Olive Garden Italian Restaurants

Pre-Show Dining and Transcendent Tortellini at Birraporetti's

Birraporetti's is not the best Italian restaurant in Houston, nor is it the second, or even the third. But it's a stone's throw away from the theater district, offers fast friendly service, and serves transcendent cheese tortellini. Let me elaborate. On a recent Thursday night a my husband and I ... More >>

Houston's Top 5 Jazz Clubs

5. RED CAT JAZZ CAFE Admittedly, Red Cat has its hits and misses, but for a jazz neophyte looking to make his or her debut into the world of Fitzgerald and Armstrong, this "cafe" is a good place to start. Its relatively new Franklin Street address places Red Cat at the very beginning of downtown, an ... More >>

The Chicken Fried Steak of My Dreams at Tom's Burgers and Grill in Arlington

Weirdly, there's nothing about Tom's Burgers & Grill anywhere on the Dallas Observer's website. Perhaps that's because Tom's and its charming, chrome-covered diner are in Arlington -- a bit far outside the normal expanse of coverage for our sister paper -- but considering that we routinely cover spo ... More >>

Copycat Recipe: Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana

While it pains me to say this, there are actually a few things that I enjoy at Olive Garden. And no, it's not their four-cheese lasagna rollatini topped with shrimp-sausage-and-asiago alfredo sauce (which, per the best commercials ever, seems to be how they top everything. I'll pass). You see, the ... More >>

Labor Day Laughs: Real Actors Read Yelp Reviews

On the off chance that you haven't been exposed to the thrilling beauty that is "Real Actors Reading Yelp Reviews," we've compiled the entire series into one post for you. So take a break from doing...whatever the hell it is people do on Labor Day...and remember that dining at the Olive Garden in Ti ... More >>

Like That Chain Restaurant?

Try this local one instead.

Like That Chain Restaurant? Try This Local One Instead

In the last couple of weeks, we've explored fun and funky Texas wines to drink in lieu of old standbys like Cabernet and Chardonnay and we've showcased local beers that can be enlisted to help wean your friends off adjunct lagers made by giant corporations. And just like we all have loved ones that ... More >>

Restaurants and Road Trips: Learning to Settle

On a recent road trip to Chicago, my girlfriend and I wound up eating far more Wendy's than normal people should. Driving through small towns and with options limited, sometimes fast food is the preferable option to the local truck stop with all the windowless vans parked out back. I rarely eat fa ... More >>

Federal Lawsuit Filed in Corpus Christi Over Lobster Baked Potato

It's the clash of the Longhorn Steakhouse titans down south in Corpus Christi, where a local chain of steakhouses with a similar name to the national LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants has filed a federal lawsuit over a lobster baked potato. It's more complicated than that, of course, but the lobster ... More >>

Hanging At The Hideout: Country Comes To Town At The Rodeo

This was my first rodeo. Before Friday I had never been to a rodeo let alone the rodeo. While I might have been there to cover the post-rodeo entertainment, it was also my chance to get the full rodeo experience. Compare me to the food critic excited about Olive Garden coming to town if you must, ... More >>

This Week in Deliciousness

​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we've only recently discovered that there is a vegetable called "rocket" and it is not nearly as awesome as it sounds. It's supposed to taste like adventure and wonder, not like bitter spinach.We started the week off right with a ... More >>

Grand Forks, North Dakota, Gets an Olive Garden

Since I first read the Grand Forks Herald article last night -- "Long-awaited Olive Garden receives warm welcome" -- it's made its way around the Internet as an object of fascination faster than faked cell phone pictures of Christina Hendricks's breasts. "An Onion-worthy, rave review of...Olive Gar ... More >>

Last Night: Dante Higgins At Warehouse Live

Dante Higgins Warehouse Live March 6, 2012 In the grand scheme of things, any time an artist is holding an album-release concert you know the crowd will be eating out of the palm of his hand while dismissing the offers from everyone else. You know this, I know this. There's no way around it. For a ... More >>

Health Department Roundup

There are no inspection reports available from February 23 to 29, but there are dozens of reports from February 22, Ash Wednesday. We're not sure about the significance of that. But it is important for restaurants to remember that they art dust, and to dust they shalt return, just keep that shit off ... More >>

Must You Do That? A Simple List of Manners

Dining out is something we all love to do. I would have a hard time imagining the reader of this blog who is an exception. My manners, at least when I'm at home, fly pretty fast and loose. Get it? I fart at the table. So what, who cares? When I'm in public, though, I tend to try to turn up t ... More >>

Top 5 Hottest Women in Internet Comedy

They say chicks aren't funny, mostly because women tend to have higher-pitched voices that can't penetrate all the meat in some people's heads. We love us some funny chicks, and if they're hot on top of everything else, well then, that's just a bonus. Since we spend even more time on the Internet t ... More >>

Top 5 Restaurant Freebies

Photo by Brooke ViggianoCheesy shortbready cracker things, come to mama!​Sometimes, I find myself drawn to a restaurant not for what's on the menu, but for what is placed on the table in front of me before I even open the menu. You know what I'm talking about. It's sometimes even the best part ... More >>

Mormons: Whether We Should Hate Them or Not

A Shallow Yet Helpful Guide

DEFCON Dining: Eating Crow at Olive Garden

marbla123Dun dun dun.​Just when I'd been getting all up on my high horse, my kids decided to remind me that they are, after all, kids. If you've been following along, you've probably figured out that it's my general position that children are perfectly capable of comporting themselves with dig ... More >>

Comment of the Day

​Nothing like taking your kids to a restaurant and having the servers work extra slowly. Nicholas Hall wrote about his experience with his bored kids at an Olive Garden in DEFCON dining. One commenter, Laurie, felt relieved at the post: Thank God. I thought your children were superhuman freak ... More >>

