I used to live in NY, so I've been spoiled. After that, I lived in a town with a very small Italian population. I had a lot of friends there that loved Olive Garden, so I decided to try it. After finally getting in on my 4th try (the line was out the door the first three times), I found the food better compared to many of the other local Italian places and cleaner, too. It couldn't compare to good Italian food from NY, but I was thousands of miles away, so that wasn't an option.
Remember the final scene from Goodfellas, where Henry talked about ordering spaghetti and receiving noodles mixed with ketchup? I've been to places like that and OG blows them away. And check out television shows, Kitchen Nightmares (Gordon Ramsay) and Restaurant Impossible (Robert Irvine). They rescue restaurants, and a decent chunk of them are Italian.
Check out this Italian restaurant in Pennsylvania. Jump to 10:30, where Gordon Ramsay tastes the food. Then jump to 23:30, where Chef Ramsay is so disgusted, he closes the restaurant down for health reasons. Tell me an Olive Garden wouldn't be an improvement!
You shit-kicking, stinky, horse-manure-smelling motherfucker you! If you ever get out of line over there again, I'll smash your fucking head so hard you won't be able to get that cowboy hat on. You hear me? Fucking hick. -Nicky (Casino)
