The year: 2004. Our Best New Restaurant winner: Olive Garden.
By Steve Lange
What We Wrote Then: “Olive Garden actually finished in fourth place for Best New Restaurant in last year’s [2003’s] Best of Restaurants balloting. AND THEY HADN’T EVEN OPENED YET! So it was no surprise they took the title this year [2004]. Soups and sauces are prepared from scratch daily. The breadsticks are free. And with nearly 40 wines on its list, the 20-year-old, 500 restaurant- chain served 5.7 million bottles of wine last year.”
How They’re Doing Now: They still have free breadsticks!
What Those In The Know Say: “I’m not sure what to say about this—it’s the Olive Garden—it’s safe, dependable, you know what to expect,” says Matt Russell, current P-B reporter and former P-B food guru. “The building is nice, and the atmosphere is comfortable, and you know what to expect with the food. All of these things combined with a location near Saint Marys will likely keep this place doing well.”
Our take: Free breadsticks!
Enjoy this story? You can now subscribe to Rochester Magazine and have unique, interesting stories about Rochester, MN delivered to your home every month.
Fill out a subscription form now!
