In and out is alright. They're pretty good but they're still fast food. If you want something that can justifiably be called a burger, go to The Counter.

ArkAngel: Don't care what they do so long as they carry the chicken gnocchi soup. Farking delicious

Stuff's pretty good, but for the most part i stay out of that place. It went down hill since they stopped making the breadsticks in house back in the 90's.

sigdiamond2000: Olive Garden White Knights, mount your steeds.

I know it's not hip, but I do like their food. What can I say, I usually don't agree with the masses anyway.

Maybe I'm just too vanilla, but I would prefer a little of "the old in-out, in-out" to "five guys".

I ate at Five Guys for the first time not too long ago. Holy crap, it was a heart attack in a paper bag, but worth every greasy, salty, arrythymic bite.

Om nom nom...

About 20ish years ago I was a waiter for TGIFridays (flare and all).

We used to pity the people who came to work for us from Olive Garden, horrible place to work. Always has been, always will be.

My local burger place is better than your local burger place. That's a fact.

ChrisDe: sigdiamond2000: Olive Garden White Knights, mount your steeds.

I know it's not hip, but I do like their food. What can I say, I usually don't agree with the masses anyway.

I LIKE their food, but it's really the only alternative here in the sticks. I have a sister-in-law in NYC who we visit every year, so that's when I get the real deal on Mulberry Street.

That said, I have a co-worker whose favorite NYC restaurant is... the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company in Times Square.

/wishes olive garden had veal

ChrisDe: sigdiamond2000: Olive Garden White Knights, mount your steeds.

I know it's not hip, but I do like their food. What can I say, I usually don't agree with the masses anyway.

Yet you do agree with the massives.

Treygreen13: Oh boy, a tipping/fast food/burger thread.

Why, I've never seen the like of it!

Why should I care what the working conditions are? Does that make the food better? Is it like meat (you know, it's the suffering that makes it taste so good)?

My issue with Olive Garden isn't with their food, which is fairly mid-line as far as Italian food goes. My problem is that people will actively choose to go there in my area despite better options at a similar price. I mean, seriously, I live about an hour from NYC, there is no shortage of decent Italian places, how does the Olive Garden in my town even stay in business?

Why all the Olive Garden hate? If it were closer to my house, I'd be a regular.

master_dman: Why all the Olive Garden hate?

It's hip.

Meh, Olive Garden has its place. It's not good for a fancy dinner or to impress anyone, but it's just the thing for a group lunch or dinner meeting (cheap, and everyone can find something they like) and for families with kids to have that sit-down restaurant experience without pissing off anyone who paid for a real dinner out.

Talking points coming up:

Local restaurants are better and cheaper.
If you like fast food (name the cuisine) then you probably never tasted the real thing.
Comparison of burger places.
A picture of a beautiful woman (or some Food Network hack) eating pasta
Some troll who mentions how vegetarian is better.

csb time:

One time I was watching one of those incredibly sappy stupid farking Olive Garden commercials with the smiling aliens from planet happy and one of the actresses was the oldest daughter from Modern Family.

The end.

ArcadianRefugee: Why should I care what the working conditions are? Does that make the food better? Is it like meat (you know, it's the suffering that makes it taste so good)?

Sweet, delicious wait staff tears...

sigdiamond2000: Olive Garden White Knights, mount your steeds.

There are Olive Garden White Knights? I worked there for six months after college, what a nightmare.

Five Guys' burgers are almost as bad as the name "Five Guys Burgers and Fries".
So Bland.

Dear God. Is it the eagerly awaited guide to who's who in fast food?

Lol.

I love The Counter, and whenever I'm in NYC on business, this is the first place I eat at.




Also, Shake Shack. Yum

//and the Votex in ATL

Having managed/co-owned an Olive Garden for the last decade, I really hate seeing a few bad employees drag us through the mud. Olive Garden is fine dining where service and atmosphere are just as important as the delicious food. We strive to be the top in every measurable category. The truth is, a lot of restaurant workers cannot meet, much less exceed, the service demands of a high art dining experience. We ask them to be there twenty minutes before their shift starts and twenty minutes after. Not asking much. What do we get? People showing up either a few minutes early, or worse, late. And to stay a bit longer to do next shift preparation? My god, they act like we're harvesting their organs. And their poor attitudes and malignant presence carry over into their shift. They begin to see the patrons as customers, and if you don't know the difference then that's exactly why you'd never make it at an Olive Garden, or any other restaurant above the fast food poverty line of TGIFridays, Applebee's, O'Charley's, etc. I don't have a problem giving a person a chance, but just because YOU fail doesn't give you license to berate MY company.

Damnit, Vortex.

By the way, lets not kid ourselves, any vegitarian place worth its name is going to be much better than these places.

Making some yummy Okra fennel bulb soup tonight with grilled tofu shanks!

Yanks_RSJ: sigdiamond2000: Olive Garden White Knights, mount your steeds.

There are Olive Garden White Knights? I worked there for six months after college, what a nightmare.

Is it the customers or the company that's bad? One time while we were eating at Olive Garden we left a 25% tip because we got GREAT service from our server. She thanked us, and seemed visibly touched. Maybe it was just a bad night, or maybe OG diners don't tip well - or maybe it was one ray of sunshine in a dark place.

