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Anyone Had Luck With Olive Garden?

MominSoCal

By MominSoCal
in Gluten-Free Restaurants

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MominSoCal Apprentice
MominSoCal
Posted

I see their GFmenu, but just wondering if anyone has tried it?

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cyclinglady Grand Master
cyclinglady
Posted

No, but I have eaten at several Spaghetti Factories and have not been glutened. I have also been in their kitchen and they cook the pasta separately.

mommida Enthusiast
mommida
Posted

We just tried a local Olive Garden.  YUCK.  It was with a large party and our food came cold (and gluten free noodles were hard and dry)  Stick to the salad, with no croutons.  My son had the salmon and enjoyed it. 

 

Could have been this location.

cap6 Enthusiast
cap6
Posted

I ate at an Olive Garden in Washington and it was ok.  Just ok.  I wouldn't pick it as a return to place unless there was no other choice.  It was just sort of blah! 

Juliebove Rising Star
Juliebove
Posted

Food is bleh and you really have to watch the salad.  They'll put croutons on it even when you remind them not to.  And then they'll try to pick them off!

  • 3 weeks later...
HumanDecency Contributor
HumanDecency
Posted

What would be the safest thing to eat here?

  • 1 month later...
MsMarginalized Rookie
MsMarginalized
Posted

Food is bleh and you really have to watch the salad.  They'll put croutons on it even when you remind them not to.  And then they'll try to pick them off!

Before you send it back, throw on some katsup or scoop something else off of someone elses plate (ask their permission firs) and plop it on top.  Tell the server that you CANNOT have this bowl because you CANNOT pick all the gluten off.  The katsup/sauce from other plate should act as a marker that this is the original/glutened problem plate.

 

You can also cut meat in a strange way before sending it back if it got glutened.  (I read both of these suggestions either on Elizabeth Hasselbecks website or in 1 of her books.)

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mommida Enthusiast
mommida
Posted

From my experience I would try an Outback Steakhouse, P.F. Chang's, or Carrabbarra's before going to Olive Garden.  My son did enjoy the fish (I think it was salmon).

Rissa019 Newbie
Rissa019
Posted

I see their GFmenu, but just wondering if anyone has tried it?

YES! Their pasta is wonderful!! It breaks apart easily, but does not bother me as I am not picky (since you can't exactly be a picky gluten-free eater) hehe.. salads are wonderful too. I was very impressed with how well and educated the waiter was on their gluten free options!

Kath Urbahn Newbie
Kath Urbahn
Posted

From my experience I would try an Outback Steakhouse, P.F. Chang's, or Carrabbarra's before going to Olive Garden.  My son did enjoy the fish (I think it was salmon).

I agree wholeheartedly !!! 

Kath Urbahn Newbie
Kath Urbahn
Posted

I see their GFmenu, but just wondering if anyone has tried it?

I didn't care for it.  I thought it was kinda gross.  And yeah, the salads, they're really bad about still putting croutons on it, and then just picking them off when you repeat that you cannot have croutons.  I go elsewhere, though I used to love Olive Garden.  Before I knew they had gluten-free pasta, though, I asked them for some mixed steamed veggies, and asked them to put marinara and a healthy sprinkle of cheese over it.  They were happy to comply.  It was DELICIOUS!!! :P

  • 2 weeks later...
MindytheOrganist Enthusiast
MindytheOrganist
Posted

We've had good luck at Olive Garden, but we live in a small market, and it's easy for the servers to get to know us.  We usually go with a good friend who doesn't mind omitting croutons (even though both he and I can have them), so there is no confusion about the salad.  The pasta is a bit dry, but we solve that by getting marinara sauce "for the breadsticks," then giving it to my celiac hubby to add to his pasta.  We do have a Biaggi's here, and that is our favorite place to go for Italian.

mamaw Community Regular
mamaw
Posted

I  agree  with the  others  olive  garden is our  least  favorite.. There  food  is like  airline  food ,ready made  &  reheated.... I  have  eaten  there not  by  choice  ,  they  brought  me  a  separate  salad  &  dipping  oil ( I brought my  gluten-free  breadsticks) salad  was  freshly made... I  had a beef  skewer  with  veggies .... was  just  okay. Not  worth  the price... The  Pf Chang's,  Outback, or  Carrabas'  is  way  better....

Charfet Newbie
Charfet
Posted

I see their GFmenu, but just wondering if anyone has tried it?

I tried the other day & it was very good.  I had the gluten-free Penne Rigate Pomodoro.  The waiter said that they are getting another brand of pasta in a couple of weeks & suggested I come back to try it.  Can't wait, it was so good.

  • 4 weeks later...
MindytheOrganist Enthusiast
MindytheOrganist
Posted

UPDATE!!  Our Olive Garden got the different pasta, and it is vast improvement over what they had.  Unfortunately, they have not had the time to print up a new gluten-free menu, but our server was VERY helpful.

Sweet-Pea Newbie
Sweet-Pea
Posted

I have eaten at several Olive Gardens....St. Peters, MO, Salt Lake City, UT, and several in the Midwest. They have a new Gluten-free menu that is pretty good. The pasta was the rice pasta (I don't care for it). They had several gluten free dishes that didn't contain pasta and were pretty tasty....give them a try again.

  • 4 months later...
SMRI Collaborator
SMRI
Posted

Ate at Olive Garden yesterday.  Not a huge fan but my daughter loves their soup and we were traveling with limited options.  I had the gluten-free pasta.  It was not bad and in many ways I liked it better than regular pasta, not as "thick" and gummy.  I had the Rigatoni Primivera and it had a lot of vegetables in the sauce that were fresh and not overcooked for a change.  The salad came without croutons but I thought I saw some crumbs in there--not sure if it was the dressing or not.  I didn't say anything because I have one more day to eat gluten before my follow-up GI appointment.  They have incorporated their gluten-free foods in their regular menu and are either listed as "Gluten Free ______" or have a (G) denoting gluten-free.

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    • trents
      Unexpected gluten exposure risk from cultivated mushrooms

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the celiac.com communiuty, @Matthias! Yes, we have been aware that this can be an issue with mushrooms but as long as they are rinsed thoroughly it should not be a problem since the mushrooms don't actually incorporate the gluten into their cellular structure. For the same reason, one needs to be careful when buying aged cheeses and products containing yeast because of the fact that they are sometimes cultured on gluten-containing substrate.
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      Unexpected gluten exposure risk from cultivated mushrooms

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      The one kind of food I had been buying and eating without any worry for hidden gluten were unprocessed veggies. Well, yesterday I discovered yet another pitfall: cultivated mushrooms. I tried some new ones, Shimeji to be precise (used in many asian soup and rice dishes). Later, at home, I was taking a closer look at the product: the mushrooms were growing from a visible layer of shredded cereals that had not been removed. After a quick web research I learned that these mushrooms are commonly cultivated on a cereal-based medium like wheat bran. I hope that info his helpful to someone.
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