is that the Italian food sucks in most parts of the country. Including CA. North Beach in SF has some of the worst Italian restaurants i have ever eaten at.
So, OG is not as bad by way of comparison as it would be in NY, Boston etc . . .
But really, if you want Italian food, go to a real Italian restaurant.
Back in April, my wife, kids, parents, and brothers went to Disney World. Last night we are there, we are going to go off site for dinner. I pushed hard for a highly rated Italian restaurant, but they had a 90 minute wait. So we went to Olive Garden. And I got food poisoning.
The point is that with OG or Chili's or whatever, you know exactly what you're getting for good or ill. If you're in an unfamiliar area, there are probably good restaurants around but you don't know which ones they are. Recommendations are no sure thing - I'll never forget a childhood trip to California. We spent a couple of days in Anaheim going to Disneyworld. One night, we decided to get a pizza. Being New Yorkers, my parents wouldn't eat chain pizza on a dare, so dad goes to the front desk to ask around for a good local joint. The clerk raves about some place, tells him it's the best pizza in town. Another hotel worker chimes in to agree. So, we went there....and to this day it is the most repulsive pizza I've ever tasted in my life. Those little square school cafeteria pizzas are better.
Chains aren't fine dining, but they usually ARE reliably mediocre.
When we moved from Jersey to Maryland, everyone reached about Ledos pizza. "Oh, it's so good, they said." Ledos is crap. Someone here decided that pizza sauce and crust needs to be loaded with sugar or something else that makes it really sweet. Took us over a year to find a decent NY Style Pizza place.
The point is that with OG or Chili's or whatever, you know exactly what you're getting for good or ill. If you're in an unfamiliar area, there are probably good restaurants around but you don't know which ones they are. Recommendations are no sure thing - I'll never forget a childhood trip to California. We spent a couple of days in Anaheim going to Disneyworld. One night, we decided to get a pizza. Being New Yorkers, my parents wouldn't eat chain pizza on a dare, so dad goes to the front desk to ask around for a good local joint. The clerk raves about some place, tells him it's the best pizza in town. Another hotel worker chimes in to agree. So, we went there....and to this day it is the most repulsive pizza I've ever tasted in my life. Those little square school cafeteria pizzas are better.
Chains aren't fine dining, but they usually ARE reliably mediocre.
When we moved from Jersey to Maryland, everyone reached about Ledos pizza. "Oh, it's so good, they said." Ledos is crap. Someone here decided that pizza sauce and crust needs to be loaded with sugar or something else that makes it really sweet. Took us over a year to find a decent NY Style Pizza place.
For the record Greg...every pizza in California is as repulsive as the next. I've been out here thirty three years and I have yet to find any pizza near as good as what I used to get at the Hempstead Bus Depot back in the late sixties. Yet, the locals all swear by whatever garbage is being served. Same story with bagels.
Olive Garden is horrible, but hey - it's a cheap, crappy chain that fills a niche. Carmine's completely baffles me. Nothing but over-garilcked, over-salted sauces on mounds of overcooked pasta and lousy meat - including meatballs ground to the texture of pudding. Yet New Yorkers who should know better flock to it. What's the attraction? The "family-style" service? That's just a gimmick that saves the staff the trouble of remembering who ordered what, and the kitchen the trouble of timing individual servings properly. The ambience? I guess deafening noise saves the customers the trouble of conversing. There's also the joy of paying an 800% markup on a $5 bottle of Montepulciano. (In fairness, their markup on higher-end wines is in line with industry standards.)
When I lived in California, there was one pizza place that was fairly close to NY pizza near my apartment on Pine Avenue in Long Beach. No idea if it's still around though, that was 15 years ago.
The point is that with OG or Chili's or whatever, you know exactly what you're getting for good or ill. If you're in an unfamiliar area, there are probably good restaurants around but you don't know which ones they are. Recommendations are no sure thing - I'll never forget a childhood trip to California. We spent a couple of days in Anaheim going to Disneyworld. One night, we decided to get a pizza. Being New Yorkers, my parents wouldn't eat chain pizza on a dare, so dad goes to the front desk to ask around for a good local joint. The clerk raves about some place, tells him it's the best pizza in town. Another hotel worker chimes in to agree. So, we went there....and to this day it is the most repulsive pizza I've ever tasted in my life. Those little square school cafeteria pizzas are better.
Chains aren't fine dining, but they usually ARE reliably mediocre.
When we moved from Jersey to Maryland, everyone reached about Ledos pizza. "Oh, it's so good, they said." Ledos is crap. Someone here decided that pizza sauce and crust needs to be loaded with sugar or something else that makes it really sweet. Took us over a year to find a decent NY Style Pizza place.
For the record Greg...every pizza in California is as repulsive as the next. I've been out here thirty three years and I have yet to find any pizza near as good as what I used to get at the Hempstead Bus Depot back in the late sixties. Yet, the locals all swear by whatever garbage is being served. Same story with bagels.
