Reviewing chain restaurants can be a bit more difficult since they are somewhat thought of to be a lesser type of place than an independent. Many food critics would tell you they will not review chains, but as I eat it, I will review it!!
The Olive Garden restaurant in Collegeville is located in the new Wegman’s Shopping Center just off of the Collegeville exit of 422.
Not atypical for any Olive Garden restaurant on a Saturday evening, we arrived and were told that it would be 45 minutes to an hour. Normally if I am really famished (hard to believe if you look at me!), I won’t wait, but in looking at the number of people waiting, I thought their time estimate was overly conservative and I was proven correct when we were seated after 30 minutes.
I was excited to eat at Olive Garden because I have found their meals to be fairly consistent over the years and believe they usually are good value.
My meal started with Pasta Fagioli soup-- this is a hearty, meaty soup that often reminds me of chili. Olive Garden has offered this soup for years and is quite frankly a staple of the franchise for me. The soup was served perfectly and upon completion you are always asked if you would like more—while I easily could have a second bowl, it would be too much even for this Foodie with a pasta meal coming.
A secret to ordering from the menu at Olive Garden is to pick any dish from the dinner menu and find out if there is a luncheon portion of this—if there is, you can get an ample order while saving a few shekels! In this case, my Chicken Alfredo went from $13.75 down to $9.95 and the portion was outstanding! The pasta was done to perfection with just the right amount of sauce and the chicken was tender and juicy. I splurged on a drink with the meal rather than my customary ice tea. I had the Bella Limonata which was sweet lemonade, pomegranate and pineapple juices with fresh sliced fruit. This drink at $2.95 is a nice portion for the money!
My companions were equally satisfied. One had the Stuffed Chicken Marsala ($15.25) which is described as oven-roasted chicken breast stuffed with Italian cheeses and sun-dried tomatoes, topped with mushrooms and a creamy marsala sauce—this was also served with garlic parmesan mashed potatoes. Having sampled this, it was delicious!
My other companion ordered the Five Cheese Ziti al Forno ($11.50)—this was just a huge mound of never ending pasta; thus, he took some home with him. I sampled this as well and concurred with his opinion that the pasta was done to perfection!
Both of my companions had the Olive Garden never ending salad bowl as their appetizers which is included in the meal price similar to the aforementioned soup. We also enjoyed the bread sticks which are another staple of the chain.
This was a lot of food for a good value! Total before tip and tax was $44.50.
4 Brownies
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