Real Italians Try Olive Garden! And One is an Italian Cooking Teacher!

[@themartykus]

As soon as she said finally Italian i said," Boy, are they going to be disappointed 😂😂!!"

[@Ladran_Sancho]

I thought she was joking...

[@mirjaia9859]

"If you try this in Italy they will burn your place down" "They would be wasting a match..." Ded. Amazing humor and video, saluti dall'Italia

[@roccopatrone8843]

"first they would decapitate you...then they would burn the place down"....these two are Hilarious

[@brenturquhart7090]

“Maybe the Nonna has Alzheimer’s.” Almost fell off my chair when she said that. Lol

[@cjapao8058]

That's hilarious 😂

[@ps603]

That made me Horse Laugh..

[@davidebrownstl]

LOL! "It tastes like nothing" Welcome to Olive Garden!!!🤣

[@jamessanders145]

they don't salt their pasta water to make the pots last longer

[@garagedancer122]

I knew this would interesting but didn't expect to laugh till I cried.

[@JohnOhkumaThiel]

My favorite line: "This would be a hit in the hospital."

[@mdhbh]

the old couple have my jaws hurting from laughing so hard😆🤣😅😂

[@martinzazueta8633]

I think it’s the same thing when we Mexicans go to Taco Bell 😂

[@travelcdv]

Exactly!!! As an American that grew up in Los Angeles, even I feel the same way about Taco Bell :-)

[@marysiegel7974]

Spot on!!!

[@choochcardinale6595]

Yep I've had real authentic Mexican food my daughter is married to a man from Ensenada. And my daughter learned how to cook real authentic Mexican food and when I go to Mexican restaurants that are run by actual Mexicans from mexico. Taco Bell is more of a Tex-Mex

[@4Rascals321]

Americanized Mexican food is a sin no matter who makes it. Go to the Mexican neighborhoods to eat Mexican food. Taco Bell is abysmal !!! Makes me throw up and have diarrhea.

[@angelasmith3421]

Naw Taco Bell is used so you can go to bathroom. Olive Garden suppose to be kinda upscale rest. It’s missed it’s mark

[@thewalruswasjason101]

While she was complaining about it the husband was chowing down!!😂

[@brenturquhart7090]

“Maybe if the Nonna has Alzheimer’s.” I almost fell out of my chair when she said that. I used to love the Olive Garden, or I did until I started to deal with Italian electrical contractors on a daily basis. They introduced me to real Italian food, and once you’ve had the real deal, you can’t go back to your old ways.

[@SwissMarksman]

Olive Garden is that what a drunk Chef does after he comes home from a nighout. I'd rather eat McDonalds at this point.

[@vickihandel3620]

I agree! It’s just a cheaper alternative not good Italian food!

[@giovannisantostasi9615]

These people are from Rome or Lazio region (around Rome). They are born comedians, and they are so funny in general. The joke about Nonna teaching Italian cooking to Olive Garden having Alzheimer's or wasting a match to burn a real Italian restaurant serving this garbage is pure improvisation gold.

[@travelcdv]

Yes, Provincia di Viterbo :-)

[@giovannisantostasi9615]

@@travelcdv anyway besides the criticism about the music I love your channel, thank you for your contribution to sharing Italian culture with the world.

[@travelcdv]

@@giovannisantostasi9615 Thanks 🙂

[@ptrs559]

Don’t find it particularly amusing.

[@lokisfriend]

I don't find uppity people to be particularly funny.

[@hmswrites1133]

My family used to love going to OG when I was a kid (my mom still loves it) but after my Italian professors and friends cooked for me in college I started making my own Italian food and never went to OG again.

[@CharlanaJo]

Teach us. Or please email recipes

[@brockreynolds870]

@@CharlanaJo Italian food is not always better. For example... I'd much rather have butter on my bread than olive oil.

[@dominicksimonetti6726]

​@@CharlanaJotry looking up Brooklyn Brothers cooking on u tube I'm chef Dom

[@dominicksimonetti6726]

Real Italians don't eat olive garden that food is horrible

[@kellylappin5944]

@@dominicksimonetti6726 That’s not true! I enjoy authentic Italian, but I also like Olive Garden occasionally.

[@deetorrance3659]

I’m only 1/4 Italian, but if I worked at Olive Garden and an Italian family came in, I would warn them!

[@sarahwhite5621]

This has made my day and going to show it to my other half who is Sicilian and he will laugh falling off his chair tonight!! This couple are great 😊

[@travelcdv]

Your Sicilian other half will laugh his rear off when he sees the clip with the commercial showing the Tuscan "nonna" teaching people to make "Chicken Marsala" !!!! :-)

[@terpslife]

"Maybe the Nonna has Alzheimers" - hahaha

[@travelcdv]

That is why they refered to the German Doctor. Dr. Alzheimer :-)

[@juanaltredo2974]

these people are great, pure humanity, I wish more people were like that

[@robsryan]

The Nona with Alzheimer's! HAHAHAHA! Hilarious, I spit out my drink with that one!

