Olive Garden Italian Restaurant

Nancy Matocha, says:

In the national Italian-restaurant conversation, love for The Olive Garden is the love that dare not speak its name. Last night, I had the Ravioli di Portabella--or is it Portobelli in Italian? I’m not sure. It’s a very decent pasta dish in a pink sauce. My husband tried their new Chicken Caprese, a grilled chicken served on a bed of pasta with basil and tomato. I thought it was tasty too, though he prefers the Chicken Castellena.

The thing about this chain restaurant, which sets it above the others, is its interior design. You are not seated in a huge barn-like structure only to have everyone’s conversation amplified from four walls and a ceiling -- and therefore picking up only fifty percent of your dining companion’s conversation. The place is seemingly constructed of several different rooms, so you have the auditory illusion of dining with only four or five other tables. I always want to compliment the architects and designers on that every time we eat there.

One of the great things about living in the Bible belt is that no matter how long the wait for a table, there are always a few seats at the bar to relax over a glass of wine or tea as your taste requires.

I have never found the service to be lacking and as everyone who enters Flower Mound is issued two children at the border, it is a child-friendly restaurant, complete with extra olives in the salad.