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Oh, no, now people will have to go to the Olive Garden in Framingham
By adamg on Tue, 12/02/2008 - 9:57pm
Eric Weinstein reports that Vinny T's on Rte. 9 in Natick has closed, leaving people mad for sorta-Italian food no choice but to keep on driving until they get to the Olive Garden in Framingham.
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Comments
there's a Bertucci's in Framingham
on Route 9, even. And another in Wellesley, just off Route 9.
quasi-Italian food
Bertucci's is WAY better than either of those. And Vinny T's is better than Olive Garden (which should be shot).
http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
Lots Of Food
Olive Garden? Feh. At least Vinny T's gave you humongous amounts of food. It wasn't great, but it was certainly filling; a decent place to bring a large group without too many discriminating palates.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Why drive to Framingham?
We are lucky. When me and the Mr. want italian food, we dial up the youngsters and tell them to grab their charlie card and get on the express bus into Boston (it picks up at the end of the street and doesn't usually have other passengers - like a $3 limo ride). I walk down to Haymarket to get them when they arrive, meet their Dad coming up from the North Station shuttle, and head over to the other side of the Greenway.
We walk to the commuter rail to get home. Family adventure with great food, and mom and dad can have an entire bottle of wine without worry.
On the other hand, you can't beat VinnyT's portions for Adolescent Fill Factor.
Massive amounts of Italian food
Nothing beats a mess from Comella's, although it's really more for home consumption.
My Italian friends tell me
My Italian friends tell me that they will never step foot in an Olive Garden and if they must, only IF they must go to a chain Italian place at that price level thats easily found its Bertuccis, otherwise they go Chinese.
From what I understand after talking to people Olive Garden isnt owned by Italians and Bertuccis is. Im not sure if thats true or not, and Im also not sure if that affects the quality of food, but thats what Ive been told and would explain the Italian hatred of Olive Garden.
Bertucci's
Bertucci's was started by a real Italian -- Joey Grugnale originally of Somerville. It has since been sold off to some company I believe, but it does retain some authenticity, such as the oil and vingear salad dressing instead of some gloppy mess. I'm Italian and think the food's OK there.
spelling correction - Joey Crugnale
Joey Crugnale. Owner of Joey's Ice Cream in Teele Square, and later of Steve's Ice Cream in Davis Square (and other places), and still later of Bailey's Ice Cream (which failed).
People are not going to
People are not going to drive all the way down to Framingham for I-talian when they've got a Chuck-E-Cheese right next to where Vinny-T's was.
I think even Olive Garden fans would balk at that
It's enough to turn any fauxtalian fan into a Grinch. Gah, now I'm going to have nightmares from the one time I actually went there.
For some reason the
For some reason the accompanying photo of "John" from Grumpier Old Men didn't survive past Preview once I pressed "Post Comment".
ay, whassamatta you?
Every time me an' my Big Eye-talian Family get togethah, we always go to th' Olive Garden! (All except for Gina, anyway, who's still out callin' for her son Antny.) Mama Rosa says the food is justa like-a the food back in the Old Country (then again, summa days she think she still back in the old country) and Uncle Giorgio loves it when the waitress, she flirts with him justa littla bit when dishing out the linguini alfredo. After dinner we all starta singing all the old folk songs, you know, the Dean Martin classics, and all the waiters there, they say we're more fun to deal with than those chatty old ladies with red hats who come in once a month.
Okay I gotta stop this commercial parody thing because it's beginning to sound way too much like the Onion for anybody's good.
There *IS* a God!
I was already happy when the Vinny Testes in Brookline closed, this is more good news.
Now what's going to go in that space? Another shitty pseudoethnic restaurant, no doubt right?
-----------------------------------------
who and the what now?
Olive Garden not that bad at all
I had dinner in an Olive Garden in another state. When I put aside all my Northeastern world-traveler snobbery, I found it wasn't bad at all. A much better choice than almost any other chain in terms of taste and healthy food quality. And cheap decent Italian wines on their list, too.
The service was good and the salad and main course was better than a lot of "Italian" places I've eaten in, including some in Italy.
I choose small businesses over big chains all the time, but the issue with Olive Garden is that, not necessarily quality. And yes, people who work in chains need jobs too. There are many places in the USA where the Olive Garden is the best restaurant in town.