[@nhf7170]

What Nonna said about being able to taste everything that is in a dish is so true. On those couple of occasions when I've been to Italy, everything tasted so clean and fresh.

[@PerrincinaSprecaci]

These people were sooo funny. My grandparents were from Naples but I was definitely not raised Italian - we spoke English and ate a lot of fast food. I kinda resent that. I feel cheated out of having a great cultural background.

[@patriciamartin6756]

Let me fill you in My entire family is from Italy. I grew up in an Italin neighborhood and didn't speak English or eat any American food until I was 6 years old. My grandmother would get up at 4 in the morning to cook. On holidays, it was two days to prepare for Christmas dinner with friends and food being served nonstop for a day and a half. I tried to replicate it as an adult but it was like a Roman bacchanalia. Too much food!

[@thomasyarnall999]

I worked at the Olive garden 2001-2003. At that time they were working closely with the culinary institute in Italy and were trying to come up with more authentic dishes. The result were very good. The problem was that the customers were not interested at all, so they went with what would sell (Alfredo everything!)

[@travelcdv]

Hi Thomas, I don't doubt that Olive Garden management told you this, but actually, that was the company line that they told everyone. What they actually did was a contract with a hotel and restaurant in the town of Castellina in Chianti that is located on a vineyard. The contract was such that each year Olive Garden would send 10 managers as an employee incentive on a trip to Italy in the off-season, when the hotel/restaurant was otherwise closed. During this trip, they would get some brief tips here and there about Italian food, but not actual cooking. The biggest thing was that at some poiint each of them was to pose for some pictures with the "chef" to use in press releases when they got home. These managers were also supposed to dress up in a Chef coat at their local restaurants during promotions after returning and shring their press releases (depending on which dish Olive Garden was promoting as the new recipe from the nonna), but none of those "specials" were actually even eaten while in Italy, let alone taught or served. Additionally, Olive Garden was allowed to use the imagery of the property (and a little temporary sign with their logo) for marketing, menu graphics, etc. The "nonna" in the commercials was not real. There is no "culinary institute" there, and there was no attempt to come up with new dishes. A great examnple is the commercial clip in the video that says she taught them her secrets on how to make "Chicken Marsala." That is NOT an Italian dish, and the closest thing to it would not come from a Nonna in Tuscany, but from Sicily. Chicken Marsala is a loose American interpretation of a Sicilian dish. The whole campaign was simply one part corporate incentive trip, and one part VERY sketchy marketing. I guarantee you will not find a single dish that even closely resembles the dishes in the "Culinary Institute" commercials at the restaurant there. I can say this with enough authority that I live fairly close to the place, and have many friends that know them, and this agreement was the source of many laughs among the locals in the area. It was a great source of humor for us, because our company ACTUALLY does what they advertised.

[@gabrielesantucci6189]

E allora...w alfredooooooo!!!!!!😂😂😂🤦

[@jelsner5077]

The food in Italy is so incredibly delicious, if you stay away from the tourist places. Even a focaccia from a cart was one of the most memorable bites I ever had.

[@travelcdv]

Yep! I always tell people that as they are walking around in Italy, if they see a menu on English outside a restaurant, keep walking 🙂

[@mlmc58]

This made my night!...LOL

[@angeliaclanton1484]

I love Italian food. Unfortunately it is very very difficult to find true authentic Italian cuisine in America. It is very sad too because if you can find true Blue authentic Italian cuisine you will never I mean never eat American Italian cuisine again. Hands down.

[@amatomic257]

You can find it on the North East coast or in Chicago if you're interested in trying authentic Italian(short of going to Italy).

[@vincentdaugustine9218]

It’s hard to find it in italy too. All italians say that they have “the best family recipe handed down over generations.” Literally these grandparents are just that. Grandparents that think their recipe is the best.

[@brianfitch9030]

You are correct. Italian-American cuisine is different. When I lived in Sacramento, Ca there was one authentic place. Unfortunately it was hard to get a table and expensive on my income. Not true in Italy.

[@BrandensOutdoorChannel]

Get it from those New York Italians who think they are Italian but have never been there lol

[@exploreohio1735]

I'm from a very itailian area so it's so easy to find authentic Itailan spots. There's a few markets with cooks inside them and the price destroys OG as well as taste and authenticity.

[@91210paige]

I love these people. Must be the Italian in me. I just don't understand how the guy isn't cracking up when she says I wouldn't feed this to my dog.

[@teresacerasaniwilliams849]

This was so great. I really needed a good laugh today. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@giavannivigliotti6174]

This is quality entertainment 😂

[@irenesprinkle6962]

Totally agree with everything they said.

[@intexas9434]

Years ago me and the kid decided to make a real Italian lasagna. A Dutch oven, $80 of top shelf ingredients and 3 hours later we had a 8x11 pan. My gosh that was good. Olive Garden isn’t gonna do that. Time and good ingredients are the secret.

[@brockreynolds870]

I suppose they could, but you'd pay 100$ for it. I never go to mid level family restaurant and expect 5 star home cooking.

[@sin46ned]

You guys nailed it....only people who know nothing about what real Italian food is...go there. I tried it twice and I've never gone back.

