Regardless of whether you like Olive Garden, it cannot be disputed this chain tries to be accommodating. The waiters are not lifers, like you'll find at The Grill or at Morton's, and the cuisine is not world-class, as is the case at those aforementioned restaurants. But with reasonable price-points, make-your-own-pizzas (with up to four toppings, $11.75), and genuine earnestness of the part of servers, it's a fine choice for an affordable night out. Olive Garden moved into a freshly built home that sits right on Biscayne Boulevard, mere yards northwest of Office Depot, and the dining room still reeks of newness. The dishes are precisely what you'd expect (chicken, veal, beef, pork, pastas, and pizzas), but the quality is probably a bit better than your expectations. Moreover, the bar is stocked fairly respectably, there's a solid lunch menu and a bevy of choices for children, and the take-out service always runs smoothly. My most recent Olive Garden meal was made complete in exquisite fashion as a serving of sugar-and-chocolate-topped zeppolis, the restaurant's authentic-tasting Italian doughnuts, ensured I wouldn't touch another morsel of food the entire next day.

- Written by Max Brigance
February 1, 2011