I imagine introducing those people to real NY style pizza would be like introducing cavemen to fire.
RE: Maggiano's is definitely much better than Olive Garden Â
Ahh, they was the restaurant that had a 90 minute wait in Orlando. Didn't realize it was a chain at all until they started building one at Columbia Mall. Definitely going to have to check it out.
Olive Garden is horrible, but hey - it's a cheap, crappy chain that fills a niche. Carmine's completely baffles me. Nothing but over-garilcked, over-salted sauces on mounds of overcooked pasta and lousy meat - including meatballs ground to the texture of pudding. Yet New Yorkers who should know better flock to it. What's the attraction? The "family-style" service? That's just a gimmick that saves the staff the trouble of remembering who ordered what, and the kitchen the trouble of timing individual servings properly. The ambience? I guess deafening noise saves the customers the trouble of conversing. There's also the joy of paying an 800% markup on a $5 bottle of Montepulciano. (In fairness, their markup on higher-end wines is in line with industry standards.)
Carmine's is living off reputation. It was never a great stop, but it was a place you could take a crowd, usually not have to have much advance notice either, and it was relatively cheap. The food has fallen off rapidly as they expanded into chain territory and they cut back on quality to improve their profit margins.
20 years ago, I worked on the UWS and we'd go there on occasion - food wasn't great, but we could get a seat for 15 people on the quick and there was alcohol. A couple of years ago I went to visit a friend up there and we stopped in, and the food was depressing. Nowhere near the level of quality it had been years ago.
Olive Garden is horrible, but hey - it's a cheap, crappy chain that fills a niche. Carmine's completely baffles me. Nothing but over-garilcked, over-salted sauces on mounds of overcooked pasta and lousy meat - including meatballs ground to the texture of pudding. Yet New Yorkers who should know better flock to it. What's the attraction? The "family-style" service? That's just a gimmick that saves the staff the trouble of remembering who ordered what, and the kitchen the trouble of timing individual servings properly. The ambience? I guess deafening noise saves the customers the trouble of conversing. There's also the joy of paying an 800% markup on a $5 bottle of Montepulciano. (In fairness, their markup on higher-end wines is in line with industry standards.)
Sorry, I like Carmine's. Been there twice. My wife and I used to make a habit of seeing a show in the city every year before we got married and popped out three kids. First time was in 2000 with my girlfriend (now wife). Second time was in 2002, with my fiance and some friends (we asked those friends to be in our wedding party that night). The food was tasty, the portions were large, and none of us were drinking wine.
When we moved from Jersey to Maryland, everyone reached about Ledos pizza. "Oh, it's so good, they said." Ledos is crap. Someone here decided that pizza sauce and crust needs to be loaded with sugar or something else that makes it really sweet. Took us over a year to find a decent NY Style Pizza place.
Ledo's is farking terrible. I've never had grape jelly that was as sweet as that sauce - yuck.
Bramton1: If your last visit to Carmine's was in 2002, you're lucky. Â
For the record Greg...every pizza in California is as repulsive as the next. I've been out here thirty three years and I have yet to find any pizza near as good as what I used to get at the Hempstead Bus Depot back in the late sixties. Yet, the locals all swear by whatever garbage is being served. Same story with bagels.
You haven't been to the right places. If you are interested I have 1/2 dozen places that have pizza and a 1/2 places that have bagels that are as good as or better than East Coast(and I grew up on the East Coast).
As I mention with Olive Garden…. management realizes there is a problem, they just came off earnings saying so and they are making changes to do so. They say they are(darden).
So eating at olive garden six months from now will not be the same as eating at olive garden a month age.
Im at one right now. I eat small dinners for more room hahaha
So, OG is not as bad by way of comparison as it would be in NY, Boston etc . . .
you have a family, you want to go somewhere inexpensive that the kids can go to.. how can they screw up some ravioli with meat sauce..
can they? do they?? if so, that's an accomplishment. it's pasta with cheese in it.. a sauce with tomato/herbs/seasoning and meat
you don't need Mario Batali to make it.
It was never my favorite, and most people just got the soup, salad and bread stick all you can eat lunch.
hard to complain about that.
I've never eaten an Italian dish there, but that tour of Italy and the other Italian meals looks like the microwaved Italian equivalent of subway.
Back in April, my wife, kids, parents, and brothers went to Disney World. Last night we are there, we are going to go off site for dinner. I pushed hard for a highly rated Italian restaurant, but they had a 90 minute wait. So we went to Olive Garden. And I got food poisoning.
Chains aren't fine dining, but they usually ARE reliably mediocre.
When we moved from Jersey to Maryland, everyone reached about Ledos pizza. "Oh, it's so good, they said." Ledos is crap. Someone here decided that pizza sauce and crust needs to be loaded with sugar or something else that makes it really sweet. Took us over a year to find a decent NY Style Pizza place.
