Olive Garden/ Restaurants in General
skbrodie
Posts: 81 Member
Went to Olive Garden unexpectedly for lunch today... I ate half of my pasta, salad and 1 breadstick (as well as a Dr. Pepper) and still ate 1000 calories 
My meal on the regular menu was the same price as the "buy one take one" option and so I got that thinking the portions were half size but they were full size portions so I now have 1.5 full portions of pasta in my refrigerator!
I have always known restaurant portions were way too large but geez!! I didn't realize just how many calories it would be.
My meal on the regular menu was the same price as the "buy one take one" option and so I got that thinking the portions were half size but they were full size portions so I now have 1.5 full portions of pasta in my refrigerator!
I have always known restaurant portions were way too large but geez!! I didn't realize just how many calories it would be.
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Yup. Restaurants are not forgiving with their food. That's why I always look up the menu first. I never go into restaurants without some sort of idea and ballpark estimate of what I'm about to eat. I can't wait for the restaurant tracker on the app to get more thorough. Until then I just use websites and smart decision making.1
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I always try to look at nutrition facts for a place before I go to make decisions and prelog as far ahead as possible.
In general, this is one of the many reasons I try to avoid going out to eat unless it is something really special that I can't make myself or can't get really anywhere else and want to try. Most restaurants are massive calorie minefields in often unsuspecting packages.1 -
I just assume a restaurant meal is going to put me over for the day. We prefer local mom & pop type places to chains so getting even a good estimate of calories is a crap shoot. But I look at some of these chains and wonder WTH are they putting in these dishes that make them so high calorie?4
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CrabNebula wrote: »Most restaurants are massive calorie minefields in often unsuspecting packages.
Agreed. Especially salads. We're inclined to think that salads are healthier options but I've noticed in a lot of places it's actually less calories if you get the burger you've been eyeballing on the menu!1 -
Oooh yes.
Olive Garden is the debbil....
(i miss you bread sticks with alfredo sauce for dipping)4 -
Went to Olive Garden unexpectedly for lunch today... I ate half of my pasta, salad and 1 breadstick (as well as a Dr. Pepper) and still ate 1000 calories
My meal on the regular menu was the same price as the "buy one take one" option and so I got that thinking the portions were half size but they were full size portions so I now have 1.5 full portions of pasta in my refrigerator!
I have always known restaurant portions were way too large but geez!! I didn't realize just how many calories it would be.
OG has their nutritional values on-line, as do many other national chains. Know your enemy before you enter the battle.
Wait a minute. You ordered Dr Pepper. And you complain about calories?5 -
I have developed this perspective. It squares away all the concerns and fits my lifestyle.
I don't count calories at restaurants. I enjoy the meals fully, the more better, especially if someone else pays for it, or since I pay for it with my hard earned money. It's a great opportunity to charge up energy, ie load up as many calories as possible.
Then, I just eat light, spend less, in the next 12, 15, 24 hours, and move more, try to be more physically productive.
I figure big meals don't come by every day. They are still very few and far in between.
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Yup. I often get two meals out of Olive Garden's lower-calorie/lighter meals (why they give you two chicken breasts when one is more than enough, I do not know). Most restaurants seem to give more sensible portions for meat/fish and veggie combinations, though they often make it super high-calorie by drenching everything in butter/oil (blegh. 1tbsp is more than enough for me, and I hate it when food seems to swim in oil).0
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Yup. I often get two meals out of Olive Garden's lower-calorie/lighter meals (why they give you two chicken breasts when one is more than enough, I do not know). Most restaurants seem to give more sensible portions for meat/fish and veggie combinations, though they often make it super high-calorie by drenching everything in butter/oil (blegh. 1tbsp is more than enough for me, and I hate it when food seems to swim in oil).
Why would you go to OG and complain and hate?
Go to Souplantation. My wife and I love it lately. She noticed that everything there is less greasy and higher quality.1 -
JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Went to Olive Garden unexpectedly for lunch today... I ate half of my pasta, salad and 1 breadstick (as well as a Dr. Pepper) and still ate 1000 calories
My meal on the regular menu was the same price as the "buy one take one" option and so I got that thinking the portions were half size but they were full size portions so I now have 1.5 full portions of pasta in my refrigerator!
I have always known restaurant portions were way too large but geez!! I didn't realize just how many calories it would be.
OG has their nutritional values on-line, as do many other national chains. Know your enemy before you enter the battle.
Wait a minute. You ordered Dr Pepper. And you complain about calories?
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CrabNebula wrote: »I always try to look at nutrition facts for a place before I go to make decisions and prelog as far ahead as possible.
This.
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JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Went to Olive Garden unexpectedly for lunch today... I ate half of my pasta, salad and 1 breadstick (as well as a Dr. Pepper) and still ate 1000 calories
My meal on the regular menu was the same price as the "buy one take one" option and so I got that thinking the portions were half size but they were full size portions so I now have 1.5 full portions of pasta in my refrigerator!
I have always known restaurant portions were way too large but geez!! I didn't realize just how many calories it would be.
OG has their nutritional values on-line, as do many other national chains. Know your enemy before you enter the battle.
Wait a minute. You ordered Dr Pepper. And you complain about calories?
Hey man....people NEED their DP alright!!?
Dont talk about the DP and we wont have any problems!
