"olive garden" news and stories

Ok, so it's not exactly a surprise that the huge bacon cheeseburgers and loaded beef burritos at your favorite chain restaurants are packed with fat. But chicken and broccoli pasta? The Daily Meal reveals this healthy-sounding dish from Ruby Tuesdays contains more calories than any other item on their dinner menu. (And a jaw-dropping 96 grams of fat.) Think you're safe opting for an appetizer instead? Reconsider: The innocent-appearing nachos at Houlihan's have 147 grams of fat piled between those delicious golden tortilla chips. And the rest of the list is just as shocking. Makes a Whopper (670 calories, 40 grams of fat) sound downright healthy, doesn't it?

Get the full list of the 10 Fattiest Chain Restaurant Meals at the Daily Meal.

In what can only be described as a bizarre and unintentional trend in the chain restaurant industry, yet another child was accidentally served alcohol, this time at Chili's, reports ABC news. There have been similar incidents recently at both The Olive Garden, in which a two-year-old was served sangria, and Applebee's, in which a 15-month-old was served a margarita.

The 4-year-old child, Brooklynn Morris, was allegedly served a mudslide instead of a chocolate shake and had three to four sips before she announced that she didn't like it. Her mother tasted the drink and immediately recognized the alcohol. Brooklynn was brought to the hospital and diagnosed with alcohol-ingestion overdose.

The mother, Tyree Davis, remarked to CBS, "I don't want it to ever happen again ... to any child, because I know this just happened last week to someone, and I heard about it, and it's crazy that it just happened to us yesterday."

ABC reports that ERJ Dining, the owner of Chili's, claims that the girl was served fruit punch and it was the mother that was served the alcohol drink.

Is serving toddlers booze becoming a national trend? Close on the heels of an incident where an Applebee's employee accidentally served a 15-month-old boy a margarita instead of apple juice comes another reported case. Instead of orange juice, a two-year-old was given sangria at an Olive Garden in Lakeland, Florida. And just like Applebee's management, Olive Garden officials say they'll be changing the way they serve drinks from now on: Sangria will be made to order.

Of course, mistakes happen, but no sangria we've ever seen is the shade of orange juice.

Read the whole story.

Sorry to burst your bubble, Olive Garden fans, but that "cooking school" in Tuscany, the one where the chain's chefs supposedly go to learn the secrets of Italian cuisine from the source? It's pretty much a sham.

This according to a former Olive Garden manager, who's causing a flurry of discussion at Reddit (much of it oddly trading on obscene jokes about breadsticks-you've been warned). The manager, posting as FIDELIA079, claims that he scored a lucky, all-expense-paid (except souvenirs) trip to the chain's Tuscan "culinary institute" in 2007.

It seems the Olive Garden doesn't even own the place. They just book all the rooms at some hotel in the off-season, close the place to the public, and take over the restaurant. Sporadic "classes" lasted "maybe an hour here or there" where they would "talk about spices or fresh produce for a minute" before taking the group site-seeing for the day. Lots of drinking ensued.

Unlimited breadsticks are great...but will they taste better in a Tuscan farmhouse setting?

According to Nation's Restaurant News, Olive Garden, the Italian chain known more for huge portions than upscale decor, is in the process of testing some "enhancement" in some of the older outposts. The chain has more than 730 locations in the U.S, but they're starting the remodel with a handful of outposts in Texas.

The new look? The company is calling it "Via Tuscany." Can't picture it? Think of that picturesque farmhouse in every golden-hued Hollywood flick about Italy. Brick, Cypress trees, upgraded seating, new window treatments, decorative shelving lined with painted plates and pottery -- what your Italian grandmother would design if she had a money to throw around.

Want to see before and after shots?