Horrid.

IF you want great spaghetti and meatballs, find you local Italian restaurant.
Probably will be cheaper and tastier!

Olive garden is ok.....There best deal is prob their endless salad(or soup) and bread tha is included in a meal, or a meal on its own at lunch!! Nothign special, at 1 time it was a lot better...but then again you ask 10 other people and they will say its great!! Every time I have gone there, it is packed, so can't be that bad. But like others have stated, a small Italian place would prob be better, but then again, taste of food is a personal choice

Have never had their spaghetti and meatballs--I tend to go more for stuff pastas. You hear a lot of people say they aren't 'authentic'--and really, the chain isn't even owned by an Italian--but the place is always packed, you have to always wait for a table, so someone's eating there. I've always been satisfied with what I've eaten.

On the other hand, don't you have a good Italian Deli or pasta factory in your area? They usually have their own home-made meatballs made from their family's old recipe. Rather than go through all the mess of making them, I just buy mine from some of those places. Check your yellow pages for where homemade pasta is manufactured in your area and see if they have a store.

I buy the ready made Italian meatballs from the freezer section huge bag to just warm up and or toss into your favorite dish

Not a big fan of Olive Garden. I think they are way over priced for what I consider to be "Cafeteria Italian" food. Try a local Italian joint, or for chains, Pasta House is a lot better, IMHO.

Now on to the meatballs. I'm assuming, you've tried different recipes. The one thing you may not have considered was the fat content of your meat. Don't go too lean or your meatballs won't have enough fat for flavor. Are you having a specific problem with your meatballs?

I love one of their chicken pastas, but can't think of the name right now. I haven't eaten there in a long time. My eating times are different than most people. I skip breakfast and eat lunch at 11 AM. I have my choice of seats and it's normally not to busy when I leave. I don't know about their spaghetti and meatballs, never ordered it.

Olive Garden is not cheap. Even with a $75 gift certificate, dinner for two cost us $20 more than that. I remember the food as okay, but my Italian mother in law cooked a whole lot better!

i have tried numerous recipes for meatballs. they just don't have the gooooood italian flavor i remember as a child. italians owned a hotel that my grandma worked at and we ate there a few times and the spaghetti and meatballs were excellent. i think she must have used fennel but i don't know how much to add....and the fennel may have just been in the sauce. we have a local italian restaurant here that i must try, however, they are much more expensive than olive garden. guess i'll try to buy a quart of their sauce and some of their meatballs if they sell them that way. thanks for all your comments.

Never had their spaghetti and meatballs but I like what I've had there, especially their salad. My European exchange students loved that place.

Fennel sounds good, lindalou. One of my old boyfriends mom's meatballs were really good. If I recall she used part beef, part salsissa (which probably had some fennel). May try to look for recipe with some salsissa. They sell salsissa in some stores around me without casings. I use it to make a meat sauce sometimes. Very good and I love the fennel too.

I always put fennel seeds in my pasta sauces. Ever since the first time I had a pizza at one of our local authentic Italian restaurants, I commented on the flavour. She said that fennel goes in their pizza sauce. Yummy!

Hate Olive Garden but DH and the kids like it so we go once or twice a year. You can't find a single dish with capers on their menu. Nor any in the kitchen so I have to bring my own capers when we eat there. Sad excuse for an Italian restaurant.

I agree with those who suggested a small local place. We have 3 of those close to us and they are all delicious. I've only eaten at OG for lunch and had the all-you-can-eat soup, salad and breadstick deal. Don't know if they still offer it, but it was only $5.95. But at a table next to us, someone had ordered lasagne and they brought out this small, sort of dry looking lasagne right in the middle of a big dinner plate. Not even a sprig of parsley. It sure looked mighty lonesome (and very non-appetizing). For some reason that always stuck in my mind.

I prefer the small local places.

I was given a gift certificate for my birthday and went last Saturday. We had water to drink and each ordered the "endless pasta bowl". There are 3-4 pastas to choose from and 3-4 sauces with one being a meat sauce. The endless salad and breadsticks come with it. the price is $9.99. You can add on endless meatballs or Italian sausage for $2.95. I had spaghetti with meatsauce for the first bowl and ate about half of it. They brought a smaller portion of fettuccine alfredo of which I ate about half. The waiter brought a to-go box for both items and even gave me some extra meatsauce to go on the spaghetti. Grand total was $21.75. Expensive....heck no. The best Italian I've ever had...no but better than a lot I have had. The promotion won't last much longer but I will try to go back before it ends.

It's NOT Italian. I only go when forced to by the company I keep. LOL

We go there about once a month. My favorite is their soup and salad...gnocci soup, to be exact. My DH likes their pasta dish with sausage and peppers. Our meals generally run $25. I can't imagine spending a $75 gift certificate...and then some! Must be an expensive city!!! I haven't found ANY PLACE where I like the meatballs including areas in in our town known as Little Italy. Cannot stand any frozen ones either. So if I want meatballs, I have to make my own. I use a meatloaf mixture...pork, veal, and beef. I brown them in a skillet and finish cooking them in an oven. I do not like adding them into the sauce...they get too soggy for me.

