Olive Garden

For the second year in a row I tried to arrange an out of town venue for Black Friday. Did not go over. Downsized to a newly reopened local eatery. That went south because of lack of communication about hours. Ended up at the local Olive Garden. This chain has improved over the years. The one thing that remains constant though is an excellent salad.
My enthusiastic friend started off with Chicken & Gnocchi A creamy soup made with roasted chicken, traditional Italian dumplings and spinach. My taste proved nice. They have added a few new ones since the last time I have been
This is mine. Mussels di Napoli. Mussels in the shell, simmered with wine, garlic-butter and onions. Nothing I like better than good mussels. They do a really decent job here although they seemed to have had a massive shot of lemon this time

For her entree my enthusiastic friend went with a special. Stuffed Chicken Marsala Oven-roasted chicken breast stuffed with Italian cheeses and sun-dried tomatoes, topped with mushrooms and a creamy marsala sauce. With garlic parmesan mashed potatoes. It tasted wonderful. Maybe I should explore the menu at greater length

My sister went with the salad and soup and she got Zuppa Toscana Spicy sausage, russet potatoes and cavolo greens in a creamy broth. She seem to enjoy it I got another appetizer. It was from the specials menu. Sicilian Scampi large shrimp sauteed in extra-virgin olive oil with white wine, garlic and lemon. It was served over crostini. In most cases I prefer bread to pasta. The shrimp were not over cooked. The sauce luscious cut by a nice lemon snap and the bread really nice
We finished with Zeppoli soft, traditional Italian doughnuts dusted with powdered sugar, served with chocolate sauce for dipping. I caught the last one of film before I devoured it. Along the lines of a New Orleans beignet. Just sweet enough to be dessert without going in sugar shock

All in all not a bad experience.