Back when Olive Garden was fancy

So there’s a thread going around on my Twitter feed about things you thought were only for rich people when you were little, and my Twitter acquaintance Kimberly Ross said dinner at Olive Garden.

It’s funny how much of a chord that strikes with me. When we moved to the Huntsville area in 1986, I was 15 years old. And I thought we had arrived the first time we ate at Olive Garden. It just seemed so fancy to me—the music, the decor, the endless salad and breadsticks, the Hospitaliano! I took at least three different dates there over the next couple of years. (I spread it out too. Steak & Ale was another fancy place I’d only seen on TV. Heh.)

The paucity of nice places to eat in the Anniston/Oxford area in the late ’70s to mid-’80s was rather acute. I remember that before my parents divorced, we occasionally drove to Birmingham just to eat at Red Lobster.

Funny thing is, now that I’ve been in the Huntsville area for 35 years and it’s grown into a metro area of a half-million or so around me, I turn my nose up a lot more readily. I only rarely eat at large chains, and never for a sit-down meal. (Generally my large chain consumption manifests as occasional Firehouse or Dairy Queen takeout when that gets the nod for dinner.) I’ll try smaller chains that have novel and well-defined angles, though I rarely return again and again. (Cantina Laredo was a notable exception.) Mostly, I try to eat at locally-owned places.

I blogged about that turned-up-nose effect once at Rocket City Mom, in the context of Vietnamese food. I don’t think I would care to live any more than 30 minutes or so from a good bowl of pho for the rest of my life.

For a guy who doesn’t like “the big city,” I’ll sure take proximity to one for a happy tummy.

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2 thoughts on “Back when Olive Garden was fancy”

  1. My sister was in town this weekend, so we spent some dining dollars stay-cationing. While none of it was absurdly pricey or “rich” people places, ha ha, the combination of back to back to back did put a dent in the wallet. But, with my vacations getting repeatedly canceled, I had some entertainment dollars to part with. I am very grateful for the abundance of dining, beverage and activity options we had at our fingertips.

    Reply

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