Off the Wall: Riva's Italian Restaurant

Stacy Zane​When Anamaris Cousins Price wrote about her old favorite Montrose hangouts, EOW reader J. Britt Alexander chimed in with his pick: "Rivas - directly behind Niko-Nikos and the Tower Lofts off Montrose. -- Old green house romantically lit by white twinkle light. The best bang for ... More >>

Comment of the Day

​Joanna O'Leary had a delicious Italian meal at Fratelli's and decided that the restaurant was worth driving outside the loop for. Which gave commenter Laurie pause: Heaven forbid! Outside the Loop! Joanna get over it. It is all of 5 min outside the Loop. A majority of Houston lives outside ... More >>

Health Department Roundup

Operating a restaurant without the proper permits? Forget it, it's Chinatown.​The inspections of the past few days have resulted in just a few more closures/citations than we've seen in recent weeks. Not sure what led to the benevolence, but it might be at an end. This is potentially bad news ... More >>

On Beards and Becco: Coming Down from New York City

Photos by Katharine ShilcuttCrispy-skinned salmon atop cauliflower and ramps at Becco.​I first visited New York City 17 years ago, for one day. I saw Times Square, the United Nations building, stayed in a ratty hotel, ate at a TGI Friday's and had my pocket cut, my wallet and camera stolen fro ... More >>

SXSW: A Happy Brother And A Sh*t Horse

Photos by Allison WagonerJames Graham of the Twilight Sad (left) and the author's little bro​Rocks Off arrived in Austin Wednesday with just enough time to get in a quick nap and free Olive Garden from the hotel before departing for downtown. By the time we got there, it was already dark and w ... More >>

Off the Wall: Mardi Gras Grill's Crab Fingers Come Up Short

​Last week, my Top 5 Appetizers caused most people to bang their heads against the wall. Many of you echoed the sentiments of Tylerrhes: "Olive Garden? You just lost all credibility." But one lone ranger fought through the madness and actually spouted off five appetizer suggestions. I list ... More >>

This Week in (Unrestrained) Deliciousness

Here at Eating Our Words, we all like the green ones. ​In true Mardi Gras fashion, this week Eating Our Words was a celebration of excess. After all, we kicked it off with a gallon of butter and a call to judge our Burger Brackets. Your enthusiasm for beef is overwhelming (and I want one of t ... More >>

Top 5: Appetizers

Vietnamese egg rolls from Hollywood.​Which places start your meal off just right? Find out, as we take a look at some of the best appetizers Houston has to offer. 5. Pappasito's Matador Nachos Unless you're a complete fat ass, I'd highly recommend splitting these between at least two, proba ... More >>

Comments of the Day

​Could it be that patronizing The Olive Garden is worse than putting beans in your chili? After Kevin Shalin named the chain's lasagna fritta as his top appetizer in town, there was a bit of a riot in the comments. This one from, er, olive garden!?!?!, is a good example: OLIVE GARDEN?? Who.. ... More >>

Who Needs An Entrée? I'll Just Take the Bread

garyrwiseThe bread is also used on the sliders at Reef. ​On New Year's Eve, I ate an early dinner at Reef with my husband. We enjoyed a ginormous raw platter, two plump, flavorful crab cakes, generous portions of red snapper and swordfish, and a massive block of fried macaroni and cheese. We ... More >>

Top 5: Good Food at Bad Restaurants

Cheddar Bay Biscuits: You know you love them.​I'm not talking about bad restaurants as in "that dumpy place down by the shipping lanes that Uncle Johnnie once saw a rat in" or "that place charges $50 a person and looks down their noses at you while they serve boring hotel food." I'm talking ab ... More >>

Twitter Fail Guarantee: Any Tweet With The Word "Hubby"

"Hubby" = FAIL​Twitter fail comes in many many forms, but there is one guaranteed way of achieving it: use the word "hubby" in your tweet. It's guaranteed to therefore be either sickly sweet, TMI or boring. And often it will include an emoticon. Here's a sampling just from the last hour or so:@m ... More >>

Openings and Closings: 2009 Edition

​The year gone by marked some very exciting restaurant openings (such as Haven, Branchwater Tavern, Yelapa Playa Mexicana and Stella Sola) and some equally important closings (such as Cafe Annie, Bedford, Las Alamedas and Felix Mexican Restaurant). To close out the yea ... More >>

Worst Rapper Alive

Unraveling veteran rhymesmith K-Rino's brilliance in an über-sketchy Third Ward park.

Very Minor: Miracle at St. Anna

No matter the run time and budget, Spike Lee's WWII drama is an epic bore

Political Padre: Raymundo Chávez Vázquez and Illegal Immigration

An activist Roman Catholic priest with little English is sent to conservative Aggieland

Catfish Reef: Somethin' Serious

Sigh...

Most likely, Villagio's will get better, or Villagio's will go away

A New Tony's Order

A Houston mainstay becomes a destination for culinary thrill-seekers

Less Price, Less Spice

Two Mandola-family restaurants provide a lesson in what we're paying for when we eat out

Letters

Cooked Book

The real chefs' surprise is who made it -- or didn't -- into Culinary Capital

On the Case

Our new TV series is ready to roll

Playbill

Best Mall Alternative

Kim Hung Mall

Will to Power

Mr. Ferrell comes into his glory in Old School

Really Italian

Through film and photo, the MFA is showing a different side of Italian life

Letters

Consuming Hate, Best and the Rest, Percentile Envy

Nothing Small About It

The expansive Maggiano's Little Italy serves portions to match

Inner-City Suburban

Despite its trendy locale, Riva's caters to urbanites with a taste for uncomplicated Italian