[troub]

went yesterday,

so after the waitress informed us that every pasta had egg in it; including angel hair, the whole wheat linguini, and the little noodles in the soup, and the breadsticks too - we asked exactly WHAT can we eat there.

She asked a cook or something and came back and said "the cook can throw together some random vegetables on the grill if you'd like"

"fine...thanks"

"do you want a side salad with that too?"

"sure why not"

I thought she meant like... a free salad with the entree, because entrees come with salad or soup. I was wrong.

yeah... bill came to $25 for a (uninspired plate of grilled veggies and a pathetic salad.)x 2

I nominate Olive Garden for this years Cracker Barrel Award for their non-accomidating attitude toward vegans.

aka.

dont go there.

ever.

 

[Brandon]

I loathe Olive Garden, both for the above reasons and the fact that I don't personally like flavorless Italian food. I like things like garlic, basil, etc. in my Italian food. Call me crazy.

 

[codemonkey]

Wow!!!

It's so weird that all of their pasta has egg in it. At a typical grocery store, pretty much the only pasta that has egg in it is egg noodles.

 

[troub]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Brandon

I loathe Olive Garden, both for the above reasons and the fact that I don't personally like flavorless Italian food. I like things like garlic, basil, etc. in my Italian food. Call me crazy.

garlic and basil in italian food?

who woulda thunk it?

Olive Garden is to Italian, the way McDonalds is to a Steakhouse.

 

[Jessica Alana]

There have been threads on what's vegan-friendly at Olive Garden. I remember it not being much; but I believe I recall the breadsticks sans butter, minestrone soup, and a couple other things. I'm sure someone can dig up the link to the old thread. I've gotta take off to the gym now or else I'd do it.

 

[dyskrasia]

When I went last week the pasta was egg free and vegan. Maybe it's just my local one? Our waitress is veggie and she brought us a binder with ingredient lists in it.

 

[GhostUser]

the only thing you can eat from Olive Garden is the salad.

I thought Minestrone soup would be okay but it contains pasta that has eggs in it and its pre-made.

 

[Alfiedog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProudVegan

the only thing you can eat from Olive Garden is the salad.

I thought Minestrone soup would be okay but it contains pasta that has eggs in it and its pre-made.

I didn't know that - I usually have that soup. Thanks.

 

[krista82]

I am still mad about that Olive Garden incident yesterday. That waitress was so rude to us and didn't care about what was in the food. She wouldn't even check for us until we asked multiple times. She kept asking the other waiter instead. She was not only rude to us, but my mom was telling me eariler how rude she was to them as well. I think we need to write a letter to that company.

The worst part about the visit was we were in a party of 8 and on the check, they put an 18% gratuity on there. That girl certaintly wasn't worth the 18%.

 

[krista82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alfiedog

I didn't know that - I usually have that soup. Thanks.

I think it's a local thing because I have heard others here on VB say their Olive Garden has egg free pasta. Also, I think their website says some of their pasta is and some isn't. So because I read that their capellini and shells in the minestrone were egg free, I would eat those things when I went there. Now I find out they have egg in them...

I hate it when I find out food I thought was vegan wasn't. Unfortunately, it happens to me more often than I would like.

 

[anthony11]

Quote:

Originally Posted by codemonkey

Wow!!! It's so weird that all of their pasta has egg in it. At a typical grocery store, pretty much the only pasta that has egg in it is egg noodles.

I've seen lots of conflicting information on the provenance of OG's menu items. It's possible that some locations source ingredients independently, or of course that the staff are ignorant and/or lying. I won't trust anything there.

It's my understanding that most filled pasta -- tortellini, ravioli, etc., contain eggs to lend elasticity and adhesion. I used part soy flour when I made ravioli and the dough worked out just fine.

 

[krista82]

Down with Olive Garden! My good friend got fired from an OG last year because she forgot to ring in a dessert. She didn't know the people and wasn't trying to give them anything free. They didn't care or try to take it out of her check, just fired her.

That's the same location that screwed over troub and I yesterday!

 

[GhostUser]

why did you even go there? it's well known that OG is not vegan friendly.

 

[krista82]

We went with my parents, my sister, her bf and her bf's parents. We were invited and I didn't realize their pasta had egg because I had heard from many sources that the pasta was egg free. Would definitely not have gone if I had known...

 

[GhostUser]

ah. I thought it might be a family obligation thing, because it would'nt make sense for vegans to go there.

I think somewhere on VB is a letter from OG explaining that they can't accomodate vegan diets, and a couple of threads. sorry you had a crappy meal. i'd write a letter- they could at least have given you a discount.

 

[Jessica Alana]

This may've been one of the threads I was thinking of: http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/s...t=olive+garden

I haven't been to the Olive Garden in a while, but when my friend and I used to go kind of often (when I ate dairy,) it was great. It had a nice atmosphere. (Read: It was like the male version of Hooters there. Most of the waiters were smokin' hot.)

 

[GhostUser]

they should have hot waiters to make up for the crappy food.

 

[remilard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krista82

The worst part about the visit was we were in a party of 8 and on the check, they put an 18% gratuity on there. That girl certaintly wasn't worth the 18%.

1. You shouldn't have expected to get some great ad hoc meal from an inexpensive strip mall chain.

2. You shouldn't expect to get some great ad hoc meal anywhere without calling first.

3. If the six people at the table who had any business being there were treated well, then she earned her tip.

 

[Jessica Alana]

I have to admit I hate when gratuity is automatically added to the bill. I feel I tip pretty well, and I like that I can give what I think is appropriate.

However, I do understand that some people suck and wouldn't give a penny if they weren't forced to in those cases.

 

[troub]

Quote:

Originally Posted by remilard

1. You shouldn't have expected to get some great ad hoc meal from an inexpensive strip mall chain.

I expect to get great service and meals wherever I patron

Quote:

Originally Posted by remilard

2. You shouldn't expect to get some great ad hoc meal anywhere without calling first.

This shouldn't be required. Again, I am the patron, not them. I pay them to provide a service - that service should be to my standards. Her service should be worth the gratuity. As it stands, her service was worth $0.50... at most.

Quote:

Originally Posted by remilard

3. If the six people at the table who had any business being there were treated well, then she earned her tip.

There were 4 seperate checks of two people each. They thought it would be fun to count the seperate checks as a party of 8. None of the other 6 were happy of her service either. They all thought she was rude and not fitting to work in the service industry.

But I digress, none of this is important.