I am Grace.

Or Will?

The people on my fitness forum (why do I so love running here to bitch about them?) are now commiserating about how difficult it is to be strong when eating at the Olive Garden. I feel so bad for them, if they think that horrid stuff is good Italian food! A few years ago there was a study comparing chain restaurants and OG ranked right at the top in calorie-laden foods with very little redeeming nutritional value. And, at least in my opinion, very little taste!

I know that not everyone has the fortune of living in a city large enough to have good quality restaurants, but what's even more painful is that if you go to the Olive Garden in Manhattan? It's all tourists. There they are, in the food capital of the world, just a few blocks from some really delicious reasonable small Italian places on 9th Avenue, and they are eating mall crap. Maybe because it's familiar, a comfort in the big scary city?

(The "Will & Grace" reference is from an episode where they go to the Olive Garden with their not-as-sophisticated suburban friends Ellen & Rob and make fun of them for thinking it's a great restaurant... W&G wind up meeting a similarly snooty couple but eventually realize they aren't the great friends that Ellen & Rob are, despite the latter couple's sad lack of taste.)