Breadsticks and Pasta: How Olive Garden Americanized Italian Food
By Ian MacAllen
Wednesday, November 8th, 2023 | 3,442 views

The Olive Garden restaurant chain is often ridiculed by Italian Americans. The experience is inauthentic, the pasta overcooked, and the Alfredo sauce made with heavy cream. Yet, in one respect, the success of the chain represents the acceptance and integration of Italian American culture as simply mainstream American culture.