1863 replies to this topic

[oakapple]

Yeah, even in Grand Forks, there must be some non-chain restaurants.

Oh, there surely are. But have you ever been to some of them (in places like Grand Forks?).

Depends what you consider to be a "place like Grand Forks". I don't think there are enough of them to sustain a review every week, but I agree with Nathan that there are probably some that are a lot more interesting than Olive Garden.

[Nathan]

Yeah, even in Grand Forks, there must be some non-chain restaurants.

Oh, there surely are. But have you ever been to some of them (in places like Grand Forks?).

unfortunately, all Sysco usually.

I spent a little bit of time in North Dakota years ago (so I actually knew where G.F. was )

here in Killeen (where I'm currently residing), the best chain restaurants (Texas Land & Cattle, Outback, Freebird's Burritos) are generally significantly better than the non-chains (with the exception of the profusion of Korean restaurants that every Army town has and one excellent Indian restaurant)

[Lex]

Sorry - that review is nowhere near as funny as John Quinlan's.

A martini is not a martini without an olive.

That, at least, is the thinking of a true connoisseur.

And to Siouxland residents, many of whom consider themselves connoisseurs of fine food, a city is not a city without an Olive Garden. So as of Monday, Sioux City becomes a real city.

What for years has been a local obsession -- the OG's manicotti formaggio, chicken vino bianco and zuppa toscana driving Siouxlanders to Omaha and Sioux Falls -- has become a reality.

Olive Garden officially opens its newest restaurant at 4 p.m. Monday at 4930 Sergeant Road in Lakeport Commons.

The OG yearning was best expressed by an anxious woman in a big white car who stopped this reporter as he was leaving the new restaurant last week. She rolled down her window and asked if it was open, then looked heartbroken when told that it wasn't, that the parking lot was simply filled with the vehicles of Olive Garden staff members in training. "I've been watching it and marking my calendar until Dec. 11," she said, her brief hopes for an early Italian dinner quashed.

[Sneakeater]

It's not that different from M. Wells when you think about it.

[oakapple]

"We like to have a good time here," he said. "My biggest thing is to keep my employees happy, make sure they're having a good time. That way, I can make sure my guests are happy and having a good time."

This means, after every order, be sure to ask the customer: "Can I supersize that for you?"

[Wilfrid]

Tremendously useful to have new instructions on how to eat a soup dumpling in the RedFarm review. I'd forgotten, and recently I've been holding them between my feet and trying to head butt them open.

[oakapple]

What's a plancha, again? I forgot.

[Wilfrid]

And those small sticks with which people lift food towards their mouths?

[prasantrin]

Having eaten at both chain (5 Guys--does that count as a restaurant?) and non-chain (Babylon) restaurants in Grand Forks, I can give testament that Olive Garden is probably the best there is in that town.

(Grand Forks is the closest US city (with a population over 5000) to Winnipeg)

[Wilfrid]

Winnipeg is in Canada. I knew that!

[oakapple]

Pete Wells had better watch his back. There's another applicant for his job.

[oakapple]

And the other one defends herself.

[Stone]

Oh, I should let you go. It's awful to hear that someone was snotty in a message.

I don't care whether they are or not. If anyone's got time to sit out there and nitpick, I kind of feel sorry for them. Get a life.

[Wilfrid]

Ha, good for Marilyn!

[Lex]

Oh, I should let you go. It's awful to hear that someone was snotty in a message.

I don't care whether they are or not. If anyone's got time to sit out there and nitpick, I kind of feel sorry for them. Get a life.

Spoken by a man who has 11,692 posts.