Care to elaborate? Even as a diner, I've seen how other patrons can get. I can't imagine doing it for a living.

The Advancement section for 5 Guys is no joke...my coworker's brother started working there as a cook, within a year he was managing the 3 local stores.

Treygreen13: Oh boy, a tipping/fast food/burger thread.

This X 1000


After all the shiat I've read on these subjects, I never want to eat outside my own four walls again. No matter what you do, someone is going to be unhappy. Imma stay home and eat mac and cheese.

so glad i no longer work in the restraunt biz. i worked at the outback steakhouse for a couple years. got fired twice. i was fired once for freaking out on a phone call in earshot of a mother with her precious angels nearby, but they hired me back because the person on the other end of the call was my abusive boyfriend who kept calling and harrassing me. then i got fired again for something that never happened but that some creepy heroin addict host made up because she wanted more hours.

they didn't even tell me i was fired, i just got a text message saying all my shifts had been removed. the management sucked and were terrible to their employees with the exception of the friends of the waitress that our fat, indian manager was marrying.

but above all, the customers were the worst. fat slobs who complained about everything. fat, sad, miserable fat stupid fat slob losers slobs.
you've brought out an anger in me that has not riled for a few years.

I got great pizza burgers from this little deli in Manhatten in the early 80's. Wish I could remember the name of the place; they were to die for.

namegoeshere: I ate at Five Guys for the first time not too long ago. Holy crap, it was a heart attack in a paper bag, but worth every greasy, salty, arrythymic bite.

Om nom nom...

Agree. I limit myself to a maximum of 2 visits a month. When I do, that is the only big meal I'll eat for the day. The burgers and fries are to die for, but at 2000+ calories they will kill me if I eat there too often. And that doesn't include all the free peanuts.

Now, what if the meat of five guys in going in and out of her olive garden? what then?!?!?

Local burger joint thread!

BunkoSquad: FredaDeStilleto: Talking points coming up:

Local restaurants are better and cheaper.
If you like fast food (name the cuisine) then you probably never tasted the real thing.
Comparison of burger places.
A picture of a beautiful woman (or some Food Network hack) eating pasta
Some troll who mentions how vegetarian is better.

You forgot "Clever guy comes in early and predicts what's going to happen in the thread"

Girl.

I actually like reading these threads. Although this one seems to be taking a different turn from the usual.

For all the hate on Olive Garden (and I do hate OG) there are more vile places. Namely RedDead Lobster. How they stay open anywhere within 100 miles of a coast is beyond me. Even their cheesy biscuits can't make up for the abominations they call seafood.

Burger Thread!

Between InnO, 5Guys, and (insert something else) here, I'll get whatever I can get locally- I'm in the midwest, so that's 5Guys most of the time, but if I'm hitting up the west coast, I'll do a double double animal style.

Also, Kidd Valley is fantastic.

spentmiles: Having managed/co-owned an Olive Garden for the last decade, I really hate seeing a few bad employees drag us through the mud. Olive Garden is fine dining where service and atmosphere are just as important as the delicious food. We strive to be the top in every measurable category. The truth is, a lot of restaurant workers cannot meet, much less exceed, the service demands of a high art dining experience. We ask them to be there twenty minutes before their shift starts and twenty minutes after. Not asking much. What do we get? People showing up either a few minutes early, or worse, late. And to stay a bit longer to do next shift preparation? My god, they act like we're harvesting their organs. And their poor attitudes and malignant presence carry over into their shift. They begin to see the patrons as customers, and if you don't know the difference then that's exactly why you'd never make it at an Olive Garden, or any other restaurant above the fast food poverty line of TGIFridays, Applebee's, O'Charley's, etc. I don't have a problem giving a person a chance, but just because YOU fail doesn't give you license to berate MY company.

No offense, but managing an Olive Garden seems like kind of a waste of talent for someone with a Master's Degree in Computer Science with a specialty in financial computation and permutation, especially when considering your very impressive math and chess skills. On the other hand, it sounds like The Olive Garden is your true passion, and you shouldn't let anything get in the way of your dream.

tetsoushima: My issue with Olive Garden isn't with their food, which is fairly mid-line as far as Italian food goes. My problem is that people will actively choose to go there in my area despite better options at a similar price. I mean, seriously, I live about an hour from NYC, there is no shortage of decent Italian places, how does the Olive Garden in my town even stay in business?

My guess is the categories are:
-people on a budget
-travelers who didn't find anyplace they felt like taking a chance on- at least they know what they get at OG or similar places
-old people, who tend to eat bland food

FredaDeStilleto: Local restaurants are better and cheaper.

When people claim that local places are better, I always think about the scummy food Gordon Ramsey finds in the walk-in refrigerators on Kitchen Nightmares.

spentmiles: We ask them to be there twenty minutes before their shift starts and twenty minutes after.

If you asked me to be in 20 minutes early and stay 20 minutes late, you better be paying me for those 40 minutes.

Question: why not just schedule them to start 20 minutes earlier, and stop 20 minutes later?