Favorite Italian food chain restaurant

[OmahaBlueDog]

Poll question: Favorite Italian food chain restaurant

I'm just trying to find the cause of the Olive Garden hatred.

FYI, my pick would be Maggiano's -- but there aren't that many of them, and (like Buca Di Beppo) it really works best with a big group.

[AlCzervik]

1. Il Fornaio.

[OmahaBlueDog]

2. Never heard of it. West Coast?

[AlCzervik]

3. it is but i think they have some other places other than just here, just a few i think.

yup, they do, here is the link
http://www.ilfornaio.com/page10.htm

[cemaphonic]

6. Yeah, I'm not such a fan of chains, but they are decent.

[harmonicon]

4. "other"

Little Ceaser's wasn't an option. A large pizza is only $5, dude!! If I'm going to eat crap food, I want a lot of it for very little money.

[OmahaBlueDog]

5. Hell yes! Pizza, 2 crazy breads, and sauce for under $10

Yes, you can feed a family of 4.

That Pizza is 5.50 and 5.95 in a lot of places now :-(

[hellbound-liberal]

9. Sorry but Carrabba's doesn't qualify as crap food. They serve excellent Italian food

with a variety of non-tomato based dishes. I haven't eaten at Maggiano's but, from what I've heard, it dooesn't qualify either.

[harmonicon]

20. crazy bread is not tomato based.

nor is a 2-liter bottle coke.

[OmahaBlueDog]

37. I've never had a bad meal at Carraba's

I like eating at the bar height tables near the grilling area.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

7. NONE of them.

They seem to be unable to cook a meal without any goddamned TOMATO.
I hate tomatoes.
I am allergic to tomatoes. They are too acid for me.

Why do Italian restaurants make every goddamn dish with tomatoes???
I have gotten extremely angry with waiters over this. They do not understand.


:grr: :banghead:

[OmahaBlueDog]

8. Alfredo Sauce

Tons of dishes done this way -- without even a hint of tomato

White pizza (usually served with tomato sauce on the side -- just ask to skip that); mozzerella, ricotta, herbs on crust.

Tiramisu -- would just be bad and wrong with tomatoes

[yellowdogintexas]

28. try something like chicken or veal marsala or piccatta

there is another dish which includes sundried tomatoes which can easily be removed..artichoke hearts, spinach, light wine sauce.

alfredo is good, but often made too thick and rich in chain restaurants.

OG has a nice selection of chicken dishes with no tomatoes. when I go to OG I try to split one of these with my dining partner.

http://www.olivegarden.com/menus/menu/Default.asp?server_path=/menus/dinner/chicken/

I never eat the tomato-y "traditional" Italian dishes when I eat out at Italian because I can make that at home! Plus I am on Weigh Watchers so I am always looking for the dishes with the least fat/calorie count.

Romano's has a great chicken dish for WW points ...

[TommyO]

10. Maggiano's, lobster ravioli, enough said!

[Midlodemocrat]

12. .

:thumbsup:

Their Chicken Saltimbocca isn't too shabby, either!

[TommyO]

15. Been there, done that, will do it again!

[OmahaBlueDog]

32. There isn't a thing at Maggiano's that's shabby

I wish they'd open one in the "Old Market" here in Omaha. It'd be a perfect location.

[bertha katzenengel]

11. Carrabbas Chicken Bryan - mmmmm

:hi:

[TommyO]

16. That's definitely one of my favorites at Carabbas

Second only to the Spiedino di Mare (shrimp and scallops grilled, with a lemon butter sauce).

[bertha katzenengel]

19. ooh, that is fabulous

:9

[MorningGlow]

35. Is that the one with goat cheese?

If so, DROOOOOLLLL. I order that every time.

[bertha katzenengel]

40. Yep. It also comes in a special, along with mezzaluna and

steak marsala. THAT plate is a treat.

[hippywife]

46. Have you tried

the Polo Rosa Maria? Stuffed with fontina cheese and prosciutto, and topped with a light lemon mushroom sauce. Totally awesome! But I haven't had it in so long (eat very little meat now and never in any restaurant) that it would probably taste too salty to me now.

