Olive Garden

Whenever I'm in the mood for giant portions of sodium+butter+cream laden pasta, naturally, I head for Olive Garden. This time, Mariann was down from Chicago for the weekend so we had a mini girls night out. Lots of people think Olive Garden is evil, and it probably is, but Bloomington is surprisingly deficient in Italian Restaurants.


Half the fun of Olive Garden is the fancy drinks. They're all overpriced and not nearly strong enough to justify the high cost. They're almost always yummy though, so it's usually worth it. This time I had the Limoncello Lemonade which is frozen, made with citrus vodka and limoncello. As expected it was frosty and refreshing. Mariann ordered the Peach Sangria, which was lovely, but probably not particularly authentic. But that's not really the point, is it?

Mariann and I both ordered the Pasta e Fagioli as our appetizer. It was yummy but quite salty. Of course you also get unlimited bread sticks at Olive Garden. Unfortunately, they're not that great. Once again, too salty and kind of dried out. But hey, I'm sure they're mass produced so you can't expect too much out of them.









For my entrée I ordered the Seafood Portofino. Linguine with scallops, mussels, and shrimps in a buttery-garlicky sauce. It was quite tasty, I'm sure the seafood was frozen but it still tasted good. Mariann had the Tuscan Garlic Chicken, which are server informed us would be taken off the menu the next week. Sure enough, it's no longer on the Olive Garden website. So don't get too excited looking at the picture, you can't order it! Too bad, because Mariann said it was good. Tomatoes, spinach, roasted garlic and chicken on some curly long noodles in a creamy sauce. Yum.

For dessert we shared the Berries & Zabaione, which was delicious! It had fresh strawberries and blueberries surrounding mixed berry sorbet. On top the zabaione was delighfully rich and creamy but not overly sweet. It was a nice, refreshing end to the meal.


If you're a coupon clipper like me, every few months an Olive Garden coupon pops up in the Sunday ads. Usually it's just $4 off two entrées. Not a huge discount by any means, but every dollar counts.

Olive Garden
320 N Jacob Dr
Bloomington, IN 47404
(812) 333-1350
View the current menu @ the website