[@MatteoDolcin-ye8xm]

Honestly as an italian I'd be intrested in going to olive garden once if i ever go to the usa, just to taste how it is

[@IMSColoradoSprings]

I spent eight (8) years in Italy and visited many cities. Indeed, this video is quite accurate. I have eaten at OG a few times after my tour in Italy, and.......................well..................

[@robertyue7017]

Thanks for posting it was very interesting.

[@patriciamartin6756]

I love this couple. I can speak Italian and understand the lingo perfectly. This lady started off saying off saying they had tried a lot of other cuisines but finding an Italian restaurant, finally was wonderful. Does Olive Garden realize that Alfredo doesn't exist in Italy? I like Olive Garden but authentic Italian it isn't!

[@travelcdv]

Yeah, when they visited we took them for Chinese, Thai, Greek, etc. We did warn them advance about Olive Garden, and this was all about having some fun. Trust me, at home we COOKED good Italian :-)

[@stephensonselina48]

Just get the endless salad and soup for gods sake😂😂😂😂😂

[@MissVangroover]

This made me LAAAAAAUGH!😂 So awesome! It also made me miss my friends and time in Soriano!

[@travelcdv]

[@ZagnutBar]

So happy to watch this. I've visited The Olive Garden only twice in the mid 1990s. Looks this couple, i couldn't believe how completely bland the food tasted, and i we've been a second time thinking i had missed something on the first. Nope. So sad that 30 years later they haven't improved. What a disgrace, and yet they remain a successful business.

[@sillygoose4176]

Brutal. Imagine them trying some little Caesars pizza 🍕

[@davidebrownstl]

I think even Americans recognize that as crap

[@gregmasters8558]

@@davidebrownstl idk man that greasy crap in a box is mighty good is cheap.

[@patrickfreeman205]

This video is fantastic. Love the commentary on the food. I want to hang out with these two. I take my glasses off as well when things get serious.😂😂

[@Surprise_Me]

"Leave the gun.Take the cannoli." I love me some authentic Italian food. (I lived in Sicily for a time!)

[@juliuszcaesar7866]

to be honest they are very friendly these Italians :D

[@OrieCipollaro]

She’s in for a very unpleasant surprise

[@Seventizz]

I think they’re being a bit overly dramatic. For starters, the pasta OG uses is make in house with 3 ingredients. It’s not supposed to be a deluge of flavour - that’s what the sauce is for. Alfredo is a beloved American sauce - deal with it. She was right - there is marscapone cheese in the tiramisu, it’s made in house and never frozen. All the other deserts are - but not the tiramisu. Also she got overly dramatic about the espresso. It’s coffee from an expensive machine. Not much to screw up. They also waited to long to consume it as the creama was gone.

[@travelcdv]

I can attest to the fact that they were real reactions. As for the pasta, of course it is generally flavorless, but a good pasta does not actually taste like nothing. There is also a consistency factor that makes the pasta feel like glue when overcooked. As for the sauce, part of the issue is that OG lacks ingredient balance. For the sake of authenticity, OK overloads their dishes for American taste... the "more is better" mentality. As for the coffee, an expensive machine does not make a good espresso. A good coffee bean roasted correctly, with even a substandard machine, pulled by someone who knows what they are doing DOES. In the US, we typically extract 3x the water through the coffee compared with an Italian Espresso. Again, more = better mentality. The problem with that is that as you do the extraction, the majority of the flavor is earlier in the extraction, and later what you get is bitter and acidic... no matter how expensive the machine is.

[@ADoveTailJoint]

I agree with the OP. These videos of “Mexicans try Taco Bell” “Chinese try Panda Express” etc. Are so overly dramatized. Most Americans know these large chain restaurants aren’t authentic. We go there because it’s affordable convenient and tastes fine. That being said, OG is definitely inconsistent. My problem with this video is that they clearly when in there ready to hate it no matter what. To say it was all terrible or at best “edible” is BS. Honestly if you blind folded them and gave them OG dishes and non-chain American-Italian food dishes from the same area and price range, they would probably struggle guessing what is what. You get what you pay for, plain and simple. Sometimes people just want cheap, greasy, simple food bastardized or not.

[@0Julez]

if you are going to olive garden expecting authentic italian food, obviously you'll be disappointed. but if you go into it expecting italian-american food, it's pretty good.

[@garycamara9955]

There was a little Italian place in Ocean beach (San Diego) it was actually good. They always served a knife and fork with their pizza.

[@jupiterjac6438]

They might think Alfredo must be the most famous person in that restaurant hahaha

[@CBJAMPA]

I love Olive Garden! They’ve managed to get a little bit of the more than than 20 different traditional cuisines in Italy and put together a pretty flavorful menu. It’s not a 100% Italian and it’s not your grandma’s cooking (her way), but that’ll be said by Italians themselves about the other traditional cuisines around their own region. Kudos to OG!