:hi:

[BarenakedLady]

13. Biaggi's

http://www.biaggis.com/

[TZ]

14. I like Macaroni Grill

I've never had a bad meal there.

[AlCzervik]

17. they changed the menu at the one near me, they got rid of a bunch of things and one of

them was the one thing i used to order when we went there. I hate when that happens but on the other hand i stopped eating meat so i guess it doesn't matter now.

[cemaphonic]

29. I hate the way they train their waiters

to ask you if you've eaten there before, as if ordering from their menu is some mysterious process they will need to explain. Food is ok though.

[bigwillq]

18. bigwillq's Momma's House

:P :) ;)

[Beer Snob-50]

21. how about bertucci's

great rolls and a fantastic marinara (sp) sauce

[fudge stripe cookays]

23. I LOVE Bertucci's!

I lived there when I was in Boston. :9

[jmm]

26. The guy who founded it went to my high school.

One year he gave an honors society speech. He was by far the best guest speaker to come to my high school but I got the impression he'd never be invited back again.

[Gormy Cuss]

34. Hey! I used to live in your town.

I remember when Joey opened the first Bertucci's in Davis Square.
I still think of Bertucci's as a pizza place, not an Italian restaurant.

[bullwinkle428]

22. This poll officially sucks!! You forgot to include Biaggi's!

:evilgrin:

I see BNL already mentioned it upthread, but didn't want that to go by unnoticed. No excuses from you, assuming you're from Omaha, as they have a location there now! :spank:

[OmahaBlueDog]

30. Honestly -- I didn't know it was a chain.

[fishwax]

24. sometimes I miss Johnny Carino's

they had one where I used to live, and I always liked their food ...

[OmahaBlueDog]

31. They closed one in Sunrise Florida

I still see them in the Midwest

[Tommy_Carcetti]

25. Me likee breadsticks! Me likee breadsticks!

Yes, I do like Olive Garden.

I'll take my DU Lounge punishment now.

[yellowdogintexas]

27. JOE"S Pizza and Pasta ....certainly qualifies as a chain down here

in North Texas...There must be 20 of them in Fort Worth.

I do enjoy a salad @ Olive Garden but usually don't eat there unless I am out of town where pickings are slimmer.

[cemaphonic]

33. The Olive Garden thing is mostly an in-joke at this point.

The original context was, someone was asking for advice on good Italian restaurants in NYC, and someone else suggested Olive Garden and got teased mercilessly about it. The general consensus was that while Olive Garden might be ok if you didn't want to risk getting one of the dodgy independent restaurants, if you are asking for advice, the locals can probably do better than that.

[OmahaBlueDog]

36. Right -- it'd be like going to Pizza Hut in Chicago instead of Lou Malnati's

Thanks for clearing that up -- I never got the OG jokes.

[Tektonik]

38. Italian is boring enough that chains just take it to another level of ugh

Lots of Italian food tastes great, but it's boring, well at least Southern Italian and immigrant Italian food is.

[unpossibles]

39. having once worked for an amazing everything-from-scratch Northern Italian restaurant, I can't stand

the chains. If I had to pick one though, it would be Macaroni Grill, despite the horrid name. I like that most of their dishes can be vegetarian which goes a long way in my book. Or at least, last time I went to one it was like that - you had to add meat instead of paying for it and asking for a dish without it.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

41. Macroni Grill hands down!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

42. I also like Ledo's in the Maryland/Virginia area.

Their pizza is square because they don't cut corners.

[JCMach1]

43. Johnny Carino's not even in the same league as the other shite

on the list.

[ellisonz]

44. Buca di Bepo

[hippywife]

45. Besides Olive Garden, Johnny Carinno's

is one of the worst so-called "Italian" restaurants I've ever tried...and I gave them two attempts. Their chicken marsala tasted like Lipton's Onion Soup. :puke:

[Xipe Totec]

47. Dude, I'm in Boston. I can go to the North End whenever I want

Chain?


No way!