evandyk
Senior Member
Even with corporate events, I don't see this place surviving more than one winter. I don't know where these guys found the investors to back this, but it seems like a losing proposition. Best of luck to them.
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- Thread starter TOareaFan
- Start date
Even with corporate events, I don't see this place surviving more than one winter. I don't know where these guys found the investors to back this, but it seems like a losing proposition. Best of luck to them.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
The site is begging for a food market with seating - spilling out to the QQE in summer.
AoD
Bayer
Senior Member
Please no. No to the ice-cold salads and the "bread" sticks. (I remember the Atrium OG.)
Northern Light
Superstar
You know I'm not an advocate for chain restaurants, nor am I confused as to the quality of the pasta sauce here, among other things.......
But notwithstanding that, I'll have to vary w/you here.
I did enjoy the Olive Garden salad, sure, made w/cheap Iceberg lettuce, but that in-your-face dressing really appealed to me, so much that I figured out how to duplicate it sans the preservatives and other nonsense they stuck in it.
That was the first place I remember eating pepperoncini (the Italian pickled peppers for anyone wondering) which were one of the in-your-face ingredients in their salad. (along with black olives, radish slices, and loads of red onion)
The breadsticks are cheap, par-baked bread, but the topping which probably used suspect marg/oil rather than real butter was still moderately tasty, and the soups, particularly the pasta fagiole was passable. Not nonna-homemade, but for cheap and cheerful chain food, not bad.
I liked the value proposition for lunch when I was in uni..... soup, salad and breadsticks, I think it was $7.99 and unlimited, or something like that.
Today it would doubtless be double that. Still, even though the pasta/sauces were mediocre (a problem solved by not ordering them), and the decor was kitsch (a problem solved by paying attention to your company or bringing a book) ... I have a soft spot for the place. Not great food, but pretty good value, at one time.
evandyk
Senior Member
I thought it was good when we went during our undergrad years! But coming from a sheltered life in rural Ontario, things like olives and pepperoncini were exotic to me.
gabe
Senior Member
I'm a proud owner of Atrium OG chairs....
Bought them off a pub owner in the Waterloo area a few years back,who knew people who ran that Olive Garden years ago.They are my basement/ patio bar chairs. And they are on casters. Easy to wheel around
Towered
Superstar
The real star of the Atrium was Lichee Garden. Tell me I'm wrong.
evandyk
Senior Member
Kensington NIMBYs doing their thing.
www.thestar.com
Opening a restaurant in Kensington Market was his dream. Now neighbours say the province should put a stop to it
Kensington Market residents asked the province to not grant a liquor licence to Karan Sarvaiya’s new sports bar, which opens next week.
www.thestar.com
PL1
Senior Member
Northern Light
Superstar
I will not tell you your wrong...............but I will say you're dating yourself, LOL
I believe that location closed in 1997, so its been 28 years since you last dined there (at that location), it did bounce around after that until finally closing for good, in Thornhill, in 2009.
Richard White
Senior Member
If it makes you feel any better I distinctly remember dining at the Skydome McDonald's.
torontowest91
Active Member
they also served beer
artyboy123
Senior Member
Name: NL Ginzburg
Contact: 548 College St., nlginzburg.com, @nlginzburg
Neighbourhood: Little Italy
Owners: Zachary Kolomeir, Carmelina Imola and Tristan Yves
Chef: Zachary Kolomeir (Dreyfus, Taverne Bernhardt’s, Vilda’s)
Accessibility: Fully accessible
Little Italy’s new outpost for Italo-Jewish cuisine is the latest project from husband-and-wife team Carmelina Imola and Zachary Kolomeir. The restaurant—named for Italian anti-fascist activist couple Natalia and Leone Ginzburg—challenges notions of authenticity. “I’m Italian,” says Imola. “Zach and I travel to Italy every year, but we aren’t trying to be authentic here. Our food will never taste like it does in Italy. We don’t have that sun, and we don’t have that soil. It’s a losing battle.”
PEC
Active Member
Recipe took Fresh from decent to junk. Wonder if they will take Olive Garden from junk to decent
We got caught in a blizzard last winter in Watertown, NY. The only place open was Olive Garden. Can report that the salad and bread sticks are EXACTLY the same as when they last operated in Ontario.
Northern Light
Superstar
Recipe took Fresh from decent to junk. Wonder if they will take Olive Garden from junk to decent
We got caught in a blizzard last winter in Watertown, NY. The only place open was Olive Garden. Can report that the salad and bread sticks are EXACTLY the same as when they last operated in Ontario.
Recipe are wildly uneven in their track record.
You can look at Swiss Chalet and The Keg, arguably their best properties, in terms of financial success. They've largely kept those two 'good' at what it is they do, they won't win any awards, but they are solid fast casual/steakhouse type offerings. . Burgers' Priest has likewise seen torrid growth under their ownership.
Harveys is one of their middling properties. They have yet to kill it, but its less successful than it was 20 years ago. Arguably under investment in real estate, menu development, and the breakfast segment (they're absent) have hurt them.
Meanwhile, they've generally botched their attempts at Italian, (East Side Marios and a few others over the years); at coffee, and at generic date-night/family resto (Kelseys etc etc.)
So file under TBD on the OG acquisition.