[@michaelkovnick]

That is great that you like it. Keep in mind that this video is not about whether or not people will have subjective taste for it. It is about whether or not it is in any way Italian, since they focus their marketing on selling the idea that it is something authentic, and they have long said they are bringing recipes from Italy. The reality is that you do not actually get a little bit of 20 traditional Italian cuisines at OG by any stretch, nor do you even get one. You get Olive Garden's idea of "Italian-like-Inspired" dishes. A good comparison would be if you went to a restaurant in another country that advertised that they served the best authentic Mexican food, and your nachos were toasted bread with tomato sauce, and your burrito was a pita with melted cheese and boiled chicken. You have every right to like it by all means, but can you call it authentic Mexican food?

[@camillec1541]

Man, as a former OG employee.... OG is FAKE AF😂.... The only thing Italian about OG is the name😂..... us Americans fall for anything 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@raydiane1]

Italian food is simple but packed with amazing punches. So delicious! Unfortunately OG doesn’t even come near. Italians know the foods.

[@luigidallagnese2056]

never saw these dishes in Italy, never! We donì' use cream and garllic in our kitchen (garlic only little in some dishes, but little!)

[@travelcdv]

Yes, this is exactly the point. They advertise in the USA that they bring these recipes from Italy. They even advertise that they send their chefs to learn recipes in Toscana. It is very sad.

[@CenturyHomeProject]

I’m totally entranced by her and completely amused by her husband! When you have someone of her expertise, telling you everything that’s wrong with the food it’s best to listen. But it does make me wonder what have I been eating?

[@bethedifferent1]

*"This would be a hit in the hospital!"* Damn, that's a burn ☠️

[@leilareggie1826]

It has its place this side of Roma...lol. The older I get the more I appreciate the always crispy fresh salad and soup. I go at least twice a year to be reminded that it still offers better Alfredo than any of the really so so Sicilian style glorified pizza and gravy (red sauced) Italian restaurants in Tucson, Arizona. The few higher end ones are frankly not even close enough to the diversity of real Italian cuisine so glad enough for the consistency of OG. Buon appetito!

[@saturno-wl3rw]

What Alfredo sauce is for you?

[@NoName-hg6cc]

"Finalmente la cucina italiana! Che bello!" *Migliori 10 momenti prima del disastro*

[@sammyboy4996]

Olive Garden is pretty good but it's not authentic... They are trying to compare it to authentic Italian food and it's way different..

[@stevenj9970]

Charming family.....loved this!!!

[@MariaBlumberg-b5w]

I visited Italy many years ago. The food was fabulous! When I got back people offered to take me to the Olive Garden. I just gave a icy stare and explained to them how the Olive Garden is not real Italian food.

[@SwissMarksman]

Olive Garden is as Italian as Swiss people are Spanish.

[@moonbeamskies3346]

I hope it made you feel good to show them you were too good to eat at Olive Garden like a commoner.

[@nhf7170]

@@moonbeamskies3346 Everybody is too good to eat at Olive Garden.

[@moonbeamskies3346]

@@nhf7170 I recently ordered a bunch of dishes to once and for all decide how good Olive Garden is for myself. Here are my thoughts: Bread sticks, very good. Salad, not extraordinary but good, with very good Italian dressing in a packet. Spaghetti, bland and limp. Tomato sauce, bland. Meatballs, mediocre, can get better at Denny's. Chicken parmisan, quite good. 5 cheese pasta sold cold for reheating later, very good. So it's hit and miss. Far from being as bad as this video says.

[@stevevenn1]

I once had olive garden.... irredeemable. Have been to Italy. These folks are being too nice actually.

[@mrxman581]

Very funny. BTW, did they try a good Italian restaurant in the US too?

[@travelcdv]

Yep, our home

[@LaFarinadelSacco]

Question: why when they say "Parmigiano Reggiano" in the subtitles do you write "Parmesan"? Parmesan (USA) is a different cheese from Parmigiano Reggiano (Italy). They are two different products. Pay more attention in the videos.

[@travelcdv]

Parmesan is a generic term in the US to refer to "Parmigiano," which in recent years has mostly narrowed to "Parmigiano Reggiano DOP" (as to differentiate from other similar cheese such as Grana. This difference in the US by those that know (most serious foodies) is differentiated in English simply be denoting "Reggiano" and "Grana" - but the generic cheese is still referred to as "Parmesan" in general, then narrowed down to various types. As such, using "Parmesan" jn this context was appropriate. Naturally, if we were doing a cooking video, we would say something to the effect of "make sure your Parmesan cheese is actually Parmigiano Reggiano".

[@startpoorgetrich2132]

As an American with zero Italian heritage, my first memory of Olive Garden was eating there with a friend's family. I shared fettuccine alfredo with my friend and I thought it was absolutely disgusting. I ate it anyway because we were poor and I was taught to eat anything. I felt sick while eating it, and after. I've eaten there a few times as an adult and I still think it's very bad. I think it's given fettuccine alfredo a bad reputation. I make fettuccine alfredo at home for my family and it's amazing! It's so rich that it's a "holiday food" for us, but it's so good. I know it's not "Italian," but I think it deserves a place as Italian American. I only use butter, flour, garlic, cream, and parmigiana reggiano. It tastes like heaven. The Olive Garden version tastes like plastic. When I have to eat at Olive Garden, I eat only the soup, salad, and breadsticks. Those aren't great, but I can eat them without feeling like they're not food.

