A little Olive Garden assistance?

[susansmk]

Okay folks, potential cheat in the making, and I WILL NOT DO IT. Here's the deal.

Olive Garden is one of our (DH and my) favorite restaurants, and one finally opened up here in town. Hubby is super jazzed and came in today telling me he's taking me to lunch there tomorrow. I must've looked pensive, because he quickly followed with "one cheat meal isn't gonna kill you". I smiled and told him I would find something there I could eat, no worries. If I don't go, he won't go. I want him on my side on this, so the last thing I want to do is make him unsupportive or frustrated by my chosen WOL/WOE.

So, I hop online and browse the menu. There is NOTHING THERE that is low carb. Argh! Aside from the salad (which is the best part anyway), I'm not sure about any of this stuff. Some things I could probably make low carb, but I'm nervous about the sauces.

Have any of you eaten there (legally) while low carbing? If so, what did you order? I am on day 10, and I am SO not screwing this up now.

[kstornado]

What I would do is order something like chicken marsala (which comes with a side of potatoes) and tell them to leave the potatoes off. Most restaurants are very accommodating when asked to leave stuff off your plate. I myself LOVE LOVE LOVE the Steak Gorgonzola Alfredo, I just don't eat the pasta or ask them not to put it on my plate. :)

[Trisha5813]

So, I hop online and browse the menu. There is NOTHING THERE that is low carb. Argh! Aside from the salad (which is the best part anyway), I'm not sure about any of this stuff. Some things I could probably make low carb, but I'm nervous about the sauces.

Have any of you eaten there (legally) while low carbing? If so, what did you order? I am on day 10, and I am SO not screwing this up now.

I know exactly what you mean....I have looked over their menu before and cannot find a thing legal there. Of course, I don't know what half of that stuff is, but it sounds very illegal!

[Annie1gi]

They do serve a steak, and I have had it with vegetables instead of the potatoes, they also have a pork tenderloin, with potatoes also, most are happy to accomodate your diet/plan. I copied this statement from their web site.


If You’re Watching Carbohydrates…

Savor one of our grilled entreés with fresh vegetables in place of potatoes.

Enjoy our pasta entreés with whole wheat linguine.

In addition to these items, we proudly offer delicious choices for our Gluten Intolerant guests. For more information, ask for a manager.


bon appetit! As Julia would have said! :lol: :lol:

[2006shanna]

I've eaten their chicken ceasar and I've ordered a sea food entree, skipping the pasta (I think they gave me veggies instead). But if you're anything like me, it's painful to watch DH eat those yummy breadsticks.

[aprils0909]

In memory of my dog Butchie who passed away on Monday March 19th, 2007. You are my sweet baby and I miss you very much. Until we meet again.....momma.
OMG, I am so sorry to see this! Was it because of the pet food recall? Please say Butchie died at the ripe old age of 16 after a long and happy life!

[susansmk]

Thanks so much, everyone! And Annie...I completely overlooked that on their website. Thank you for calling my attention to it!

<sigh of relief>

Watching hubby munch the breadsticks won't hurt - I've never been a breadstick fan. Now if I couldn't eat their salad, I think I'd have to cry. <drools at thought of OG salad dressing>

[Trisha5813]

OMG, I am so sorry to see this! Was it because of the pet food recall? Please say Butchie died at the ripe old age of 16 after a long and happy life!

No, not because of the dogfood. My baby died at the ripe old age of 15....I had him for 14.5 precious years. Thank you for the sentiment....that means a lot to me. **hugs**
Trisha

[kyrasdad]

It has been a while, but I had a good sausage dish there that was pretty LC. You can probably find something, or modify something. They may have some good grilled chicken salads. That almost seems to be a standard these days.

[Annie1gi]

Thanks so much, everyone! And Annie...I completely overlooked that on their website. Thank you for calling my attention to it!

<sigh of relief>

Watching hubby munch the breadsticks won't hurt - I've never been a breadstick fan. Now if I couldn't eat their salad, I think I'd have to cry. <drools at thought of OG salad dressing>

Glad I could help you, and actually myself to.....DD has been wanting to go but I don't want to sit there and see all those breadsticks! As long as I have the salad bowl to myself, I guess I could live with it...... :lol: :lol:

[MizKitty]

Seems no matter where I go, I always forget to ask them to leave the croutons off my salad, then have to pick them out and put them on a napkin or something.
Just thought I'd mention it, so you can maybe benefit from my bad memory! lol
Good luck tomorrow.

[Annie1gi]

Seems no matter where I go, I always forget to ask them to leave the croutons off my salad, then have to pick them out and put them on a napkin or something.
Just thought I'd mention it, so you can maybe benefit from my bad memory! lol
Good luck tomorrow.

