We arrived right at 11:00am when it opened and we actually had to wait for a few minutes before we were seated. We were not exactly sure why since the place was completely empty, but maybe they were still deciding where to put people. We did notice the decor inside was very nice, reminiscent of a European or even Mexican villa with fake external facades and roofs to give it a more interesting look. When they finally seated us, they took us to the back in a room to ourselves, which we thought was odd, as we passed many areas of empty seats. At the table we were greeted by our waitress and her "assistant" who we later figured out must have been a more senior waiter who was training her. She offered us a sampling of wine, but we all declined, since none of us really wanted to drink wine at 11:15 in the morning! We perused the menu and noticed they did not have any "lunch priced" items, as everything looked like a dinner entree priced at around $12 or higher. Maybe that is why nobody was there for lunch. I selected the Chicken Parmigiana (so I could compare it to the Pasta House version), my wife ordered the Caprese Flatbread, my mother in law chose the Fettuccine Alfredo, my daughter picked the Chicken Marsala and my son decided on the "Choose Your Own" Sampler of Toasted Ravioli and Chicken Fingers.
While we waited for our food they played background music which varied from old Christmas music, some weird Jazzy pieces, and some even stranger Italian songs we did not particularly enjoy. It was an odd assortment which did not add much to the experience. The bread sticks arrived with our salads, which were mixed in a shared salad bowl which we could serve ourselves. The bread sticks were warm, well salted and butter and may well have been the highlight of the meal. The salad was as I remembered it years ago, with a water and vinegar heavy dressing with not much flavor and with 3 olives in a bowl for three people. Luckily nobody else cared much for olives, but I found it odd that the "Olive Garden" salad had exactly one olive per person. I was thinking how I would have much preferred a Pasta House salad, but I ate most of my salad anyway.
Our entrees arrived a few minutes later and I did notice the portion size was pretty generous for my Chicken Parmigiana. Unfortunately when I bit into it, I noticed the chicken was not as flavorful as I would have liked (or as compared to the Pasta House version). My daughter also noted her Chicken Marsala tasted like "processed" chicken, comparing it to something from Lean Cuisine, and my son was not overly impressed with his ravioli and chicken fingers. My wife thought her flatbread also tasted like something made from packaged crescent rolls. My side of spaghetti that came with my chicken also had a sauce that was quite bland. I had been hoping the entrees could make up for the rather lackluster salad, but that was not to be the case. All in all we were rather unimpressed with the food, especially at the elevated prices.
In St. Louis it seems you have a lot of choices for Italian food. If you want the more authentic, home made style Italian food, you can visit one of the many fine small Italian establishments on the Hill which vary in price from quite reasonable to extraordinarily expensive. Suburbanites who may not want to deal with the city parking and traffic all the time, can on occasion visit chains like Pasta House for a less expensive more homey and comfortable meal or Macaroni Grill for a higher end, more refined experience. I cannot figure out where Olive Garden fits into the equation, since I cannot find a reason to visit there. If we have the time to deal with going to the Hill (Zia's, Cunettos, Dominic's, Gain-Tony's, etc) that would be my first pick, for a quicker but still dependably tasty meal I would select Pasta House. For something a little different maybe Macaroni Grill or one of the nicer Italian places in Clayton (I Fratellini, Pastaria, Cafe Napoli, Dominic's Trattoria). Olive Garden would not be an option!
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