Quote:
The point is that with OG or Chili's or whatever, you know exactly what you're getting for good or ill. If you're in an unfamiliar area, there are probably good restaurants around but you don't know which ones they are. Recommendations are no sure thing - I'll never forget a childhood trip to California. We spent a couple of days in Anaheim going to Disneyworld. One night, we decided to get a pizza. Being New Yorkers, my parents wouldn't eat chain pizza on a dare, so dad goes to the front desk to ask around for a good local joint. The clerk raves about some place, tells him it's the best pizza in town. Another hotel worker chimes in to agree. So, we went there....and to this day it is the most repulsive pizza I've ever tasted in my life. Those little square school cafeteria pizzas are better.
Chains aren't fine dining, but they usually ARE reliably mediocre.
When we moved from Jersey to Maryland, everyone reached about Ledos pizza. "Oh, it's so good, they said." Ledos is crap. Someone here decided that pizza sauce and crust needs to be loaded with sugar or something else that makes it really sweet. Took us over a year to find a decent NY Style Pizza place.
For the record Greg...every pizza in California is as repulsive as the next. I've been out here thirty three years and I have yet to find any pizza near as good as what I used to get at the Hempstead Bus Depot back in the late sixties. Yet, the locals all swear by whatever garbage is being served. Same story with bagels.
I liked it, but my favorite in LV is at the Wynn
Quote:
In comment 11935726 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
The point is that with OG or Chili's or whatever, you know exactly what you're getting for good or ill. If you're in an unfamiliar area, there are probably good restaurants around but you don't know which ones they are. Recommendations are no sure thing - I'll never forget a childhood trip to California. We spent a couple of days in Anaheim going to Disneyworld. One night, we decided to get a pizza. Being New Yorkers, my parents wouldn't eat chain pizza on a dare, so dad goes to the front desk to ask around for a good local joint. The clerk raves about some place, tells him it's the best pizza in town. Another hotel worker chimes in to agree. So, we went there....and to this day it is the most repulsive pizza I've ever tasted in my life. Those little square school cafeteria pizzas are better.
Chains aren't fine dining, but they usually ARE reliably mediocre.
When we moved from Jersey to Maryland, everyone reached about Ledos pizza. "Oh, it's so good, they said." Ledos is crap. Someone here decided that pizza sauce and crust needs to be loaded with sugar or something else that makes it really sweet. Took us over a year to find a decent NY Style Pizza place.
For the record Greg...every pizza in California is as repulsive as the next. I've been out here thirty three years and I have yet to find any pizza near as good as what I used to get at the Hempstead Bus Depot back in the late sixties. Yet, the locals all swear by whatever garbage is being served. Same story with bagels.
I imagine introducing those people to real NY style pizza would be like introducing cavemen to fire.
Ahh, they was the restaurant that had a 90 minute wait in Orlando. Didn't realize it was a chain at all until they started building one at Columbia Mall. Definitely going to have to check it out.
Carmine's is living off reputation. It was never a great stop, but it was a place you could take a crowd, usually not have to have much advance notice either, and it was relatively cheap. The food has fallen off rapidly as they expanded into chain territory and they cut back on quality to improve their profit margins.
20 years ago, I worked on the UWS and we'd go there on occasion - food wasn't great, but we could get a seat for 15 people on the quick and there was alcohol. A couple of years ago I went to visit a friend up there and we stopped in, and the food was depressing. Nowhere near the level of quality it had been years ago.
Sorry, I like Carmine's. Been there twice. My wife and I used to make a habit of seeing a show in the city every year before we got married and popped out three kids. First time was in 2000 with my girlfriend (now wife). Second time was in 2002, with my fiance and some friends (we asked those friends to be in our wedding party that night). The food was tasty, the portions were large, and none of us were drinking wine.
I definitely want to at least try it. Probably won't go often, because of the price.
Oh, and Stan is still a tool.
When we moved from Jersey to Maryland, everyone reached about Ledos pizza. "Oh, it's so good, they said." Ledos is crap. Someone here decided that pizza sauce and crust needs to be loaded with sugar or something else that makes it really sweet. Took us over a year to find a decent NY Style Pizza place.
Ledo's is farking terrible. I've never had grape jelly that was as sweet as that sauce - yuck.
For the record Greg...every pizza in California is as repulsive as the next. I've been out here thirty three years and I have yet to find any pizza near as good as what I used to get at the Hempstead Bus Depot back in the late sixties. Yet, the locals all swear by whatever garbage is being served. Same story with bagels.
You haven't been to the right places. If you are interested I have 1/2 dozen places that have pizza and a 1/2 places that have bagels that are as good as or better than East Coast(and I grew up on the East Coast).
As I mention with Olive Garden…. management realizes there is a problem, they just came off earnings saying so and they are making changes to do so. They say they are(darden).
So eating at olive garden six months from now will not be the same as eating at olive garden a month age.