That said, his point is clear.<\/p>\n
Because Simmons and I are sitting inside an Olive Garden in Orlando\u2019s Waterford Lakes neighborhood. And for the first time ever, I am partaking of their long-standing and beloved Never-Ending Pasta Bowl<\/a> promotion, running this year from Aug. 31 to Nov. 22.<\/p>\n Olive Garden is Simmons\u2019 favorite restaurant, a fact about which he is unapologetic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s shocking in some ways how quickly I can work it into a conversation,\u201d he tells me.<\/p>\n He waves his black cloth napkin and waxes poetic about the olive green ones they had when he was a child. And the chairs, which back then, he says, had wheels on them.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it was the coolest thing in the world,\u201d he says dreamily.<\/p>\n In ways, his love of Olive Garden seems to define him. Except it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Simmons likes \u201cbetter\u201d restaurants, too. Ones I have recommended and continue to recommend.<\/p>\n This includes Palm Beach Meats<\/a>, where I consumed too much Wagyu at once.<\/p>\n \u201cI can eat that. And love that. And I could love it somewhere else, in a more upscale atmosphere. But I also love getting a McDouble. It all just exists on a spectrum to me.\u201d<\/p>\n I had not been inside an Olive Garden since 1994, when a friend of mine got a job waiting tables at the still-open Westbury, New York, location.<\/p>\n In the heart of Nassau County, Long Island, a place with what could be hundreds of reasonably good, approachably priced, independently owned Italian restaurants, this Olive Garden was slammed. Like they were giving away drugs. Or gold bars. Even in my early 20s, way before I\u2019d written a single word in the restaurant or dining space, I was gobsmacked.<\/p>\n Chicken tender bender: Ranking the fast-food faves<\/a><\/p>\n Thirty-one years later, members of the Orlando Sentinel\u2019s Let\u2019s Eat, Orlando Facebook<\/a> group seemed equally surprised to see me ask a question about it in the forum.<\/p>\n Some had fond memories of reasonably priced food they enjoyed as cash-strapped college students. Others said they\u2019d cut off a finger rather than eat there.<\/p>\n One not only appreciated their extensive menu options \u2014 \u201cGrew up vegetarian and always loved the minestrone soup, breadsticks, salad, and mushroom ravioli. It was one of the few restaurants when I was a kid that had a decent amount of options\u201d \u2014 but like Simmons, harbored feelings that had stuck with her ever since: \u201cAlso, I would stick the black olives on my fingers and pretend they were marching British soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n Jaime Bunker, Olive Garden\u2019s senior vice president of marketing, says this is a privilege they never take for granted.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re grateful to have iconic fans who have really become a part of the Olive Garden family,\u201d Bunker told the Orlando Sentinel, citing diehards like Justin and Jordan Garton, a couple from Arkansas who named their daughter Olivia after the brand or Samantha and Jeff Gilleland who had an Olive Garden-themed wedding<\/a> after getting engaged on Olive Garden\u2019s limited Pasta Passport to Italy trip, or Braden Sinclair, who ate solely at Olive Garden for one month straight and boasts a tattoo of their famous cheese grater<\/a>.<\/p>\n Speaking of which, I decided to take a \u201cSuper Size Me\u201d approach to the question of whether I wanted cheese on my [insert basically any menu item here, save dessert]. If the server asked, I said yes. What I learned: they *always* ask.<\/p>\n Also, say \u201cwhen\u201d quickly or your bucatini will disappear beneath a bomb cyclone of Romano cheese.<\/p>\n Jiko \u2013 The Cooking Place celebrates 25 years at Walt Disney World<\/a><\/p>\n I give points, by the way, for the Romano-over-Parmesan distinction. There\u2019s a block of Locatelli in my fridge right now. Neither of my kids has been to an Olive Garden to my knowledge, but they do ask if we have \u201cthe good cheese\u201d when they\u2019re looking for something to shred on their tinned fish pasta at home.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not Italian food!\u201d people cry. No, Alfredo sauce is not actually Italian.<\/p>\n Simmons, whose grandfather emigrated from Italy, doesn\u2019t care. It\u2019s been his favorite (with chicken, please) since he graduated from Olive Garden\u2019s chicken nuggets as a child.