To Eat at Subway or to Not Eat at Subway: My Chain Restaurant Guilt

The summer after I graduated from high school, I worked at the now-defunct Mediterranean Cafe in Columbus, GA. I sort of *really* hated it - the working, I mean, not the food. I still loved to sit down after work with either a Margherita pizza or a plate of the pasta with blush sauce. I even enjoyed the gyros, though neither I nor anyone who worked there could quite agree on the pronunciation.

That summer, another thing had happened: the Olive Garden had arrived in Columbus! The Olive Garden, with their Never-Ending Salad and their overpriced cocktails put a chokehold on our little business, and I don't think it really ever recovered.

I don't know why.

I hate The Olive Garden. I hate their breadsticks, I hate how the entree clearly came from something freeze dried, I hate their happy family commercials, I hate it. Their salads are ok, but that is it.

What I hate the most about the Olive Garden is that they bastardized a tradition that actually started as the epitome of home-cooked and original. As I learned from The Food of a Younger Land, Italian immigrants to more rural areas in the US actually would rent out their dining room, food and all, to visitors for an evening. Can't get more slow food than that!

This leads to my conundrum: I sometimes eat Subway for lunch. I eat subway for lunch because it is low calorie, and cheap, and I am both health and money conscious. Did the bread that I am eating travel way too many miles to get to me? Probably. Did the vegetables on my sub probably come from another country? I'm sure. Did the turkey that I am ingesting probably come from a cage where it was abused? Of course. Does Subway need my help to stay afloat as much as the Jibaro restaurant next door (which serves exponentially better food)? Absolutely not.

The plan: no more chains. This shouldn't be that hard. Well ok, I had to almost physically restrain myself from pulling into chick-fil-a today. But really, it shouldn't be that hard.

We'll see.

Meanwhile: 2 Italian restaurants in Greensboro that are far better both in atmosphere and cuisine than the terrible and horrible Olive Garden.

Riva's

This restaurant actually scores the triple crown of being delicious AND wonderful AND also, they use local farms. All of their salad dressings are house made, and they serve cannoli (a rarity in the triad). My family and I went here a few months ago, and no one was disappointed with their meal, not even my little brother, who is easily disappointed. It is located in downtown greensboro.

In fact, I think I might be going there this weekend, come to think of it.

Biancas

Talk about bang for the buck - Bianca's definitely, definitely serves up enough food for what you've paid.

All for the whopping price of 8-15 bucks, depending on your entree, you get:

an appetizer.

salad

pasta (if your entree is not a pasta entree. I always get the eggplant rollatini)

dessert

Also, each time you go, they give you a coupon for a carafe of wine. So, it is quite possible to have a big meal for two for under thirty bucks, with wine!

There is always a lot of it, and it's always good. Be sure to make a reservation. We made that mistake once on a Saturday night and got a scary look from the manager, but we got seated, anyway.