Shop Talk: Olive Garden's future uncertain, Loving Hut closes

At lunch last Wednesday with friends, at the Olive Garden, we spoke to the manager on site. He told us that the Olive Garden has a seven year lease on the property and has no intention of giving it up. I think the Weekly reporter would have dug a little deeper in preparing this story. Still, who really knows what is likely to happen. IMHO if the Olive Garden is replaced with the proposed new building, this will be yet anther nail in the coffin of what once was a lovely town. And another family restaurant will become history.

Olive Garden is a chain more likely to be in a neighboring town. Why would anyone go there when they can get real Italian food at Osteria on Hamilton Ave for the same price? Osteria has the best pasta in the nation, with roots from Italy.

Yet, I'd rather have Olive Garden stay than bring more traffic into Palo Alto with an office building. And MORE residential units? Stop the madness, City Council.

Why can't the Olive Garden be on the ground floor? That is the way they do it in bigger Cities.
Granted, Locations like San Francisco mostly have walk in trade and I don't see why we need to go that far if there is Parking. Days, the parking is mostly for business tenants above. Evenings the restaurant.
The 'right' mix can work without needing Mega Parking

@SteveU - bigger cities have higher density office buildings, from where workers can walk to nearby restaurants that don't have big parking. Restaurants without parking will only work if Palo Alto increases the density of nearby customers (ie jobs and/or housing).

> Why would anyone go there when they can get real Italian food at
> Osteria on Hamilton Ave for the same price?

Can Osteria handle it's current patronage and the patronage from Olive Garden? If everyone who decided to listen to this poster's putdown of Olive Garden were to stop going to Olive Garden and start frequenting Osteria--kind of hard to believe that Osteria would be able to handle all of those people.

Also--a lot more parking for downtown.

@Foodie - don't you think Olive Garden complements the Cheesecake Factory?

NOOOOOOOOO!!!! I LOVED Loving Hut! I would have eaten there every week if it hadn't been on frigging University Avenue where it's just a nightmare to get to. It's so unique and the food was always so delicious. :-( :-( :-( And I always felt full and good after eating there.

I wish they had relocated to Midtown. Or the San Antonio area. I would have eaten there so much more!!!!

That Olive Garden stretch of El Camino will be a mess for years. Anybody seen what's going up soon on the other side of the road? 7300 sq ft commercial plus 70 units below market residential. The number of dirt-hauling semis on Oregon Expy, Page Mill, and along El Camino is getting intimidating. Each underground parking installation must be a few hundred truck loads (figuring 18 yards per haul). It can't all be going out to the golf course. At least the new Hilton is almost finished, a mile and a half south next to Hobee's.

Interesting new website -- Web Link -- showing all Palo Alto permit applications.

Foodie ... "Why would anyone go there when they can get real Italian food at Osteria on Hamilton Ave for the same price? "

Ugh, are you kidding. Osteria somehow got a great reputation, but every time I have been there I have had to wait a long time to get it, when I do get it the place is so crowded I hope there is never a fire or some emergency because it would be impossible to move. The prices are high and the food, while it can be good is random hit or miss. It's not an environment I like.

I am not in love with Olive Garden, and I have complaints about it as well, but it is a simple place you can get in and out of easily, the prices are OK, there is enough space and the waits are usual fairly brief at almost any time. The big problem I see with Olive Garden are the clueless kids they get to work there.

I don't go to Olive Garden regularly, but I enjoy it when I do, and I have a lot of good memories going there with groups. i would not like to see Osteria go either, a lot of people love that place ... I'm just not one of them. ;-)

But one problem with Olive Garden is parking ... so if the worst happens and they leave and build something new there .... PLEASE MAKE SURE IT HAS ENOUGH OR EVEN EXCESS PARKING! When is Palo Alto going to get it about building parking or making developers put in parking.

I read something somewhere where like 50 or traffic in congested areas is people circiling around for parking. If the parking problem was fixed, much of the traffic problem would be too.

Let have some intelligence brought to bear on our city problems.

@CPA, when we finally get driverless cars, we can just let them circle around while we eat.

We need more vegan options in downtown Palo Alto!! It's sad-- we have no real variety for vegetarians and vegans.