Posted on 09/12/2014 8:26:26 AM PDT by C19fan
Olive Garden is hurting itself by piling on too many breadsticks, according to an investor that's disputing how the restaurant chain is run.
In a nearly 300-page critique, the hedge fund Starboard Value says Olive Garden restaurants lack training and discipline and that servers bring too many breadsticks to tables at a time. That leads to waste — and cold breadsticks, Starboard says.
(Excerpt) Read more at bigstory.ap.org ...
Disposable income is falling drastically and fewer people can afford to eat out regularly or even occasionally. Almost all chains are offering some sort of “endless” or “all you can eat” promotion in order to draw in more customers who may end up being regulars.
You can see this on TV with all of the commercials promoting deals over the last couple of months.
Olive Garden was in our standard ‘eat out’ rotation. This was Phoenix back in 95/96. They would offer bowls of marinara or alfredo sauce with their breadsticks. When we moved to WA state in 99 there was one close to the house so we tried it. It was not as good, then it got worse. The kitchen that you could see when you walked in was removed and bar seating put in. That pleasant aroma that would wash over you when you entered was gone as well. Don’t need that big kitchen when a row of microwaves do all the cooking. Haven’t been back since, but they don’t miss us, the place is always packed.
I’m not at all against making a profit! Not at all! I make money with my baking and my quilting. But the reason I make money is because I have a passion for both baking and quilting and as a result of that passion people pay me for what I produce.
If I was to set out solely to make money then I’d probably stop using real butter and hand-picked berries for my pastries because it’s more profitable to use shortening and frozen berries. I’d also use cheaper filler and cheaper fabrics for my quilts and I’d have them made in China or India to save on labor.
But then the core reasons why people buy my pastries and my quilts would be gone, wouldn’t it? And I’d no longer have a passion for what I’m doing because it would just be a means to an end: getting money. And sooner or later I’d stop baking and quilting in order to just invest my money in some other more profitable venture.
And my baking and quilting business would end.
That’s what I am talking about here.
If you want to run a restaurant like Olive Garden then do it! Love what you do, be passionate about food and hospitality, and people will pay you accordingly and you’ll make money AS A RESULT of your passion.
But if all you care about is the bottom line and you’re going to organize your restaurant to milk customers for their dollars then you’d be better off closing the restaurant and investing in something more profitable.
That doesn’t make me a communist.
The Fettuccine Alfredo and Shrimp Scampi are the only two dishes I’ll eat there. The rest is good for the garbage disposal. My wife has to DRAG me to eat there.
New deal out. 100 bucks for all the pasta you can eat over a 7 week period Called the never ending pasta pass.
Does that come with added saliva? no thanks, eating home is cheaper, better and all the ingredients are known knowns
“That doesn’t make me a communist.”
it does to those that worship the “free market”. These worshippers attack anyone who does not completely, 100% feel that the only thing important in business today is the “stockholder”.
Judas was a free marketer.
yeah...having travelled all around Italy on many occasions for work stuff, I can honestly state that olive garden food bears little resemblance to the food in Italy.
As such, I have not eaten there in many years...and expect to extend that streak for many more years.
Best thing about the Olive Garden is watching the faces of folks of Italian background when I ask if they eat there. No real Italian will admit to liking the Olive Garden.
I can get the full salad bowl and the pasta figioli soup and stay on my diet.
I like it.
you don’t need to travel to Italy to understand olive garden is the alpo of Italian food- come anywhere in the northeast of the United States...
Interesting that some posters make presumptuous statements that assume an air of authority, such as ‘their food sucks’ or ‘it’s not real Italian food’, rather than simply saying that it’s not to their taste. People have different tastes.
We like some of OG’s fare, and would happily sample more of their pasta dishes were we not limiting our intake of these types of foods. We typically go there at lunchtime and have soup, salad & breadsticks. We ask the waitress to deliver only two breadsticks, and we request the salad dressing on the side, so that we can apply it sparingly. This is by choice, to help us lose and/or maintain a healthy weight. We don’t need the temptation of a basket full of bread, and we don’t want to waste those that we wouldn’t eat. Ironically, this fits in with the investor’s plan to cut costs, which isn’t necessarily part of the equation for us.
We enjoy the soups and the breadsticks, and our opinion is equally valid to that of someone who doesn’t.
Well I am glad you have something you like up there in NY to compensate for your alpo politicians and educators. :-). On a serious note — hats off to you living deep in enemy territory and thanks for all you do. I am spoiled down here.
*Disclaimer: I admit I'm poking fun at the topic here (not at you personally).
However, I'd say any "Italian" restaurant whose menu lists "Shrimp Scampi" rather than just "Scampi" isn't really authentic. "Scampi" IS shrimp prepared a certain way; "Shrimp Scampi" is simply redundant. ;-)
They’ll pry my breadsticks from my cold, dead hand...
Never been to Italy but my parents have gone.
They said the tomato based meals tended to be in the south whilst the creamy, white sauces were served more in the north.
Never been there - can anyone substantiate what my parents encountered?
I'm not doubting them (at all!) but just saying that was their experience on sauces in Italy.
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*snicker* especially on your heart singing when you walk into an Olive Garden!
Hey, you came back, didn't you? Friendly and attentive service is almost as important as food quality.
You understand neither the Bible nor economics.
Hey, watch it, I resemble that remark! /S
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