Olive Garden
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Olive Garden is a casual dining American restaurant chain specializing in Italian food. It bills itself as a traditional family restaurant with Old World-inspired dishes. Founded in 1982 in Orlando, Florida, there are presently 582 Olive Garden locations throughout the United States and Canada.
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[edit] Atmosphere
Olive Garden restaurants have an ersatz Italian-American atmosphere, utilizing wine bottles, bright colors, lots of foliage in their decor, stucco walls with facial cameo carvings, and background music consisting of Italian songs and American music by Italian composers and singers.
[edit] Food
Olive Garden restaurants are noted for their breadsticks, soups, and salads; unlimited refills of each are offered to guests that order an entree.
Olive Garden serves a mixture of traditional Italian food and Italian-American dishes, including spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, ravioli, fettuccine alfredo, and chicken parmesan. Other menu options include pizzas and seasonal specials.
Romano cheese, freshly grated by the server, may be added to any dish at the customer's request.
Olive Garden also has a signature wine collection called Principato, bottled by Cavit.
[edit] Restaurant design
Newer restaurants are styled after Tuscan-style farmhouses and are meant to look and feel like the inside of a family home in Italy. These restaurants are modeled after an actual farmhouse in the town of Castellina in Chianti, on the grounds of the Rocca delle Macie winery. The farmhouse is home to the Riserva di Fizzano, the Olive Garden's Culinary Institute, Restaurant and Cooking School. It is led by executive chef Romana Neri.
[edit] Culinary Institute of Tuscany
In 1999, Olive Garden partnered with Sergio and Daniela Zingarelli, proprietors of the restored 11th century village of Riserva di Fizzano in Tuscany, to form a cooking school in Italy called the Culinary Institute of Tuscany. The Culinary Institute is located in Italy's Chianti Classico wine-growing region near the Rocca delle Macie Winery, also owned by the Zingarelli family.
The curriculum for Olive Garden's Culinary Institute of Tuscany was originally developed in collaboration with the Culinary Institute of America and Joshua K. Westfall, of Versailles, KY. Mr. Westfall was since recruited by Ted's Montana Grill to oversee their beverage menu. Olive Garden sends chefs and general managers for training at the institute.
[edit] Ownership
Olive Garden is owned by Darden Restaurants, Inc., which was spun off from General Mills in 1995. Darden owns all Olive Garden restaurants, and does not franchise. Darden also owns the Red Lobster, Smokey Bones BBQ and Grill, Bahama Breeze, and Seasons 52 restaurant chains.
