“I want staff to realize we have a brand that people love.” Olive Garden promises “an idealized Italian family meal, whether you're Italian or not,” says Pickens. When General Mills launched the chain in 1982, it was an affordable Italian restaurant - a safe choice, nothing surprising.

Three OG classics all on one plate! Chicken Parmigiana, Lasagna Classico** and our signature Fettuccine Alfredo – all with homemade sauces made fresh every morning. **Our meat sauce is made with pan-seared beef and Italian sausage.

The answer, perhaps unsurprisingly, is no. Of Olive Garden's 40 current restaurants outside of the U.S., not one is in Italy. In fact, there are no Olive Garden locations in Europe at all. Most are located in the Americas, and there's one in the Caribbean, two in the Philippines, and one in Saudi Arabia.

Our soup and sauce masters create dishes by hand and from scratch, every day. With fresh, whole ingredients like kale, peppers and squash. Because they know cooking that way – the Italian way- everything tastes better. to everything they make.

Olive Garden is one of the top casual dining restaurant chains based in the United States specializing in Italian cuisine. A casual dining restaurant comes under the full service dining category and is typically described as an establishment that offers table service and moderately priced food in a casual environment.

14 surprising things you didn't know about Olive Garden

• They've been ranked the number one Italian chain restaurant.
• They used to share buildings with Red Lobster restaurants.
• The look of the original restaurant models resemble a Tuscan farmhouse.
• It started as a Florida-based restaurant.

Top 10 Most Iconic Foods to Eat in Italy

• Spaghetti alla Carbonara.
• Napoletana Pizza.
• Risotto.
• Arancini.
• Fiorentina Steak.
• Polenta.
• Ossobuco.
• Truffles.

Most of Italy's olives are used exclusively to make oil, but a good number of them are so delicious they're also eaten whole, what's known as a table olive. From tiny, dark purple gems to crisp green giants, the table olives of Italy run the gamut of flavor and texture.

Gaeta Olives The Gaeta olive is the black gem of Italian olives. It is the best for cooking purposes and also the most renowned and well-liked among Italians.

The history of olive oil in Italy The Romans revered olive oil, using it liberally in their cooking, and also as a remedy and a moisturiser. Olive oil even became an important symbol within the Roman Catholic Church – to this day, it's used to anoint the heads of the baptised.

According to them, all the pasta for the day is cooked in the morning. It is then removed from the hot water when it is partially cooked and put in an ice bath. When someone orders pasta at Olive Garden, the employee then takes the partially-cooked noodles and finishes boiling them.

Raw olives are incredibly bitter, so once harvested they are cured and then usually preserved in salt or brine. The small, oval olive fruit has a flavour ranging from salty to mild and sweet.

A restaurant is a place where you can eat a meal and pay for it. In restaurants, your food is usually served to you at your table by a waiter or waitress. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The food at the restaurant was good and the waiters were polite.

Olive Garden is an American casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian–American cuisine. It is a subsidiary of Darden Restaurants, Inc., which is headquartered in Orange County, Florida.

Over history, the olive has been the symbol of peace, wisdom, glory, fertility, power and purity. 9. HEALTHY – Olives are incredibly healthy fruit (yes, fruit - they are a distant cousin of the peach) containing antioxidants, healthy fats and fiber.

The Italians know their food very well. This means they know exactly what to add, how much of it, and when to introduce different ingredients. The flavors are more intense, and the ingredients are fresh. A key factor behind the amazing taste of Italian cuisine is freshness.