unlimited breadsticks!
'My Family Of Four Ate At Olive Garden For The First Time, And Our $150 Meal Felt Like An excellent Value'
Since Terri Peters and her family started visiting chain restaurants for the first time about a year ago, they've dined everywhere, from Ruth's Chris Steak House to Bahama Breeze.
She's never seen customers lined up just to get a table at any of them until they visited Olive Garden on a Friday night.
But she guesses that she shouldn't have been surprised — Americans are spending more of their income on going out to eat than ever before, and diners are searching for value.
And, after a great meal, her husband, their two teens, and Peters found it at Olive Garden.
[Olive Garden has been around since 1982. Terri Peters/Business Insider]
Olive Garden is known for its classic Italian-inspired fare.
The first Olive Garden opened in Orlando in 1982, and the chain became famous for its Italian-American fare and "never-ending" breadsticks and soup or salad.
Now, it has about 900 locations in the US and countries like Mexico and Canada.
[Their wine from Olive Garden was an excellent value. Terri Peters/Business Insider]
Olive Garden offers a selection of Italian wines for just $20 per bottle, so Peters and her husband opted for a red blend.
They also could've chosen white, pink or red Moscato, but they're not big sweet wine drinkers.
The wine was delicious and, at just $20 for the whole bottle, felt like a true value. Their kids ordered a soda and a peach-raspberry iced tea, which were $4 each.
[Olive Garden's fried mozzarella was tasty. Terri Peters/Business Insider]
The menu mostly consisted of classic pasta dishes and more creative ones, plus also soups, chicken dishes and appetizers like calamari and toasted ravioli.
They started off their meal with Olive Garden's fried mozzarella ($9) and really enjoyed it. They got seven fried mozzarella sticks and a side of marinara dipping sauce.
[Their meals came with lots of extras. Terri Peters]
Each entreé at Olive Garden comes with breadsticks and a choice of either soup or salad. All three are "never-ending," so if they ran out, they were welcome to ask for more.
Peters and her husband chose Olive Garden's iconic house salad — simple ingredients like lettuce, onions, pepperoncini and tomatoes dressed with delicious Italian dressing.
[Olive Garden's Alfredo sauce was excellent. Terri Peters/Business Insider]
Chicken Alfredo is one of Peters' favorite things to order at an Italian restaurant, as she's yet to find an Alfredo sauce recipe or store-bought Alfredo that she likes enough to enjoy at home.
So, she ordered a $20 plate of chicken Alfredo pasta and was not disappointed.
The portion size was huge, and the chicken was perfectly cooked. She immediately knew she'd be eating leftovers of this for days, and wasn't mad about it.
[Peters' son ordered spaghetti and meatballs at Olive Garden. Terri Peters/Business Insider]
Their son's standard order at most restaurants is a plain cheeseburger, so Peters was amused watching him figure out what to get from a menu of Italian-style dishes.
He picked traditional spaghetti and meatballs ($17) and seemed to really enjoy it.
To read more about this family's first-time experience at Olive Garden, head to Business Insider.