[@grodrigueze.b1455]

I’m the same way I can only eat the 🥗 salad and bread 🥖 sticks. I’ve never been to Olive Garden by choice but my job places orders with them now and then. I couldn’t eat the food all I got was terrible heartburn of the small portions I ate only because I was going to working all day that day. Italian food is best cooked at home specially those favorite dishes the family enjoys.

[@ginger942]

Actually, Fettucine Alfredo is from Italy, but not so famous. In Italy it's just butter, parmigiano cheese and pasta. Stop, nothing else.

[@travelcdv]

​@@ginger942 To get technical, what you are describing is "pasta in bianco" - It is a base dish usually eaten when your stomach is bothering you. Fettucine Alfredo came to be ages ago when some Amnerican actors were at a restaurant in Rome and saw a woman eating it. They asked the owner what she was eating, and he explained that she was his wife, was pregnant, and couldn;t hold anything else down. They tried it and loved it, then asked him for the "recipe" (For an Italian that is like asking for the receipe of buttered toast). Those same actors had it served at parties and hyped up the place in Rome where they had it. Before long, American tourists visiting Rome started frequenting that restaurant, and the owner (Alfredo) saw lots of dollar signs in his eyes. The only place in Italy you can get it is still at the same place, which exists exclusively for Americans. Youcan go there and pay $50 for a dish of pasta that most places ould feel bad charging you for. You just need to know in other places to ask for pasta in bianco, not "Alfredo"

[@ginger942]

@@travelcdv nope, the original fettuccine Alfredo made by Alfredo La Scrofa is pasta with burro and parmigiano. The original restaurant in Rome where the reciepe come from does like that. Became popular in America but not in Italy, I'm from there and I know what I'm talking about.

[@travelcdv]

@@ginger942 Sorry to pop the bubble, but if I hop in my car right now, I can be there in 40 minutes, have been here for 38 years, and am literally in the business of knowing the history of all regional Italian food, as well as the Italian immigrant implementations of them. In Italy, pasta with burro and parmigiano is called pasta in bianco, and would NEVER be found on a menu in a restaurant, because it is the most basic of basic -- that is except the Alfrredo restaurant in Rome, which is there specifically for American tourists only. Every Italian grows up being served this by their mothers when their stomach is unsettled -- such that if I ask for pasta in bianco in a restaurant, they will ask me if I am not feeling well -- (similar to chicken soup for Americans). It is not a recipe that can be claimed by anyone -- the same that nobody can say they invented chicken soup or buttered toast. That said, you are talking about a restaiurant called "Alfredo alla Scrofa". The person you are refering to is Alfredo Di Lelio. Some Americans had it back in the 1920's at HIS place (as the story goes, his wife was having morning sickness and they saw her eating it... but it was not on the menu since it is just pasta in bianco), and it became known as such when they spread the word and more Americans came for it. He turned it into a marketing scheme for tourists, and good for him for creating a market, and obviously embellished on the story as part of the show for tourists. But truth is truth. The pasta there is made speficially for Americans, as that is who it is marketed to. The pasta is insanely overcooked by Italian standards, they put an insane amount of butter on the pasta in bianco, and you pay 22 Euro for a plate of their famous "dish" becauase of the fame in America. Walk down the road, and ask for pasta in bianco anywhere, and you will get better for 1/3 of the price The simple reality is that if you serve "Alfredo" to ANY Italian, and call it "Alfredo Sauce," they will either laugh or get very confused, and ask you why you are trying to pass pasta in bianco off as a "recipe".

[@Tundra0128]

Olive Garden got horked on the whole time lmfao

[@baepple]

We’ve already seen a ton of these videos where real Italians rate OG and it’s always the same type of reviews. We GET it. OG isn’t real Italian food but it still tastes good to me

[@jonathanswift2251]

have you ever had home cooked italian food or gone to an authentic gourmet italian restaurant?

[@baepple]

@@jonathanswift2251 yes. But we already know that Olive Garden isn’t real Italian food. Have you had REAL Chinese food and not Panda Express ? We all know Panda Express isn’t real Chinese food nor is Taco Bell real Mexican food but it’s still taste good so we can always expect to have REAL Chinese people and REAL Mexican people saying it’s not authentic. WE ALREADY KNOW we don’t need them telling us all that

[@jonathanswift2251]

@@baepple i hate Taco Bell (but I pretty much hate ALL Mexican fast food Ugh) I have to admit I like Panda Express. It's just all sooo sweet sugary tasting...

[@larrykaufman8100]

And I am going to the Olive Garden with my daughter tomorrow!…wish me luck!!

[@raymondlee3318]

Thank-You for the video. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I hope you took them out for a good ol' greasy American Cheeseburger.

[@travelcdv]

Absolutely!!! They loved Five Guys :-). But over the years when we lived in L.A. we would take Italians to In n Out, and that is ALWAYS a hit!

