Olive Garden New Menu in Orlando, FL

Olive Garden recently introduced a new menu and I was invited to sample some of their new dishes. This menu tasting happened at the Olive Garden on International Drive in Orlando. It had been quite a while since I had dined at an Olive Garden, so I was looking forward to trying what Olive Garden deemed to be their best new items that they wanted to share with the media...

The event started with a basket of breadsticks. There wasn't anything new about the bread. They were the same Olive Garden breadsticks that people seem to either love or hate.

The first new item was the Polenta Shrimp alla Greca. This consisted of shrimp over polenta topped with olives, capers, and tomato sauce.

Spicy Calabrian Wings came next. These wings were served with a gorgonzola dipping sauce and a freshly made spicy sauce made from chili paste and oil. The wings were slightly spicy, but still weren't overpowered by the flavoring.

Crispy Risotto Bites:

Two new salads came next. Both of these salads seemed like the same base salads that Olive Garden always served, only covered in toppings. The first was the Antipasti Italian Meats & Cheeses. The salad was topped with sliced salami, pepperoni, and mozzarella. For some reason this salad was very poorly tossed with certain bites soaked in dressing, while other bites were completely dry. The other new salad was the Roasted Tomato Caprese. This one was topped with roasted tomatoes, kale, and balls of fresh mozzarella. I preferred this salad out of the two, with the exception of the kale. There was far too many chewy kale stems and not enough of the parts of the leaves that were a bit more tender.

The Smashed Chicken Meatball Sandwich was described on the menu as: Focaccia bun with roasted bell peppers and mozzarella. Served in a spicy diavolo tomato sauce. With parmesan garlic fries.

The next two dishes were part of Olive Garden's Cucina Mia section of the menu where you get to pick your own pasta and toppings. Based on what we were served, I'd avoid this section of Olive Garden's menu. The Large Paccheri with Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato lacked any hint of sun-dried tomato. The paccheri noodles were either way undercooked or were sitting out way too long. Pasta shouldn't be bent and then hold whatever position you bend it into. The meatballs were the same that was used in the smashed chicken meatball sandwich, but here they were forgettable without the flavors that the sandwich's sauces provided.

The second Cucina Mia dish was the Vegetable Penne Primavera. The penne was topped with marinara with zucchini, red peppers, onions, and tomatoes. Those vegetables must have been chopped up really finely in the sauce, because all I detected was tomatoes. This was a pasta dish like something I would cook at home when I'm feeling lazy. Make some pasta and pour a jar of tomato sauce over the top.

Chicken Abruzzi consisted of grilled chicken, cannellini beans, kale, and other vegetables in a broth. Out of everything served, this was one of my favorite dishes. The chicken itself was a bit dry, but I liked everything else here. The broth was nice and flavorful. The beans were hearty and the vegetables were nice and tender.

Pappardelle Pescatore was another disappointing pasta dish. This contained sautéed shrimp, bay scallops and clams tossed with pappardelle pasta, fresh asparagus and tomatoes in a creamy, red pepper seafood sauce. I did enjoy the red pepper sauce. It was spicy and really flavorful. As for the rest of the dish, it contained two shrimp, two chewy clams, and one tiny scallop. The fresh asparagus only consisted of the lower stems and none of the tender asparagus heads. I'd be unhappy with this dish if I ordered it, especially when compared to how it appears on Olive Garden's menu.

The Chicken Primavera with Giant Fusilli was my favorite of all the pasta dishes. Two pieces of chicken breasts were served over the pasta. There were lots of vegetables mixed in with the slightly spicy sauce. This is what a primavera pasta should look like, unlike the Cucina Mia version of the Vegetable Penne Primavera seen above.

For dessert, we sampled the Wild Berry Layer Cake. I enjoyed all of the tart berries that topped the cake.

Overall, I don't think Olive Garden's new menu is going to change anyone's mind about the restaurant. If you were already a fan of the restaurant, you'll probably still like them. If you weren't, the new menu items probably aren't going to win you over.

Olive Garden in Westbury, NY

I ate at the Olive Garden in Westbury, NY. It was your standard Olive Garden eating experience with half-decent Italian food. Olive Garden isn't my favorite of the big Italian chains, but it is what it is.

The meal started out with salad and breadsticks:
I had Eggplant Parmesan for the main course. It was good, but a little too much sauce for my liking.

Olive Garden's Four Cheese Stuffed Mezzaluna with Shrimp

I was craving some Vietnamese food one evening, but my dining companions weren't quite adventurous enough to try anything out of the ordinary. My suggestion was ignored, and we ended up eating at the Olive Garden in Altamonte Springs, FL.

I guess those TV commercials do work because I ordered one of Olive Garden's featured items, the Four Cheese Stuffed Mezzaluna with Shrimp. It consisted of cheese ravioli topped with shrimp in a cream sauce. Salad and breadsticks were served first, followed by the Mezzaluna. It tasted okay, but just like my last experience at the Red Lobster next door, the shrimp were tiny. I was hoping for slightly bigger shrimp for a $15 meal, but I guess Darden restaurants don't combine pasta in a cream sauce and decent sized shrimp on the same plate. I guess you need to order something without cream to get the better shrimp at an Olive Garden.



We had a very entertaining waiter on this visit to Olive Garden. John Paul sounded like he had an Indian accent, and rhymed all of his food offerings. Would you like some wine? It will make you feel fine. or Would you like some tiramisu. If not, it will miss you. His rhymes were one of the best things about the meal.

Olive Garden's Grilled Garlic Shrimp...

I returned to the Olive Garden in Altamonte Springs, FL thanks to a $10 gift card that had to be spent. In the past, I'm not normally too impressed with what Olive Garden serves, but today was slightly better. I had the featured item, the Grilled Garlic Shrimp. There were several nice sized shrimp over angel hair pasta with peppers & onions all in a garlic sauce. It was good, but the dish was so simple, I don't think it was worth the $15 for something I could have easily cooked at home...

Olive Garden Gnocchi

I ate dinner at the Olive Garden restaurant in Altamonte Springs, FL. I ordered a chicken and gnocchi dish. A chicken breast was served on top of a pile of the gnocchis, red peppers, zucchini, and onions. It was all served in an alfredo sauce.

Compared to other gnocchi that I've eaten, this wasn't all that good. The pasta was sort of starchy and didn't have the smooth creamy consistency that gnocchi should have. I didn't like the chicken either. It was way too chewy and should have been sliced rather than serving the whole breast.