Olive Garden Is Not the Answer

Oh, how I love Italian restaurants!

There are two basic kinds  High Italian, by which I just menu that the menu is a bit fancier, a bit closer to authentic, the ambiance is a little formal and classy, and there are more emphasis on the wines on the menu.  Low Italian has more common fare, focusing on pizzas, calzones, spaghetti, maybe even lasagna, chicken parmigiana and fettuccine.  A good example of High Italian would be Carrabas. The Low Italian may have alcohol, but it is not centered on a huge wine list.  It doesn't matter to me.  I love both, although I can afford the Low Italian more often.  Examples of Low Italian include The Brick Yard in Thomasville, CJ's on St. Simon's and Broomelli's in Brunswick.

Our area has had great difficult sustaining a true Italian restaurant, either high or low.  Other than Pizza Hut and others who specialize in pizza delivery there has been little success.  Most efforts, when they happen only last a short time.  The most recent failure was Matt's, which tired to bridge the divide between High and Low.  Although Matt's had good features, the conflict in styles was probably a little too much for Waycross to handle.

So now we find that two restaurants are coming to town, both housed in the same structure, an Olive Garden and Red Lobster.  Makes sense, considering the Darden family that created these restaurants were originally Waycross area residents and learned their trade here with a restaurant known as The Green Frog.

A good friend asked me if I tonight the answer to my craving for a good Italian restaurant in Waycross.  I had to answer no.  no, it's not.

Olive Garden completely and utterly fails the Wong's test.  Wong's is a great local Chinese restaurant owned by the wonderful Paul Tang.  It is centered around good, plentiful food and great customer service.

Olive Garden makes you wait forever, even if it's not crowded.  It operates on the Disney principal of staffing, which is to deliberately slightly understaff based on your expectations.  So no matter when you come, you almost always have to wait.  Wong's strives mightily to serve you as quickly as possible.  It does not understaff.  It does not think you value the restaurant more because you have to wait.

Olive Garden will not prepare to order.  However you want your food, whatever combinations you want, whatever sharing arrangement you want to make, the answer at Wong's is always yes.  At Olive Garden, the answer is, are you kidding me?  Alison was recently at an Olive Garden in Jacksonville and ran into this very problem.  They would not modify the fare, even just to leave out an objected to ingredient.

Olive Garden food is okay.  Not great, but if you explore and pick the right item, it can be enjoyed.  I am not a big fan of the soup and salad combo, but I know many who are.

I recently asked those who knew about this combination restaurant (Olive Garden and Red Lobster), and whether someone could come in and one family member could order from the Olive Garden and the other from the Red lobster menu.  The answer was no, you couldn't do that.  THEY"RE IN THE SAME BUILDING!!! THEY SHARE THE SAME KITCHEN FACILITIES!

So, Paul Tang, you are a blessing and a curse.  You have a great restaurant, but you have spoiled me as to level of customer service.  My answer may not be popular, but it is clear and sure.

No, Olive Garden is not the answer.