[@brockreynolds870]

@@travelcdv Take them to a soul food restaurant, they'd get a kick out of that, for sure!

[@giuliettamassina7787]

Hilarious!

[@aldo5338]

As an Italian having been tortured by eating at The Spaghetti Factory and Olive Garden, I fully sympathize with the bad digestion they suffered!!

[@travelcdv]

Oh yeah! At least the spaghetti factory doesn't claim to bring authentic recipes from Italy :-)

[@EmperatrizNyhnaLaw]

5:03 this would be a hit in the hospital 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Wisdomabovegold]

Everything in Olive Garden tastes like Americanized fast food.

[@willieluncheonette5843]

this is pretty much spot on. The only decent thing I've had here is the bottomless salad bowl but even that is mostly iceberg lettuce. Oh yes, the house wine is good too.

[@33Keith33]

The only thing at Olive Garden that isn’t frozen is the salad but they would freeze it if they could.

[@DrDUniversity]

Sergio is my hero - "we must all die from something"

[@Valkonnen]

I grew up in an Italian Family, watching Italian Films

[@navigatorone1808]

Comparing Olive Garden to tasty Italian food is like comparing McDonalds to The Palm

[@teresacerasaniwilliams849]

I never ever eat pasta at Olive Garden. Only salad and breadsticks. 😳

[@MrTunajohnson]

They can talk all the crap they want; the reality is they have been in business for a long time because despite the jokes, people keep coming back. Is it the best? No, - but it is familiar and comforting to many regular folks. I don’t even go there, but the facts stand. I don’t like the smugness.

[@cjapao8058]

There’s no smugness, what there point is, it’s NOT ITALIAN FOOD, it’s AMERICANI NOT ITALIAN. PERIOD !!!!! This is using / robbery towards ITALIAN culture for PROFIT. 😁

[@cjapao8058]

OLIVE GARDEN is robbing another culture for there profit.

[@MrTunajohnson]

I didn’t say it was. And as that is the case, the comparison is null and void. So, all the smack is just that. Smug.

[@MrTunajohnson]

Your deft use of cap locks really had me thinking though…

[@cjapao8058]

@@MrTunajohnson 😁

[@rustyramblings5807]

I have been to Olive Garden once.I wasn’t impressed.I have never been to a real Italian restaurant.I do like cooking Italian food,and I try to make it like I see it made in Italy on KZbin.

[@travelcdv]

Awesome! That is a great way to do it... straight from the source!

[@annamarielewis7078]

Me too. Once was more than enough 🤯

[@vickihandel3620]

Their first clue should have been the menu was all pictures lmaooo! I get a few photos but when the menu has photos as large as a serving, bells go off making me question why???

[@Artistwilliamholman]

Well I tried once when they first opened and that was the last time. I’m from Newark nj. Ya got it? Lived I Italy 20 years. His ladies funny, love her.

[@BloodSweatandGears]

Michael, Paola... I am the one to give you the first thumbs down... I had to... I was laughing so hard I not only spit my tea out on my monitor and keyboard, I pee'd my pants! My heavens.. Carla & Sergio, are so funny! What a pair! :-D I am going to forward this video to a couple of folks I work with. I tease them about the "Olive Garden". Okay, gave you a thumbs up! I hope you are back in Florida at the end of September, as I will be in Orlando for my daughter's "makeup" covid wedding at the Wedding Chapel at Epcot. But do know my thumbs down is really 10 thumbs up. I have seen your FB photos of your place in Soriano... It is an absolute slice of heaven!

[@travelcdv]

Hey Richard :-). You can always make it a thumbs up :-). Turns out we will be in Italy end of September. Get back in mid October. Soooo sorry we will miss you :-(

[@BloodSweatandGears]

@@travelcdv - Okay.. if you insist! I made it a Thumbs Up!

[@travelcdv]

😀Way to go!

[@gabrielesantucci6189]

Alfredo in Italy is just a name!!!😂😂😂

[@babarama283]

I ate authentic Italian food in both Rome and Vanice, and was nothing to brag about.

[@art3mide644]

Honestly, when I think of American cuisine I don't (just) think of Mc's burgers.

[@tpk158]

I under cook pasta and finish cooking it in whatever sauce i make.

[@lenoradellanno5429]

There is a Restaurant in Rome, Italy where the Alfredo sauce was invented. It's name is Alfredo's

[@travelcdv]

It wasn't actually invented. It was originally called "Pasta in bianco", which is the most basic of pastas. Some American tourists (actors) went to a place owned by a guy named Alfredo, and his wife was having a dish of this because she was pregnant and could't hold anything down -- This is a pasta one eats when their stomach is unsettled. They asked to try it, and then asked for the recipe. Later, word got around in Hollywood circles, and Alfredo had a bunch of tourists stopping in, asking for that pasta. He saw the opportunity, and put it on his menu as "Fettuccine Alfredo", and catered to tourists seeking this dish that had become famous in America. Even today, you will only see American tourists in the Alfredo restaurant in Rome. It is a tourist trap. No other place serves "Alfredo" sauce (or even knows what it is), because it is just pasta in bianco 🙂

[@carolmasmas6309]