Their coffee is exceptional - I have consumed LOTS of coffee and know good coffee when I taste it!

I love their salad dressing, their shrimp alfredo and spicy soup. I like several of their entrees, as long as they include alfredo sauce and shrimp!!! The bread sticks dunked in alfredo sauce are wonderful, imho! Aw, heck - just bring me a never-ending cup of alfredo sauce and bread sticks and I'll be happy!

Not sure on how two people could spend $95--I guess if you ordered a separate salad, a big meal, dessert and alcohol. Entrees come with a all you can eat house salad (or soup) and bread sticks. Most meals are prob in the $9 to $18 range! They have a special on now--never ending pasta bowls for $9.95. Its not a cheap place, not is it pricey! We got a $75 gift cert to Ruth & Chris steak house---had never heard of it---$75 sire didnt cover that meal,lol nor was it anything special!

A group I go to lunch with once a month is going to OG next Thursday. I am not enthused but probably will go. The last time my DH and I went to our new OG we didn't like anything we got. The salad seemed bland and the bread sticks were lousy. We decided we would not be going back there. In the past I have always enjoyed the eggplant parmesan so if I go I will probably order that.

I really can't help out much on the meatballs since they are not my favorite Italian food. I would go along with the others that suggested a Italian restaurant in your area.

Have you checked allrecipes.com to see what they have. I generally look at how many stars something is given and then read the reviews. I have found some wonderful recipes on that site.

I just checked allrecipes.com and found this recipe with over 500 reviews. It sounds really good. Check it out you might have found your solution.

Here is a link that might be useful: meatballs

They were okay 10+ years ago or so but I went recently and I was really disappointed. The highlight for me used to be the breadsticks and salad but the bread was dry and stale tasting and the salad was all iceburg lettuce and no actual leaves of anything. The quality has decreased substantially over the years.

But, as people have mentioned, they are ALWAYS packed. I had to wait 30 minutes last time I went. I can't figure it out.

An older lady gave me her excellent meat ball recipe a LONG time ago. She made it for dunking, for at a buffet, but I made them in the past for spaghetti sauce.

Here it is:

Aileen's Meatballs with Dunky Sauce

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 c rice crispies
1/2 c evaporated milk
1/4 c finely chopped onion
1/4 c catsup or chili sauce (tomato sauce)
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t salt
1 t pepper

Mix all ingredients well. With wet hands shape into 36 small meatballs (about 1 t for each). Place in a 13X9X2 inch pan. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes.

Dunky Sauce

1 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 T brown sugar
2 T water
2 T pickle relish
1/2 c ketchup
few grains of pepper
2 T Worcestershire sauce

Mix and heat till steaming.

Ours is always packed, and I don't know why. I used to like their salads but they have added mostly iceberg lettuce recently. I hate their breadsticks. I think cardboard is tastier. Basically all their dishes have their heavy Alfredo sauce on. The very, and I mean very, few times I go, I have the salad dressing and sauce on the side. I only go when they have their 14.95 dinners with a dessert. I like their tiramisu.

I'm not an Olive Garden fan but a friend of mine loves it. It's her favorite restaurant so we went there for her birthday in April. I had the chicken parmigiana and I must say, I enjoyed it. It you're looking for a good meatball recipe, google Rocco's mama's meatball recipe. It's very good.

How is Olive Garden? Heavy, sodium laden, over-sauced, over-cheesed, and "gloopy-textured". Vaguely Italian-American, but not Italian.

We have a Carrabba's down the road from OG, and we LOVE that place. That is good Italian food.

Never been! Have a great mom and pop true Italian restaurant if I want Italian.

thanks, for the recipes. i will definitely look for Rocco's mama's meatball recipe. i just googled Carrabba's menu and since we have one of those within 15 minutes of our house, i think i will check them out. thanks, again, to all of you for your comments. really appreciate it!!

Overpriced, not a fan of their food either.

When I make meatballs, I will mix beef and buffalo. Each time it comes out different depends on what I put inside.

There is no Olive Garden in Hawaii but when I visited my DD in FL we went there. Everyone seemed to think it was okay but I had a hard time finding something that didn't have cheese on it. I am allergic to milk. I ordered salmon and I got chicken floating in some kind of cheese soup with macaroni I just ate what I could because I didn't want to wait for a replacement. The salad was good but I was very surprised to see the bread sticks had SALT on the top. Yuck. What's up with that? Not good for a salt restricted diet. I'm glad there isn't one in Hawaii.

We love Olive Garden and Carrabba's, too.

My favorite thing is the Zuppa Toscana, but I found a copy kat recipe, so now I make it at home.

Marilyn, is that the soup with potatoes and sausage? We both love that, would you please share the recipe? Thanks!

I don't think you will find great spaghetti and meatballs at Olive Garden... or anything else that is great!

I'm generally not a fan of the big franchises.

Marilyn, that's the soup my husband always gets when we eat there. I get the salad. I don't eat meat. I have never had their spaghetti.

If you like soup, nothing is better than Mama Sicilian chicken soup at Carrabbas. I generally don't like chains but this place is the one exception. Eat there at least twice a month. Love everything about it.