Lunch at a Olive Garden in Manhattan

Visited Location: 696 6th Ave @ 22nd St

Olive Garden Chelsea: ExteriorHome to deals such as the Unlimited Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks and the Never Ending Pasta Bowl, Olive Garden has a very small presence in New York City with one Brooklyn and two Manhattan locations.

Unlike your average suburban "farmhouse in Tuscany" Olive Garden, the Manhattan locations feature an urban concept that premiered in 2002 with the opening of the Chelsea/Flatiron location, which, coincidentally, was the one I visited.

This restaurant is extremely large and has a single-floor layout with an attempt at the urban Italian ristorante feel. During my lunch visit the restaurant was rather quiet and about two-thirds occupied.

I came with a party of six and we all took advantage of the "Unlimited Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks" offering. It is currently being offered for $8.95 before 4pm, and makes an extremely filling lunch. The only additional food costs you may have to worry about are "dipping sauces" which are not included and not unlimited.

Reviewers on Yelp have mentioned that the "Never Ending Pasta Bowl" is also available at this location, but isn't on the menu.

Olive Garden Chelsea: MenuThe food itself was excelent, although it was sometimes hard to tell what the actual difference between the soup were - many contained almost identical ingredients. The service to our table was also excellent - unlimited food and six people essentially required our own personal waiter, who either was serving us food or getting us more food!

Overall, Olive Garden, laugh all you may at the idea, provides a great value lunch in a friendly setting. You almost forget that you are in a nationwide casual dining chain... Until, of course, you glance at the menu and notice that Budweiser, Bud Light, and Miller Light are the "premium beers," and that there apparently aren't any other options!

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Why would you go to New York and eat at someplace as mundane as the Olive Garden? Granted, it's cheap, but you can find them anywhere. You don't need to go to nyc for that.

Why would you go to New York and eat at someplace as mundane as the Olive Garden? Granted, it's cheap, but you can find them anywhere. You don't need to go to nyc for that.

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