As an italian american olive garden makesme sad. Please take these poor people to a good itaian restaurant in brooklyn or bring them to my house where i will cook them real italian food. Please people dont think olive garden hsd anything to do with real italian food. Its like taking these people to McDonald's and temming them its great steak😢

[@travelcdv]

It was all in good fun. We took them because they had heard of it, since we do so many cooking classes in Italy, and she is one of the chef instructors. The reality is that to have what WE consider as decent Italian in the US, we need to cook at home, and that is mostly because in the US we don't have the same quality of ingredients (even in Brooklyn). That said, there were LOTS of other things they loved here :-)

[@anitaharris9095]

My mom got a spaghetti sauce recipe from an Italian women that she worked with and it beats Olive Garden hands down. It should probably be called mariana sauce. We use it with spaghetti and in lasagna. With the spaghetti we cook some with mild Italian sausage and meatballs and some with hot Italian sausage. The only reason that I go to tiramisu, which is probably nothing like I could get in Italy, but since I have nothing to compare it to I like it.

[@travelcdv]

Actually "marinara" sauce typically includes seafood. Think about it: the root for "marinara" is "marine." Marinara means "of the sea"

[@anitaharris9095]

@@travelcdv Thank you for helping me learn something new. I am always on the lookout for things that will educate me. I love trivia games and Questions. Usually 2-3 times a day, I get a trivia question, a history quiz, and a quiz related to travel. I am sure that if a question about marinara sauce I will be able to answer it. You see I had been miss informed by so many things in restaurants and in the store. I am never very happy when I find out that I've miss informed. I am not mad at the person who is educating me, but with the general public that lied to me and kept me from real knowledge. In a way it's my fault because I failed to go to Google and researched it. So once again thank you from the bottom of my heart I really appreciate you helping me to understand the difference.

[@krdrums00]

@@travelcdvhmmm interesting, pizza marinara doesn’t have seafood though

[@bcaye]

​@@krdrums00, I think traditionally it would have some anchovy paste. It adds not so much a sea flavor but just incredible umami.

[@backtomonobacktomono3490]

My mother was Italian. Her parents, godparents, and most of her aunts and uncles were from Italy. Subsequently, I grew up eating homemade everything - marinara sauce, pizza, pasta of all kinds, soups, etc. She never made Alfredo sauce - in her opinion this sauce was non-existent (that's how she was raised, and taught to cook). She never made bolognese sauce. She referred to it as, "dirty sauce." A reagional thing, I suspect. Nevertheless, she was an excellent cook. Everything was homemade. My brother and I would beg her to buy us Spagetti-O's - no way. She'd look at us and say, "Who eats spaghetti out of a can?" As an adult, I finally bought a can and heated then up. I took one mouthful and threw the rest in the garbage. Lol. I've never had a t.v. dinner. We begged for those, as well. The Olive Garden is awful. The couple in this video are hysterical, and their critiques of the food are on point. The food this restaurant tries to pass off as Italian cuisine is laughable. If you want Italian, Mexican, French, Greek, food, etc., go to a privately owned "mom and pop" restaurant and you'll most likely get a more authentic meal. If you want bland fast food, hit up a chain restaurant. I'm going to Italy, again, this September, I can't wait. To me, it's the most beautiful place in the world. I'd like to run into the couple in this video. They'd be a blast to hang out with. Lol.

[@travelcdv]

Yep, she never heard of Alfredo sauce, because there is actually no such thing, except for a tourist trap for Americans in Rome. "Dirty sauce". Nice, I have never heard that, but it is super common for local areas to have their own ways of naming lots of common things. It always amazes me how many regional words there are for a simple loaf of bread :-). As for Spagetti-O's, we had an almost identical thing with our daughter. She wanted Chef Boy-Ar-Dee Ravili, so one day my wife made home-made ravioli for us, and served her Chef Boy-ar-dee. She had one bit and spit it out. Of course, we had some of the real stuff for her, but that ended it! If you happen to get to our area in September (about an hour north of Rome) when you are in Italy, send me a message! We'll have you over for dinner one night!

[@thetayoung3066]

What I am learning about these cooking shows is that everybody thinks there’s is the best. I am glad I know how to appreciate food that taste good regardless to who or how it was made. I like Olive Garden and I have been blessed to eat in Italy. Like I said, I like good food period.

[@brockreynolds870]

Exactly. America has been called the great melting pot, and when people come here, they need to expect that. That things will be a blended version of what was in the home country.

[@travelcdv]

Absolutely. and if I go to a place that says they have Italian Fusion, I expect that. If I go to a place that says "Authentic Italian" I expect THAT. If I go to a place that says "Immigrant Italian" I would expect that. If Olive Garden called themselves an "Italian Inspired" restaurant, that would make sense. But when they say they are bringing their recipes directly from a Nonna in Tuscany, ummmm, no.

