Olive Garden Italian Restaurant

Not every restaurant is for everyone. This was my first time to an Olive Garden. My wife wanted to go because she went all the time in her childhood, and mention of never-ending breadsticks enticed even my videogame-playing son away from the screen. We arrived and were rapidly seated, and service was quick and efficient. Alternate menus were on a gadget on the table (which you could also pay with), so cool for that. There was some confusion as I was ordering the house salad as a gluten free entree option, but the other options for non-Celiacs went faster. (No surprise there. Us Celiac sufferers are snowflakes.) All in all, the service was excellent. The food was... okay. Breadsticks did not hold up to memory (apparently), but the portions were fantastic and insurmountable even to my son's ability to eat pasta in the poundage. The "house special salad", however, was just a horrid, salty, nightmare. Not only did it feel like bagged "American salad" that you get from any grocery store---just with red onion, pepperoncini, and two olives (per salad) thrown in---but ye gadz (!) the house dressing is *loaded* with salt. I couldn't eat more than a small plate of it. The only thing saltier was when an old roommate made General Tso's chicken and misread "sugar" for "salt". Ick. I felt like I had just eaten a salt lick and had to scope out the exit for deer hunters just in case. Chalk this one up to "survival food".

Great experience. Waiter Christopher was outstanding at understanding gluten free options. He took great care helping us order safe foods for myself and our son and checked on us frequently throughout the meal. Thank you Christopher!