Cuisine: Italian
Restaurant Features: Bar, On-Site Parking
Locations: Bloomington, Burnsville, Coon Rapids, Maple Grove, Maplewood, Oakdale
Addresses & Maps:
Bloomington- 4701 American Blvd W. Bloomington, MN 55437 (952)841-4044
Burnsville- 1451 County Rd 42 Burnsville, MN 55306 (952)898-4200
Coon Rapids- 150 Coon Rapids Blvd Coon Rapids, MN 55443 (763) 786-1089
Maple Grove- 12520 Elm Creek Blvd N Maple Grove, MN 55369 (763) 420-9699
Maplewood- 1749 Beam Avenue Maplewood, MN 55109 (651) 773-0200
Oakdale- 8367 3rd Street N. Oakdale, MN 55128 (651)264-1447
Roseville- 1525 County Rd C Roseville, MN 55113 (651) 638-9557
Saint Louis Park- 5235 Wayzata Blvd Saint Louis Park, MN 55416 (952) 544-4423
Links: Olive Garden website
Atmosphere: One look at the house wines lining the walls, and there should be no doubt this is an Italian restaurant! Cozy, warm and dimly-lit are the words I would use to describe the atmosphere. Several small sections of the dining area offer privacy and romance.
How cute is this little indoor courtyard that greets you upon entry? The perfect place to have a glass of wine while waiting for your table!
Menu: Warm breadsticks and Italian house salad are brought out almost as soon as you place your meal order.
Appetizers include brushetta, stuffed mushrooms, smoked mozzerella, calamari and shrimp scampi.
Entrees include classic Italian recipes such as lasagna, fettuccini alfredo, ravioli, manicotti, spaghetti and linguini, and chicken or eggplant Parmigiana.
Not in the mood for pasta? No worries...there are a variety of Italian pork, beef and chicken dishes as well.
Price guide: Appetizers: $6-10 Classic recipes $9-12 Meat entrees: $15-20
What I ordered: Baked Manicotti with a delicious blend of cheeses...so much cheese in fact, that I needed to order a meatball to balance it out a little. Very rich.
My companions ordered the Tuscan Garlic Chicken (Pan-seared chicken breasts with roasted garlic, red peppers and spinach in a white wine and garlic cream sauce, tossed with curly fettuccine). Absolutely delicious, I will order this dish next time. The huge cloves of garlic laced throughout the dish are a garlic-lovers dream, a vampire's nightmare.
and the Stuffed Chicken Marsala (Oven-roasted chicken breast stuffed with Italian cheeses and sun-dried tomatoes, topped with mushrooms and a creamy marsala sauce. Served with garlic parmesan mashed potatoes.) Another delicious dish!
Service: Our waitress was very nice and friendly, patient throughout the ordering process. She offered suggestions and offered us samples of the house wines. She was very friendly and prompt in checking on us.
Overall Impression: The food and atmosphere at Olive garden is pretty much the same at every location you would visit.
You think because of the crappy cheap looking wine bottles on the wall that makes an Italian eatery? I hate to break this to you but Olive Garden is as far from Italian as possible. The wine list sucks, the food is NOT Italian, and the staff has one thing in mind. Try to sell as much wine as possible. I would never order wine at this place because:
1) It sucks
2) It sucks
3) It sucks
The food i drowning in cheese or some microwaved sauce so that eliminates it from being true Italian.
Next thing you are going to believe is that Taco bell is true Mexican or that Red Lobster is truly good seafood.
God, you are just naive
Posted by: True Italian | July 06, 2008 at 02:23 AM
True Italian needs to relax a little and not be so offensively rude when posting to respond to someone's OPINION!
I always enjoy eating at Olive Garden. I have had them offer samples of wine occasionally when I go there, but not very often.
The food is always consistent, and quite frankly, when most people think Italian, the dishes here are what comes to mind. We may be "wrong," but our Italian friend didn't bother to point out better authentic restaurants that one should go to in the area....
Posted by: Angela E. | September 21, 2008 at 07:19 AM
The food is consistent because it isn't hard to open a can of sauce or nuke some noodles.
You enjoy eating there because to you it is a nice night out.
Olive Garden is a complete joke when it comes to quality of food.
The first post was 100% dead on. Olive Garden is popular here but laughed at by anyone with half a brain, half a heart, and at least common sense to know what good food is.
But you go on eating there Angela. Maybe some day you can get a raise and move on up to a Denny's
Posted by: Giuseppe Matalcioa | December 15, 2008 at 06:17 PM
Why are #'s 1 and 3 so angry that other people have the capacity to enjoy life? Are they so unhappy that they need to look down on people who aren't "cool" enough to hate Olive Garden, or people who eat at Denny's, in order to make themselves feel better?
If this is their way of trying to educate us about what is authentic Italian food, I'm sure we would all appreciate a recommendation for an alternate restaurant in the area, or even simply a link to a website featuring great authentic Italian food.
Posted by: Food lover (all kinds, from Thomas Keller's French Laundry to In-n-Out Burger) | December 30, 2008 at 10:10 PM
Ya know, I agree! I have worked hard on this blog to put information out
there for people to use....no one pays me to do this! Yet 3/4 of the
comments I get are people needing a place to vent a bad experience they
had. I have never claimed to be a food critic, I just enjoy food and
dining. Recommendations are always welcome
Posted by: Twin Cities Restaurant Blog | December 31, 2008 at 12:14 AM