[@francisadams-u9l]

I have been all over the world. I have had local food. I come back to the U.S. I expect a wonderful surprise. Example: Italian food. I share the sarcasm of the Italians in this episode. I read in one of the comments that cooks spent time with Chefs. But the general public wasn't interested. I was asked to cook Chinese food for a friend of mine. I learned to cook Chinese food the way is done in China. My friend liked the food. The guests who he invited, I learned that night just how ignorant and illiterate many people in the U.S are. To many people of the U.S, processed macaroni with powdered cheese sauce from a box with cut up hotdogs is "WOW!!!! JUST THE BEST!!!" After the food I cooked was insulted by the guests, I learned a good but hard lesson. First, I will never cook for anyone but myself. Second, you can easily pass off dirty dish water and raw sewage to people of the U.S, and they will think, "WOW!!! THIS IS JUST THE BEST!!!"

[@williamleinonen4888]

I've noticed that most of these videos where Italians taste American versions of their cuisine they ALL react with negative comments only. Do you suppose all Italians cook in the exact same manner? I must have missed out on that gene, I like all kinds of food.

[@mrfivebyfive87]

There must be a reason, no? The carbonara is the worst offender of all.

[@travelcdv]

Of course, even Italian food is very regional. But there are core commonalities across the board. Pasta is ALWAYS cooked in a certain way. There are no soft breadsticks, Alfredo Sauce does not exist, there are combinations on their menus that no Italian would EVER have, etc. a simple example: Go ANYWHERE in Italy and ask for Spaghetti and Meatballs on the same dish. Nobody will be willing to serve it!

[@arlofs]

I realize Olive Garden isn’t expensive, but canned Chef Boyardee is even cheaper. And it probably tastes the same.

[@shan4078]

OK, I just have to say, first of all my husband and myself spent 5 weeks traveling Italy. Most restaurants offer pasta as a first course, like we would eat a salad, not the main course. Secondly we found pizza very very bland. We ate a lot of pizza in various locations. It is almost always just crust and marianna sauce. The flavor of the pizza and weather or not you like it is totally dependent on the sauce. As far as the coffee goes, we could not find what Americans would consider a decent cup of coffee. If we ordered "Americano" it was just brown colored water. My point is that we didn't expect American food. We took in the experience of trying food in another country and did not expect to eat what we would eat in the U.S. That's part of the enjoyment of traveling.

[@bethenecampbell6463]

If you're in Europe and you want a decent cup of coffee drink what the locals drink. In the morning it's pretty common to get a very large, very strong coffee with milk to go with your pastries. In the afternoon or after dinner you get a little espresso. If you're in England drink tea. Pizza, despite its origins in Naples, is really pretty American. In Italy my favorite lunch was a panini rustica which was basically capresi salad between two pieces of bread and cooked in a panini press. A basic plan is to eat off the day's set price menu. You'll get fresh, local, in season food which can also be more budget friendly as well. There's usually two or three choices of main, side and either appetizer or dessert. Pay a little extra to sit outside and people watch while you enjoy your lunch.

[@paigeprice6560]

5:14 this would be a hit in the hospital 🤣🤣

[@BirbarianHomeGuard]

Alfredo is the Mexican guy making the food!

[@DAN-lo5db]

My aunt that's full Italian said olive garden is an insult and disgusting disgrace to Italian food and will never eat there again. I agree with her! 🤣

[@JaneDough-i2c]

Olive Garden kicked our family out because the waitress said she wasn't making enough tips that day.

[@samstone936]

Oh big shock. Taking Italians to Olive Garden and watching them complain. Like we haven’t seen this 1 million times already. imagine us going to Italy to an American restaurant. I’m sure we would all complain. I went to an American restaurant in India and it was horrendous. I ordered a hamburger And they told me it was beef. to this day I’m not sure what meat it was but, When I took a bite of it, there was fibers in it because it was not ground properly, so there was something keeping me from pulling my mouth away from the burger. It was like there was a string holding all the meat together, but it wasn’t string. It was like part of the animal. They also had milkshakes. one of the flavors was rose. Totally not American, but I tried it anyway. It was like drinking a bottle of my grandmother’s perfume. 🤮

[@SwissMarksman]

nice copium

[@feitankung]

Food is food...if it taste good, eat it...if not, spit it out...they didn't spit it out, then you know the food is good! End of story!!

[@melchezi8818]

I looked at my dish and told the waitress there were only 2 shrimps in this dish so she took it aside and clawed thru it and went back to get additional shrimp, didnt go back

[@jh2519]

To be fair, most American are quite aware that The Olive Garden has poor quality food. A very fun video though!

[@Timbothruster-fh3cw]

It used to be good, but now it's just meh!😑

[@emilyem5817]

Who else loves dipping the bread sticks in pasta soup

[@4Rascals321]

Give it up on the coffee! It is sewer water in Olive Garden

[@vr548218]

I've been to Naples and their version of an American pizza is adding peas and an over easy egg in the center of the pizza....lol

[@travelcdv]

I've seen some places offering "American Pizza" in Italy with ketchup and fries as toppings 🙂. If you are in Naples, stick with Neapolitan pizza!! It just dos not get better than that anywhere in the world imho.

[@lisagunnison2856]

Last time I ate at OG was in around 1987. My entree was still frozen in the middle. I NEVER went back.