Olive Garden versus local fare?

[Sea Ray]

As a patron I expect the restaurant not to give me meat infected with E Coli to begin with. My guess is Loganbuck is confident in his meat

[SunDeck]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

As a patron I expect the restaurant not to give me meat infected with E Coli to begin with. My guess is Loganbuck is confident in his meat

Then you need to stop eating ground beef in restaurants.

[757690]

Originally Posted by Red in Chicago

Actually it's quite easy to mess up spaghetti, and most restaurants do by overcooking it. I loathe the Olive Garden.

Actually, most people only know ruined, overcooked pasta with way too much sauce, so Raisor is kinda right. It's hard to ruin it, since it now is ruined by definition.

[Kingspoint]

Originally Posted by LoganBuck

70+ has been my definition of old for my entire life. I do realize now that I am a geezer. A girl that I went to high school with (age 33) is now a grandparent.

On a side note, anybody, or any restaurant, that considers any form of corn as a vegetable needs to be beaten within an inch of their life.

Another pet peeve about my wife's family, I will predict Easter dinner: Ham (not honey baked, or with any exotic cures, plain unimaginative ham), mashed potatoes with bottled gravy, corn, deviled eggs(yuck), some horrendous seven layer salad soaked in mayonnaise with sugar added for taste, several desserts. Apart from the insulin shock, not one stinking green vegetable. If we bring a green vegetable no one outside of my family eats it. These same people love the Olive Garden, Applebees, etc etc. Maybe I am a food snob, but I don't care. Step out of your shell. We don't own a fryer at home, I don't order fried food when I dine out.

As a dairy farmer, I have a supply of premium quality hamburger. I grind my own. Several years ago, the sale of hurt cattle was ceased in the USA. Therefore if I have a cow that falls and breaks a leg, I have two options: 1.Butcher her for my own consumption 2. Compost her. This happens rarely, but given the quality and the ability to produce fresh lean hand crafted hamburger, my choice is #1. Secret fact, a thin dairy cow makes the best hamburger. I never order one dining out any more. I know I have far better meat at home.

That was a great post.

And, I know these dairy prices have killed you the last two years. Good luck to you the rest of the year.

[Kingspoint]

Originally Posted by Roy Tucker

My 58 1/2 yr. old taste buds discern things more finely than my unrefined 18 yr. old ones ever did.

get off my lawn!!!

Tell it to God, not me. I'm not in control of everyone's fading senses.

[GAC]

Originally Posted by KronoRed

Depends on the look of the local places, but I do avoid Olive Garden.

That's because it doesn't have a drive-thru window!

[GAC]

Around here that's.....

[GAC]

Originally Posted by LoganBuck

As a dairy farmer, I have a supply of premium quality hamburger. I grind my own. Several years ago, the sale of hurt cattle was ceased in the USA. Therefore if I have a cow that falls and breaks a leg, I have two options: 1.Butcher her for my own consumption 2. Compost her. This happens rarely, but given the quality and the ability to produce fresh lean hand crafted hamburger, my choice is #1. Secret fact, a thin dairy cow makes the best hamburger. I never order one dining out any more. I know I have far better meat at home.

I don't live that far from you. So anytime you want to sell any of that meat let me know.

[remdog]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

Hilarious!

Just hearing that story makes me long to be invited to your next barbeque...

Sounds good. I've got a couple of ribeyes (bone in, of course), a spring artichoke and a ceasar salad. You bring the beer. Can you get here in an hour?

Rem

[remdog]

Originally Posted by SunDeck

Most places will not allow their cooks to sell a burger that's not cooked through. The CDC says hamburger must be cooked to an internal temp of 160 in order to kill E. Coli bacteria. Why hamburger and not steak? Because e. Coli lives on the outside of beef, but once you grind it up then it's throughout the meat. So, at many burger joints they only cook them through and through. Like little slabs of asphalt shingles- it's killed the hamburger, unfortunately.

I'm well aware of why some restaurants follow that policy (liability issues) but, personally, that doesn't suit me so, if they can't cook something the way I want it, I walk. Plain and simple and has never let me down yet (except for an occassional badly cooked burger).

Rem

[remdog]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

As a patron I expect the restaurant not to give me meat infected with E Coli to begin with. My guess is Loganbuck is confident in his meat

+1

Rem

[TheNext44]

Due to doctor's orders, I am not allowed to eat any uncooked meat, and that includes steaks or burgers cooked medium rare or less. For me that means I had to give up red meat.

[frenetic wave]

Health wise, nothing is "bad" to eat if you eat it once a week or every other week. The problem, more than that one plate's food or its nutrition, is everything else that goes into our mouths. When we eat at Applebees 4-5 meals a week, McDonalds 4-5 meals a week, then on our off day we try the fried chicken and mashed potatoes at the local chicken n' pasta restaurant (not to mention that most people drink soda/juice at every meal and never drink water) then each of those individual meals starts to look more sinister to our health. It's about moderation and swapping some of those fast food meals for things that look green, are cooked by you, and don't come freeze wrapped in a box. Eat healthy and once a week or so you can go get yourself into a food coma at the local Olive Garden and no one will be able to knock you or your unalienable buffet rights.

[remdog]

Originally Posted by Kingspoint

It's not an opinion, it's a fact. The older you get, the less your taste buds are able to differentiate between various tastes. It's just like all the other senses. Your eye sight gets worse, your hearing gets worse, your ability to smell gets worse (which ties a lot into how something tastes), and your taste buds get worse.

The "elderly" is anyone 60 or over. (according to most restaurants, it's about 55 or over as that's when you get the "senior" discount)

That poor eating establishments like The Olive Garden are able to make money has nothing to do with whether or not they offer quality food. As I said, there's those who can't taste anything (the elderly), those who don't care because it's about volume for them (fat people), and those who want to feed their kids off of their adult plates and want a "people" bag for the leftovers (cheap people).

And, yes. The days of serving customers on "platters", and loading up the volume ended a generation ago. Ask any chef or restaurant owner that's started up their business in the last 10-15 years, and he/she will tell you this.

It's not a fact but your statement is an opinion. I'll agree that taste buds do change as we all grow older. However, many people consider it a maturation of the taste buds rather than a deterioration of the taste buds. It explains why children hate foods that they come to love as an adult.

I've been around the hospitality business for more than 20 years, first on the restaurant side, now on the hotel side where the company that I work for has, literally, more than a thousand restaurants. My comments stand and I've got plenty of chefs and restaurant managers to back it up as do industry sales figures.

Rem

[Johnny Footstool]

Originally Posted by remdog

Frankly, I think you are blatantly wrong. Chains like Olive Garden, Cheesecake Factory, Daily Grill, etc. have made corporate fortunes with the big plate/poor food concept---and they continue today. There's no reason for them to stop since the concept performs so well.

And what's 'elderly'? You appear to have an age bias. 'Elderly' people have fine taste buds and they are more likely experienced diners---usually having actually experienced fine dining whether in their 'home town' or around the world. They actually know what an excellent meal tastes like and can distinguish between the mundane from the magnificant.

Here in Newport Beach, the local newspaper publishes a weekly list of restaurant violations. I check it from time to time---there are always more violations at 'chain restaurants' than at stand alone sites.

Rem

YouTube - King of the Hill - Hank's steak advice (HQ)