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Even in my country the portion sizes at restaurants are ridiculous. Whenever I diligently try to evaluate/count the calories on my plate of food, it comes up to at least 750-900 calories. And that's when I don't even finish all!0
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I look up nutritional info before I go somewhere, too. If for some reason they don't have nutritional info available, I'll try to find the same food or similar on some other site to at least get an estimate.0
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People still eat at Olive Garden?2
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Pasta is so high in calorie even when you look at OG nutrition menu the lowest are dishes without pasta.1
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What is this "too much food" talk? You don't know how much food I can eat and still lose or maintain weight. And then there's people that don't care. Why should we be subject to your arbitrary limits? Just eat the amount you want and throw the rest away. Or take it home and eat half tomorrow. But an argument for giving people less value doesn't make any sense at all.4
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JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Went to Olive Garden unexpectedly for lunch today... I ate half of my pasta, salad and 1 breadstick (as well as a Dr. Pepper) and still ate 1000 calories
My meal on the regular menu was the same price as the "buy one take one" option and so I got that thinking the portions were half size but they were full size portions so I now have 1.5 full portions of pasta in my refrigerator!
I have always known restaurant portions were way too large but geez!! I didn't realize just how many calories it would be.
OG has their nutritional values on-line, as do many other national chains. Know your enemy before you enter the battle.
Wait a minute. You ordered Dr Pepper. And you complain about calories?
It wasn't really a complaint, more of a comment. I don't drink soda at home so I ordered it out. The Dr. Pepper is like the same as one breadstick
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benzieboxx wrote: »Yup. Restaurants are not forgiving with their food. That's why I always look up the menu first. I never go into restaurants without some sort of idea and ballpark estimate of what I'm about to eat. I can't wait for the restaurant tracker on the app to get more thorough. Until then I just use websites and smart decision making.
Yep I usually do the same, but this was extremely last minute. Not too worried about it though, it's only one day.0 -
I went to OG last week at lunch for a coworkers birthday. I had to look it up first. I had the spaghetti lunch bowl because it wasn't bad at all and of course factored in a breadstick and some salad. Still was a little higher than my normal lunch but doable. But I HAVE to plan ahead or I would be impulsive under the pressure of a waiter staring at me and order blindly. Eventually you know what you can fit in at any given restaurant and it gets easier. At least it does for me.0
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benzieboxx wrote: »Yup. Restaurants are not forgiving with their food. That's why I always look up the menu first. I never go into restaurants without some sort of idea and ballpark estimate of what I'm about to eat. I can't wait for the restaurant tracker on the app to get more thorough. Until then I just use websites and smart decision making.
Yep I usually do the same, but this was extremely last minute. Not too worried about it though, it's only one day.
I've gone to the restroom before ordering to check up calories , lol!0 -
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I so rarely eat restaurant food that I just order whatever I want and let the calories fall where they may. It's only one meal.1
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jofjltncb6 wrote: »
Not that poster, but I've only eaten at OG once in my 31 years of life and I don't have plans to ever go back there. The food isn't that great and it's more about quantity than quality. Now that I have a pasta machine, I make fresh pasta at home whenever.0 -
I seldom eat out, and when I do I know about it in advance, so I plan for it. When socializing, I try to focus the getting together around an activity that doesn't involve food or drink, so we can get together and have fun without it disrupting my food routine. Every now and then it's unavoidable and food has to be involved and when possible I either try to cook or we get take out so I can just make my own food while everyone else has the take out. Just, thought I would share, however I must say that I know I am in the minority because I simply don't like to eat out in the first place. Unless we go to an expensive restaurant, I find most places (chain restaurants) to be way too loud and the food isn't good quality and often, too high in sodium for my taste.0
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Colorscheme wrote: »jofjltncb6 wrote: »
Not that poster, but I've only eaten at OG once in my 31 years of life and I don't have plans to ever go back there. The food isn't that great and it's more about quantity than quality. Now that I have a pasta machine, I make fresh pasta at home whenever.
I don't go out of my way to eat there personally, but it seems a little ridiculous to me to judge those who do. $3.7b annually is a lot of people, so yeah, a lot of people eat there...and not all of them overweight. And I'd assume these people are not inherently less foodie than others.1 -
jofjltncb6 wrote: »Colorscheme wrote: »jofjltncb6 wrote: »
Not that poster, but I've only eaten at OG once in my 31 years of life and I don't have plans to ever go back there. The food isn't that great and it's more about quantity than quality. Now that I have a pasta machine, I make fresh pasta at home whenever.
I don't go out of my way to eat there personally, but it seems a little ridiculous to me to judge those who do. $3.7b annually is a lot of people, so yeah, a lot of people eat there...and not all of them overweight. And I'd assume these people are not inherently less foodie than others.
I didn't say that other people can't eat there. Nor do I really judge others for eating there. I just wasn't impressed with the food [hence why I said it wasn't that good] and now that I have a pasta machine I can make fresh pasta whenever I want.0 -
Colorscheme wrote: »jofjltncb6 wrote: »Colorscheme wrote: »jofjltncb6 wrote: »
Not that poster, but I've only eaten at OG once in my 31 years of life and I don't have plans to ever go back there. The food isn't that great and it's more about quantity than quality. Now that I have a pasta machine, I make fresh pasta at home whenever.
I don't go out of my way to eat there personally, but it seems a little ridiculous to me to judge those who do. $3.7b annually is a lot of people, so yeah, a lot of people eat there...and not all of them overweight. And I'd assume these people are not inherently less foodie than others.
I didn't say that other people can't eat there. Nor do I really judge others for eating there. I just wasn't impressed with the food [hence why I said it wasn't that good] and now that I have a pasta machine I can make fresh pasta whenever I want.
My comment was more directed to the original comment someone else made about "people still eat at OG?" But since you took over for them in their absence, I replied to you.0 -
When I go to Olive Garden, I get the minestrone and order my breadsticks plain. They take a little longer, but come out hot from the oven. They will even bring you a little cup of their seasoning on the side. A couple of bowls of soup and a bresdstick or two makes for a filling, rather reasonable for eating out meal.
That works for me, because I am not a fan of their entrées. The soup tastes fresh and homemade.3
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