Posted on 10/13/2011 5:36:30 AM PDT by IbJensen
ANNISTON, Ala. -- Officials with the parent company of Olive Garden restaurants say they're sorry if a decision regarding an Alabama Kiwanis club's desire to display the American flag caused any concern.
The comments come after 80-year-old Marti Warren of Anniston said she wasn't allowed to bring an American flag into an Olive Garden for a planned Kiwanis Club banquet in the east Alabama town of Oxford.
Warren learned the night of the banquet that she wouldn't be allowed to display the flag or the Kiwanis banner in the restaurant, she said.
"I was so angry," she told WBRC-TV. "I felt like I had been slapped in the face."
Orlando-based parent firm Darden restaurants said in a statement that "like all Americans we have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for the American flag and everything it symbolizes."
The Oxford Olive Garden lacks a private dining area, which led to the decision, company officials said.
"To be fair to everyone and avoid disrupting the dining experience for all other guests, they're unable to accommodate flags or banners of any type in the dining room," according to the statement.
Without a flag at the Kiwanis banquet, Warren said she asked club members to close their eyes and picture the flag waving in the wind as they said the pledge of allegiance.
Consistency in policy ought to be recognized, even if the end result is not what we want. I agree with you, AppyPappy.
I can’t see how a flag could be disruptive or distracting.
Got that right. I can't stand OG food, other than their shrimp scampi. But after this, I will never set foot inside that restaurant again. I wonder what the reaction would have been if a muslime club would have decided to go eat there and hang some muslime banner on the wall.
There is but one correct view
Olive garden is not really american
It is liberal trash
Thanks for the post. I sent Olive Garden a note telling them they lost my business.
Easy, Boycott Olive Garden... everybody who darkens the door of an OG should go to the restaurant and pin/ tape a large notice at the entry... that you will withhold patronage till OG acknowledges their shame and apologizes... and not that stupid “ if we offended anybody, we’re sorry” crap. With all the other Italian restaurants around, shouldn’t be a big deal...
Darden Restaurant Group also agreed to change it’s menu in response to Michelle Obama.
http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2011/09/michelle-obama-lauds-darden-restaurants.html
No Problem. Just take your Olive Garden Restaurants and locate them anywhere but the USA from now on. We don’t need you anymore.
I will never eat there again.
I can understand why Darden doesn't want banners in its main dining area, but a reasonable person has to ask why Darden would book a private group -- with a program and speakers -- without a private dining room. If Darden is concerned that banners might "disrupt the dining experience for all other guests" in its common dining room, how much more would a group's speakers affect those other guests? That argument just doesn't wash.
As for Darden's inclusion of the flag of the United States of America in its ban of "flags or banners of any type" in its dining rooms... That is Darden's right, but that is a policy that I just cannot accept. I fought for that flag, and I will not give my money to any business whose policy refuses to honor it.
The ball is in Darden's court to clarify or rectify...
I informed them my family and I will no longer be patrons.
Olive Garden’s food is one small step above McDonald’s. Blech.
I love Olive Garden. You can knock it all you want. But I love it.
How liberal of you, FRiend.
Will I be part of a pogrom now?
Sometimes I wonder whether some conservatives have a deep-seated need to fulfill every liberal projected stereotype thrown at them.
I gave up on Darden for appeasing Obama’s obnoxious wife.
(And I LOVED Capital Grille.)
You don't just wake up one morning and think, "WoW, I bet the American flag distracts people from our ketchup on overcooked Ramen noodles, we can't allow it in the restaurants any more". At least, that's the way I see it.
Did the ME immigrants buy out General Foods interests?
Olive Garden lost me when its parent company bowed at the feet of the fried-food-devouring queen of hypocrisy, Moochelle.
But... because so many Americans are brain-dead as to what occurs outside their personal space, they’ll still patronize these restaurants as much as ever.
Oh, let's see; huge servings of high-carbohydrate foods, endless breadsticks, "populist" atmosphere....Yup, it sure is her favorite.
Not to mention she and Barry are friends of the owner.
anyone who eats inauthentic ethno-restaurant chains deserves whatever they get. If WalMart had a food court, Olive Garden would be there.
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