If I just hadn’t eaten in Olive Garden, this probably wouldn’t matter that much to me, but I was just there on Thursday night, and the bread sticks were warm. There has been much hullabaloo surrounding a polite review of the restaurant written by an 85 year-old foodie from Grand Forks, North Dakota, and it has gone viral, gaining national attention to both the writer, Marilyn Hagerty, and the nationally know Italian food chain. We used to have an Italian restaurant of some caliber in Waco, Texas, but times got tough, it closed, and Olive Garden flourished. I have nothing against the relaxed faux-Italian dining atmosphere of the restaurant. It’s better than fast food, the bread sticks are warm, the Arnold Palmers are cold and delicious, and the food is generally fresh given the heavy traffic of diners on any given day. I once got a very dry piece of lasagna that had been sitting under a warmer too long–I sent it back. I also dislike the iceberg lettuce in their salads. You can get a glass of drinkable Italian wine, the pastas are generally well-cooked and tasty. The prices are perhaps a little high for what you get, but then again, where’s the competition? This is it for Italian food in Waco unless you want fast food Italian, which is exactly that: fast, but with no amenities. I applaud Ms. Hagerty’s sincerity and honesty: most regular folks are going to be okay with eating at the Olive Garden from time to time. If you go for lunch, the soup and salad combo with a drink is less than ten dollars and you can have all you can eat. Not a bad deal at all. The wait staff is a little over-worked, but their attitude is generally acceptable, and when I have sent things back or had a special order (why isn’t spaghetti carbonara a menu item?) they have always been helpful. The wine list is also okay and you can get a decent glass of red wine for a reasonable price. Do I go out of my way to eat at Olive Garden? No, not having other choices, I don’t, but when you have a group of folks, representing a variety of tastes and needs, the place can get you out of an eating place jam in a hurry. And a freshly baked bread stick is nothing to sneeze at.