your boat and that is all that matters.

The only one I know of in my area closed years ago and even when it was open I never thought of it as serving Italian food. I thought it was Greek.

Outside of Italy those 2 places were the best foods.

hell, they think that French fries are French. Remember "Freedom Fries"?

not be too bad.

like how many 'mericans do you see stopping in at McDonalds? Is that because the burgers are good?

Might have been a fun story to write, but the content has zero statistical relevance.

I agree with you, though. It brings down the entire article to a fluff-hit-piece.

Breakfast alternates between bacon and eggs and oatmeal.

I like KFC and the only time I was near a Chick-Fil-A it was a Sunday and it was closed.

I wouldn't put a 'full calorie soda' to my lips if you paid me.

The difference between Dems and Reps on whether Olive Garden is ethnic or not is slim.

But I for one can't think of any chain restaurant that could be considered 'ethnic'.

Conservatives don't like change. Very few of them have ever had Italian food at a family-run restaurant and fewer have been to Italy, so there's no frame of reference. Olive Garden ravioli tastes like OG ravioli whether it's Seattle or St. Petersburg, tomorrow or three years from now. So yeah, I can believe this.

Darden Restaurants refused to advertise on the progressive Air America Radio.
They cater to pugs ala Chickfila

I can't find any around here.

Tons of family-owned Greek, Italian and Middle Eastern restaurants in my mid-sized town.

that very few conservatives have been to Italy?

It makes no sense.

There are some...but there are far more who vacation at the same place every year.

It's not nice to call conservatism a mental disorder but there are certain things they do, and one of them is following routines extremely strictly. Conservatives have had the same haircut for fifty years. They wear the exact same shade of lipstick they wore at their weddings. They trade in their old car for one just like it.(For the life of me I can't figure out why a VW Bug is called a hippie wagen - there's so little difference between any two years you need to have studied How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive like holy writ to tell the difference.)

Foreign travel is a major culture shock - the countries that speak English also drive on the left and play football with round balls and no helmets. Most conservatives can't take it.

are just like the people you described,old fashioned and thrifty, with one exception,they are very well traveled.

Maybe it's a regional thing.

My in-laws did it. Of course, they were moderate conservatives even back in the days before the Republicans = John Birch society. They did their foreign travel with a tour company. They didn't have to deal with much culture shock that way, but I do wonder what they ate. They were definitely fans of bland.

is how it makes it on Long Island. There is a perfectly good, reasonably priced Italian restaurant in every strip mall. (I think it's a zoning requirement.) They were there long before there was an Olive Garden. How does Olive Garden make it here? It's coals to Newcastle, or so it seems to me. It's a puzzlement.

For the same reason as Taco Bell being successful in El Paso, I suppose, though I couldn't explain it to you either.

Olive Garden tastes like microwaved Chef Boyardee with a sprig of parsley to me. Never again.

It was an independent place, but worked a lot like Taco bell. Difference was, it was really good. I'd never had a taco or burrito before and it was revelation. Then Taco Bell came in, that place went out of business and it was years before there was someplace good to get casual, fast Mexican food again.

Never found it!
Italy sucks for food...

My first real encounter with true Conservatives was sitting around the table at a restaurant with my then girlfriend's family in 1970. She told them how I had taken her for bagels on Sunday morning (she had NEVER had bagels before). Her mother asked "what is a bagel. Her Dad answered "a Jew roll with a hole".

I swear to Dog.

I will never forget that. He worked for what was then ARCO. Chemicals division. A big wig. He did not like me one bit.


A few weeks later we broke up. I was an unwashed long-haired hippie, and he couldn't have his daughter going out with me.


I then realized what their side was all about. I haven't looked back since.


The part about the bagels woke my memories up. I hope she had a good life.

Or maybe she's wearing a thong.

(Will Ferrell, Old School, thinking he was in the trust tree in marriage counseling.)

There's nothing wrong with eating there. In some parts of the US, it is one of the few Italian restaurants around. And in others, it's just a relatively inexpensive and easy night out. Republicans should be criticized for a lot of things - but eating at Olive Garden is not one of them.

43 percent of republicans think Olive Garden is authentic ethnic food while 41% of Democrats disagree?

WTF does that even mean? 59% of Democrats agree with republicans that Olive Garden is authentic ethnic food? 57% of republicans think it isn't? Whoever did that poll is an idiot.

FWIW I'm a Democrat who thinks OG definitely is NOT authentic ethnic food. On the other hand it ain't terrible. The prices are reasonable, the food is OK and the service is usually pretty good. I'd go there long before I'd patronize a ptomaine tavern like Applebee's or Chili's.