A Garden in Times Square

This past week, my Mom, Ms. Latina, gave me the chance to head to Times Squares’ very own Olive Garden with two of my closest friends: Jose and Joyee.

After watching a movie and sharing tons of laughter, indulging in “a taste of Italy” was great. The atmosphere of the restaurant was homey, a hard feat to achieve in the heart of Times Square.

We arrived before the dinner rush hit full force but we were still asked to wait 25 minutes to be seated.  We were warm and sheltered from the rain so we had no complaints. Once seated we were immediately approached by our waiter and offered a glass of wine. We were taken aback, than flattered… we were being seen and treated like adults! After politely turning down his offer and sharing a laugh about his mistake we were given a glass of water and time to think about what we were going to order…

But we had done our research… we already knew: the 3 course Italian dinner for $12.95 (or $18.95 in Times Square). We decided to stick with only two orders seeing as we had already feasted on junk food at the theater.

We stuck with the traditional salad… I’m not really into vegetables… but their dressing was on point!

Next, we were served our entrees!

I ordered Spaghetti with four cheese meat sauce and it was incredible. The sauce was good but it was the noodles that made the difference… they were fresh and cooked just right. They didn’t stick to each other and absorbed the flavors of the sauce.

Everyone shared a liking for spaghetti so that was an easy first choice but it was our second entree that required some thought. After some strategetic finger pointing and clever facial expressions we decided on:

Five Cheese Marinara Penne with Shrimp. The flavors blended well and the amount of shrimp was proportionate to the amount of pasta.

For dessert we ordered Strawberry Cream Cake and Limoncello Mousse. Before I could even snap a picture they attacked it. I had to join in or miss out. As you can see, we devoured it.

It. Was. That. Good.

Overall, Olive Garden exceeded my expectations in service and in food. It was a great experience that I am glad I shared with people that are so close to my heart. It definitely won’t be my last time eating there, I see my next trip in the very near future!

Written by Karl Rivera

Disclosure: Karl received a gift card to review the Olive Garden. This in no way influenced his opinion or his taste buds.