

Steve Wertz said:

On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 15:03:53 GMT, "Michael \"Dog3\" Lonergan"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

We've just gotten a new one called "Big Bear Grill", or something like
that. I got a to-go menu. Pretty standard steak like place.

Quoted message said:

Who orders steaks to go? Maybe they could put a popscicle stick
in it so you can eat it while driving.

Many Friday nights we get Applebee's steaks to go for dinner. The
restaurant is about 5 minutes away. Almost every time they're just
fine, but last week the steaks really sucked. It's not like Applebee's
is our first choice, though. We live in a small town with nothing much
open after my husband gets off work, and trying to shop at the grocery
store on Fridays for some nice dinner to start the weekend is
impossible, as good cuts of meat/fish sell out so quickly.
I love our new house and I love living in a town under 100,000
people... except I am so sick of having so few choices for shopping and
eating! This week we had to order DH's work jeans, some Torani
grenadine syrup, and a water filter for the fridge online because you
can't find them in town. The UPS man hates us!

Stacia

On Sat, 25 Mar 2006 02:24:36 +0000 (UTC), [email hidden]

(Glitter Ninja) said:

Steve Wertz said:

Who orders steaks to go? Maybe they could put a popscicle stick
in it so you can eat it while driving.

Many Friday nights we get Applebee's steaks to go for dinner. The
restaurant is about 5 minutes away. Almost every time they're just
fine, but last week the steaks really sucked. It's not like Applebee's
is our first choice, though. We live in a small town with nothing much
open after my husband gets off work, and trying to shop at the grocery
store on Fridays for some nice dinner to start the weekend is
impossible, as good cuts of meat/fish sell out so quickly.

OK. I guess that'll have to do if that's your only steak option.

I prefer just paying for a good choice or prime steak and cooking
it at home - since I always have good meat options.

You can do a good steak with only a pan and a stove, and the money
saved allows you to spend the extra few bucks to get a
high-quality cut and grade of beef.

-sw

Glitter Ninja said:

Steve Wertz said:

On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 15:03:53 GMT, "Michael \"Dog3\" Lonergan"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

We've just gotten a new one called "Big Bear Grill", or something like
that. I got a to-go menu. Pretty standard steak like place.

Quoted message said:

Who orders steaks to go? Maybe they could put a popscicle stick
in it so you can eat it while driving.

Many Friday nights we get Applebee's steaks to go for dinner. The
restaurant is about 5 minutes away. Almost every time they're just
fine, but last week the steaks really sucked. It's not like Applebee's
is our first choice, though. We live in a small town with nothing much
open after my husband gets off work, and trying to shop at the grocery
store on Fridays for some nice dinner to start the weekend is
impossible, as good cuts of meat/fish sell out so quickly.
I love our new house and I love living in a town under 100,000
people... except I am so sick of having so few choices for shopping and
eating! This week we had to order DH's work jeans, some Torani
grenadine syrup, and a water filter for the fridge online because you
can't find them in town. The UPS man hates us!

Stacia

Oh you poor thing <VBG>. We live in a town of about 400. Needless to
say choices for shopping and eating are rather non-existent. The only
choice to drive somewhere and that's usually a pain.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

just got back from Italy and I'll tell you, the food is worse than

Olive Garden (at least where I went: Venice, Florence, Milan). There
are soooo many tourists that they can serve any kind of cr@p and still
stay in business. Sure, there are good restaurants, but they were
quite expensive and off the beaten track. <<

If you wanted to make bucks off a bunch of tourists from around the
world, where would you put it? Beaten track sound good? Venice and
Florence both are so small it isn't hard to get off that track!
Anybody who wants to come to Italy should check out www.slowtrav.com
where you will find enormous resources to keep you from wasting your
money in bad restaurants that are there primarily to feed cheap food to
people who don't know any better. The big three, Rome, Venice and
Florence, abound in places to take some moola off you because you
didn't bother to find out where to go.
Out of those three places depend on local eaters more and are pretty
reliable.
Food is expensive here, and so is fuel and labor, so we pay more for a
simple meal, but I know 100s of restaurants where I can get a full meal
with bottled water and house wine for €10-15, more for fish. If I am
going to a city I don't yet know well, I check out the reviews on
slowtrav first.