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like going to Taco Bell and looking for authentic Mexican food. That\u2019s not why we\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n It is a pain point for his Italian mother, he says.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad\u2019s kind of \u2018whatever\u2019 about it, but my mom is so much like \u2018How can you like this restaurant?\u2019 And what I say to her, over and over, is that when I was three years old, I did not, of my own volition, walk into this restaurant. You guys took me here at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n Their explanation, he says (and I confirmed this with his mother), was that at the time, Waterford Lakes was still developing. Olive Garden was one of only a few nearby restaurants they could take him to.<\/p>\n It is at this point that I realize we have met at the original spot for his original love.<\/p>\n Here, we share breadsticks and salad, Simmons\u2019 favorite fettuccine, along with angel hair in mushroom cream sauce (a sleeper hit, my Darden contact tells me; Simmons agrees, and it is pretty mushroomy), rigatoni with four-cheese marinara and fettuccine with Olive Garden\u2019s brand-new spicy Alfredo sauce. It has a decent kick, though to me it tastes a little like Alfredo and salsa had a baby.<\/p>\n Like fettuccine al queso fundido. But not in a bad way.<\/p>\n I go home stuffed, but not at the A5 Wagyu level. I do a Guatemalan iFit hike\u00a0 on the treadmill. And I make plans to go again tomorrow. This time, in Winter Park.<\/p>\n Ranking the rotisserie: Which store-bought chicken rules the roost?<\/a><\/p>\n I text Simmons from the restaurant, wondering if the food might be better here.<\/p>\n The service was excellent at both. (I was suspicious, at first, that Darden marketing might have leaked my Waterford visit when the manager greeted me enthusiastically at the door, but the same exact thing happened at Winter Park, including an extra table touch during the meal, and I\u2019d told no one I\u2019d even be going again, let alone where.)<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s one of my favorite locations!\u201d he shot back. Laugh emojis all around.<\/p>\n Bunker says Olive Garden was never trying to recreate a specific region of Italy.<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal has always been to bring the spirit of Italian hospitality and generosity to our guests,\u201d she says when I bring up the haters.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are passionate about food, and that\u2019s okay. We are, too. What matters most to us are the millions of guests who choose to celebrate life\u2019s everyday moments with us. Our teams work incredibly hard to create great guest experiences, and it\u2019s resulted in fans that have built strong connections with Olive Garden.\u201d<\/p>\n Nearly a decade ago, a Reddit thread about the Times Square location went viral as participants discussed why anyone would go here in a city with an abundance of \u201cauthentic\u201d experiences. There were the requisite complainers, but many, many stories that uphold Bunker\u2019s assessment.<\/p>\n One, from a New York City police officer,<\/a> was incredibly moving, describing how for weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, the restaurant was open only to the first responders, police officers, firefighters, EMS, Con-Ed and construction staff working at Ground Zero.<\/p>\n Best Italian: 2026 Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe full menu was available, for free, no charge. We tried to tip the wait staff; they wouldn\u2019t accept it. Honestly, it was \u2026 amazing. You would be working 12-, 14-, or 18-hour shifts, and you could go here to eat and relax. I\u2019ll never forget the hospitality we received \u2026 Unfortunately, for that same reason, I have never been able to return.\u201d<\/p>\n This makes sense, of course, but Simmons and the brand\u2019s other superfans do so in droves, looking forward to the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl promotion, which starts at $14.99. As someone whose eyes continue to bulge at the checks I often receive on work dines, I cannot for a moment argue the value-driven arguments for Olive Garden.