Yep, gotta admit I have done that too! I usually pick them out and give them to DH.....LOL

[Greenwitch]

I got this from their site. If you're keeping your carbs under 20g, you could probably get away with one of these.

SELECTIONS UNDER 20g CARBOHYDRATES
..........................CARBS g ....... FIBER g ............ NET CARBS g
APPETIZERS
Stuffed Mushrooms 14 .............. 2 ..........................12
Mussels di Napoli ...19 .............. 1 .......................... 18
LUNCH ENTRÉES AND SOUP
Grilled Chicken Spiedini** 14 ......4 ..........................10
DINNER ENTRÉES
Herb-Grilled Salmon 18 ..............6 ...........................12
Pork Filettino* 17..................... 7 ...........................10
Tuscan T-Bone* 16 ................. 6 ........................... 10
Mixed Grill** 19 ...................... 7........................... 12


That's all they show on the site I saw. Unfortunately they dont' show half of the stuff on the menu!

Yikes..who would think stuffed mushrooms are so bad! eep!


I too am so sorry for your loss, by the way. :(

[Calianna]

I've ordered a chicken dish occasionally with extra veggies in place of the pasta/potatoes. (wish I could remember what one it was) Just ask, they can accomodate your needs.

[stacy0912]

i too absolutely love olive garden and their salads. i always wondered how many carbs it has in it. i haven't been back there since i started my plan in october but have my menu all planned out....sad, i do this for all restaurants i potentially will visit lol. i would get, like a previous poster said, the steak gorgonzola (?) w/out the pasta...or order a chicken breast with a side of alfredo to put on it, and grilled veggies...oooh now i need to go there...grrrr you girls waking up old demons lol.

btw, if anyone knows how many carbs the salad has could you please post it, thanks!

[Greenwitch]

That's my question, too. Is that salad dressing really just oil and vinegar or what is it? I was REALLY upset to find out that one of my favorite restaurants that has what they call a Tuscan dressing doesn't just use balsamic vinegar and oil like they said. There's SUGAR in it to bring out and balance the flavor of the vinegar. So I'm now leary of any "plain oil and vinegar" dressing. My mother was a caterer and said adding sugar do salad dressings they would make was pretty much a normal thing to do.

I swear there is sugar everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[susansmk]

They sell the salad dressing for like $5 per bottle. According to the bottle, it's 2 carbs per serving.

[Charran]

Our Olive Garden menus here, actually have the lower carb selections marked for easy menu browsing. There were quite a few things to choose from, as well, the waitress said they would be more than happy to make substitutions on other dishes. Have fun!

[molmerlin]

Olive garden is always very accomodating. I have ordered the Mixed Grill, which comes with those yummy roasted potatoes, I just don't eat the potatoes. The grill part is a HUGE serving, so between that and salad, I don't need anything else. I could ask for them to leave the potatoes off, but then you go through that ritual of: would you like pasta instead? or is there something else we can get for you etc etc etc, and I just don't like that whole production number. (In truth, I would like for them to bring me a tub of their alfredo dipping sauce, and I would just like to wallow in that/!!!)

Important to remember: If you go off plan, just get back on. Don't beat yourself up :wave:

[susansmk]

Soooo, after all this wonderful advice from you guys, guess what? I didn't even get to use it! We waited til 3:00 to go, thinking that would be too late for the lunch crowd and too early for the dinner crowd, meaning we'd get a table. I should've realized anything new in this town is impossible to get into for the first two flippin' months.

We pull into the parking lot and eye all the cars, but still rationalize that if seating is smart, we should still get a table. So we walk in, noticing several folks waiting. Okay, so think we can wait half an hour or so - no biggie. I give our name to the hostess, who then informs me that the wait is not half an hour but an hour and a half!!! Umm, no...thank you, but heck no. So we head to a local steakhouse instead.

<sigh> Thank you all anyway...maybe in a month or so we'll try it again and I can use your wisdom then. ;)

[stacy0912]

it's ok, i've learned something from this thread so thank you big time for posting it!!! i hope you had a great time and meal anyways :)

[droppin]

Hi Stacy I live in Indiana too. Wondering about what part do you live in?

[webcrystal]

I go there from time to time .. I usually tell them I want the chicken alfredo, hold the pasta and put it over veggies - so i have chicken broccoli alfredo (no pasta). or sometimes squash - it's very yummy. I've also had the stuffed chicken marsala (that's my fav :) .. sub veggies (squash usually).

You can also get sausage links and veggies. or put a spicy spaghetti sauce over veggies. (might need light on sauce).