Olive Garden
 

I was invited to Dinner on Fri. at the Olive Garden. I haven't been there in years. Does anybody have any suggestions on a vegeterian meal,that will make me stay on plan?
Thank You,Tracy

I'm not sure what plan you're on but...

When I went, I got the Linguine alla Marinara and asked them to substitute in whole wheat pasta instead of the regular pasta.

It came out to 430 calories. It was really good and filling too! :D I ate half and put the other half in a to-go box

Some other calories (from their information) that aren't too bad, especially if you divide it in 1/2 before eating...
Capellini Pomodoro = 840
Cup of Minestrone = 100

Hope that helps! :)

Soup and Salad... The minestrone soup there is AWESOME!! 120 cals a bowl
breadstick is 140...
Salad eh...no clue...but they never have too much dressing on it and it IS lowfat.

The Linguine ala Marinara is also good if you're up for pasta. around 5oo calories for the whole plate.

Hope that helps!!!

Well I love the Eggplant Parmesan, but I doubt that's the best choice! :)

I'd say soup and salad as well. Get the salad dry (dressing on the side if you want) and have one of their veggie/bean soups. Their food isn't very good so its not like you are missing much :)

Yeah, I'm with Nelie. I used to think their salad and minestrone were great. Then I had that Sunday, and both were sorely disappointing. But I never did like the breadsticks in the first place.

Holy crap.... 140 cals a stick?! *swoon*

oh man. i've ALWAYS wanted to go to olive garden! the commercials make everything look so decadently yummy. good luck!

I agree with Nelie and Julie, Olive Garden is overrated.

We had dinner there last weekend with a friend. I haven't had OG in years because we found another Italian place we like much more. I was reminded why we don't go to OG anymore. :p

But back to the OP's situation - Go with salad and soup, it's probably the lowest calorie option. They did have some meals marked as low fat on their menu so one of those halved would probably be fine too.

It's the power of TV advertising. Or maybe it's the ubiquitous coupons in the Sunday supplements.

When I visit my family in Upstate New York, and chat with the neighbors, I am always amazed to find that they prefer to go to Olive Garden -- yeah, a chain restaurant which sits in the vast, charmless parking lot of a big shopping complex off a highway full of malls & big box stores -- than drive into the nearby city, which has a famous old Italian neighborhood on its North Side thronged with excellent little family restaurants & Italian specialty grocery stores.

I don't get it. I figured Olive Garden was tailor-made for places in the U.S. that **don't** have 100-year-old Italian neighborhoods full of family restaurants. So they have this sort of theme park version of Little Italy near their shopping center where they can have a little bit of the experience.

Originally Posted by sws19:
oh man. i've ALWAYS wanted to go to olive garden! the commercials make everything look so decadently yummy. good luck!

Don't. I had a gift certificate to go so we went (I hadn't been in many years). The food was so plain and dull. We had money left on the gift certificate but didn't use it because we didn't want to go back.

I would definitely know what you're going to eat BEFORE you walk in the door. Like's been suggested - soup and salad. No skimming the menu or anything, so that you're tempted to order something higher caloried then necessary. I would also make a vow - NO touching the bread basket. Period. It's totally off limits to you. Look the other way. Drink lots of water. Enjoy the company.

I work there!

Lunch portion of Venetian Apricot Chicken (you can order lunch portions at dinner) is 280 calories. A chicken breast with apricot sauce, broccoli, and asparagus.

Lunch portion of Linguine alla marinara is 310 calories. You can add veggies.

Lunch portion of cappellini pomodoro is 480 calories.

Shrimp primavera (lunch portion) penne pasta with arrabiatta sauce and veggies and shrimp. 510 calories


ETA: just went back and read that you were looking for vegetarian. Nix the apricot chicken. And shrimp primavera if you don't eat seafood.

i know i know it's all in the advertising and it's really just mediocre charmless chain restaurant "italian" food. i've always lived in a major city, so that's most likely why i've never been. we have a ton of original non-chain restaurants here in new york, but man do those commercials do their job. i am in the same situation with red lobster.

Don't worry, Red Lobster is mediocre too. Last experience (long before going vegetarian) was just disappointing.

Originally Posted by sws19:
i know i know it's all in the advertising and it's really just mediocre charmless chain restaurant "italian" food. i've always lived in a major city, so that's most likely why i've never been. we have a ton of original non-chain restaurants here in new york, but man do those commercials do their job. i am in the same situation with red lobster.

Oh yeah, I know what you mean... their "food artists" (what do you call the people who do that stuff?) make things look really tasty on the commercials. I'm generally forced to go there once a year for a friend's birthday, he loves it... and he gets freaking pasta with chicken and alfredo sauce, the type of thing you could whip up in 20 minutes at home if you wanted to! I just don't understand some people.

I'm not really a food snob, and there are some chain restaurants that I love (I consider Red Robin and Macaroni Grill some of my favorite restaurants!) but even as a suburban Western NY kid, I didn't like Olive Garden. Red Lobster isn't so bad, especially if you don't live anywhere near a source of fresh seafood. Though I'd rather go there and eat only those cheddar biscuits. :devil:

I think it depends on what plan your on...my plan allows for me to have one day a week where i award myself but i dont go hog wild, i still try to count my calories on that one day and this is the first thing that has worked for me! but it really depends on what your on...if your sticking with your plan i agree with the other girls and I'd go with the soup & salad or pasta with marinara :-)

Thanks everyone!
teresab,I think I am going to order Linguini alla marinara and capellini pomodoro.Thanks for the calorie amounts!Since I am counting calories,I like to know exactly how much I am eating.