<\/p>\n My dinner with Simmons, during which I ordered a 6-ounce glass of wine and used a Pasta Pass, while he dined on the regular menu, totaled $37 and change before tip. He went home with four takeout containers. I left with one.<\/p>\n Snarks attack places like Olive Garden, though even many of them will relent when it comes to the restaurant\u2019s breadsticks. Several on the Facebook page listed these among \u201cthe precisely three edible things\u201d they deem available here.<\/p>\n The chain\u2019s generosity with these warm, salty batons began in 1982, when its first location opened right here on International Drive.<\/p>\n \u201cThe restaurant was far busier than anyone expected, and the food wasn\u2019t getting out of the kitchen fast enough,\u201d Bunker tells me. \u201cOn the second day, which was just as busy, the restaurant team decided to give guests refills on breadsticks so they didn\u2019t stay hungry. When that wasn\u2019t enough, they offered soup and salad \u2014 as much as the guests wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n MCCLAIN \/ The Washington Post<\/p>\n A basket of complimentary breadsticks is served at the Olive Garden in Falls Church, Virginia. (Matt McClain\/The Washington Post)<\/p>\n Anthony Bourdain was well known for his own snark, but famously rushed to the defense of North Dakota-based food writer Marilyn Hagerty <\/a>when the rabid keyboard warriors began flinging their barbs after she wrote an article singing the praises of Olive Garden.<\/p>\n There were dishes here I enjoyed as much as, and more than, some of this city\u2019s small indie Italian joints that you\u2019ll never hear me write about. Just because I don\u2019t love them doesn\u2019t mean someone else can\u2019t.<\/p>\n Top picks for me amid the Never-Ending Pasta roster: the salad, the hearty minestrone and sausagey zuppa Toscana, the meat sauce (I thought the rigatoni was the best match), and for toppings: sausage and\/or meatballs for the win. For those of you who are all about the dipping, that spicy Alfredo, even if it reads more Del Taco than Delmonico\u2019s, would be a winner.<\/p>\n Those breadsticks you all rave about, though? You can have mine.<\/p>\n Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo<\/a>\u00a0or on the OSFoodie Instagram account\u00a0@orlando.foodie<\/a>. Email:\u00a0amthompson@orlandosentinel.com<\/a>, For more foodie fun, join the\u00a0Let\u2019s Eat, Orlando Facebook group<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"Olive](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/TOS-L-olive-garden-nostalgia-03.jpg\")
Olive Garden superfan Christian Simmons, 29, tucks into his favorite dish: fettuccine Alfredo with chicken. (Amy Drew Thompson\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n![\"I](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/TOS-L-olive-garden-nostalgia-04-rotated.jpg\")
I heard lots about Olive Garden’s pasta fagioli, but I preferred their take on minestrone. (Amy Drew Thompson\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n![\""Say](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/TOS-L-olive-garden-nostalgia-01.jpg\")
“Say when?” the grater-wielding servers ask. Better be fast, or they’ll give you the whole block. (Amy Drew Thompson\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n![\"At](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/TOS-L-olive-garden-nostalgia-05.jpg\")
At the Winter Park Village Olive Garden, eggplant Parmesan was fresh, hot and crispy. My dining companion was very happy with it. (Amy Drew Thompson\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n![\"After](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/TOS-L-olive-garden-nostalgia-07.jpg\")
After trying a multitude of pasta-sauce-topping combinations, I hand my personal crown to the rigatoni with meat sauce. (Amy Drew Thompson\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n![\"Chocolate](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/TOS-L-olive-garden-nostalgia-08-rotated.jpg\")
Chocolate lasagna, our server’s recommended dessert. Tres decadent. (Amy Drew Thompson\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n![\"Say](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/TOS-L-olive-garden-nostalgia-06-rotated.jpg\")
Say what you want, but I’ve had plenty of mid- or worse meatballs in this city that you’ll never hear about. For $4.99, Olive Garden gives you three generous orbs. (Amy Drew Thompson\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/3XTJJNS435AWFMDXHURPTNGGIQ.jpg\")
<\/p>\n