This summer, Olive Garden is sending a food truck to spread the news of its new breadstick sandwich and unite our nation in love for carby goodness. But...things aren't exactly going according to plan.
The company recently announced the truck would set up shop in the West End, a historic area in Boston best known for its mouthwatering Italian food. And area restaurant owners aren't having it.
“There is nothing authentically Italian about Olive Garden,” George Mendoza, who co-owns a restaurant in the North End told Boston.com. “It’s an insult to everyone in the North End selling Italian food for more than 100 years.”
Ouch.
While the company has gotten criticism regarding its menu, which includes dishes that are definitely not Italian (burgers, really?), does Olive Garden really deserve so much flack for being "inauthentic?"
Devra First, Boston Globe restaurant critic, certainly doesn't think so.
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Some of the neighborhood’s best Italian restaurants are run by people from places like Argentina and Peru.
— Devra First (@devrafirst) June 12, 2015So let’s not get hung up on “authenticity.”
— Devra First (@devrafirst) June 12, 2015Can't we all just come together over a bowl of pasta (maybe at Pagliuca's) and agree to disagree?