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A Chicago restaurant entirely changed its decor and menu to 'dress up' as an Olive Garden. Here's what it was really like to eat there.
- For Halloween, old-school Chicago eatery Saint Lou's Assembly paid homage to Olive Garden by decorating its interior and serving up a special menu inspired by the chain.
- Saint Lou's Assembly, which was temporarily going by Saint Olive's Garden, served Italian-American dishes like spaghetti and meatballs and fried ravioli.
- Most of the dishes I tried were delicious and they felt entirely unique even though they were inspired by ones served at Olive Garden.
- I thought the only slight disappointment was Saint Olive's Garden's endless breadsticks, which didn't even come close to the buttery, delicious ones at Olive Garden.
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To celebrate Halloween weekend, a local Chicago eatery turned itself into Saint Olive's Garden in an attempt to "dress up" as Olive Garden, one of the biggest Italian-American chains.
The restaurant behind the transformation is Saint Lou's Assembly, which is located in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood. It's a popular local spot that typically serves elevated old-school American cuisine as well as a range of Midwestern-inspired, meat-focused dishes.
A Chicago local myself, I put Saint Olive's Garden to the test to see how it would pay homage to the big-name restaurant chain.
The exterior of Saint Lou's Assembly hadn't changed at all, and you wouldn't know about the makeover unless you peeked inside.
I live in the area so I've frequented the restaurant and its outdoor patio a few times, but I didn't know what to expect from the makeover — the place usually doesn't have the Tuscan feel of an Olive Garden.
Saint Lou's Assembly is usually pretty nondescript and modern; It has a huge beer garden that's complete with bleacher seating, a bocce court, and a fire pit. The place also has a brightly lit indoor space that opens up into the back with adjustable garage doors when the weather is nice.
Considering it was snowing, I was surprised that the restaurant was fairly busy.
I made a reservation in advance and I'm glad I did since the place was pretty busy and a lot of other tables had been reserved, too.
The interior had been changed up for Halloween, but some of the usual menu was still on display.
The restaurant usually reminded me of an old-school diner, but today it was dimly lit and dressed up to the nines as Saint Olive's Garden.
An old Olive Garden slogan was even spelled out on a sign.
One of the first things I noticed was a sign with Olive Garden's previous slogan, "When you're here, you're family."
I also spotted clusters of wax grapes, faux ivy plants, projected images of the Italian countryside, and decorative plates on the walls.
The restaurant even went out of its way to set the mood by playing a soft, classic playlist complete with Frank Sinatra songs.
I was happy to see that the bar was covered with hanging ivy plants, which felt very Olive Garden-esque.
Saint Lou's general manager Dylan Stewart told Insider that his team used 400 feet of faux ivy plants to decorate the bar and the rest of the restaurant.
I also learned that for this event, the servers were all going by the Italian name "Alfredo" and they had dressed up in white button-downs, clip-on ties, and floor-length aprons.
The back area didn't resemble Olive Garden much, but it had great lighting and wasn't as packed as the rest of the restaurant.
I was seated in the back area that looks out onto the expansive, snow-covered patio.
Although the whitewashed picnic-style tables, the garage-door windows, and modern light fixtures in this section weren't in-line with the more rustic and classic Olive Garden aesthetic, it was not as crowded and it had great lighting.
The menu was inspired by Olive Garden, but it featured many dishes you wouldn't find at the chain.
Instead of the restaurant's usual menu of BBQ meats and sides, small plates, and craft cocktails, I was given one that had a rustic feel.
It included four appetizers, three soup and salad options, five entrees, and two desserts.
There was also a separate wine and beer list for the occasion and a long list of themed cocktails, like the Frozen Peach "Be-Lou-ni" and The Auntie Pasta Bloody (Mary).
Overall, the prices on this menu seemed comparable to the ones at Olive Garden.
As soon as I got my first dish, I realized that Saint Olive's Garden had definitely taken creative liberties with the Olive Garden classics.
From the very start, I felt like the dishes here tasted nothing like the ones I've had at Olive Garden, but in a pleasant way.
I started with the giant fried raviolo in marinara sauce and it was nothing like the toasted ravioli that you'd get at Olive Garden.
For starters, it was huge and covered with cheese and marinara sauce whereas Olive Garden's version of the dish consists of multiple, smaller ravioli and is served with sauce on the side.
The dish was delicious overall and I also noticed that there was egg yolk in the middle of this raviolo, something I'd never had before.
The mozzarella-stuffed arancini also felt pretty unique.
I then tried the mozzarella-stuffed arancini (a type of rice ball), which was inspired by Olive Garden's since-discontinued risotto bites.
This dish definitely tasted like something you'd get at a more upscale Italian restaurant as opposed to a fast-casual chain like Olive Garden. It was even served with Diavolo sauce (a spicy sauce that's often paired with seafood) and fried baby artichokes.
Of course, I also had some of the restaurant's free breadsticks.
Even a trip to a restaurant "dressed up" as Olive Garden wouldn't be complete without endless breadsticks.
Personally, I thought the breadsticks at Saint Olive's Garden were the most unmemorable part of my meal. Although warm and salted, they weren't too flavorful and they weren't really anything to write home about compared to the other dishes I'd tried thus far.
However, I'm not ever one to say no to free breadsticks — and I appreciated that the restaurant offered them in the first place.
For my first entree, I ordered the house salad.
Like Olive Garden's famous salad, this one had Pepperoncini, red onions, tomatoes, croutons, and Italian dressing. Unlike the chain's dish, this one didn't have any olives and it wasn't endless, either.
Out of all of the things I ended up trying, the house salad was the only one that seemed to somewhat closely resemble Olive Garden's version.
Stewart told Insider the most frequently ordered dishes of the day were spaghetti and meatballs and the house salad, so I ordered the pasta dish next.
I had my spaghetti and meatballs topped with grated parmesan.
Shortly after I got my plate, a server arrived with a three-foot pepper mill and shaved parmesan. Just like at Olive Garden, they asked me to "say when" as they added these garnishes on top of my pasta.
The spaghetti and meatballs, which were supposedly made using a recipe from the owner's grandmother, appeared to feature some sort of distinct spice (maybe cinnamon or nutmeg?) that set it apart from other versions of this dish I'd tried.
As I ate, I spoke to some other patrons in the restaurant who also seemed pretty satisfied with Saint Olive's Garden, especially in terms of the food. They especially loved the idea of the free breadsticks and the old-school parmesan-cheese and cracked-pepper table service — I did, too.
For my final entree, I got Taylor Tolbertolli's white lasagna.
The lasagna was unlike anything I'd ever seen on Olive Garden's menu.
For starters, this dish replaced the marinara sauce with white sauce and was vegetarian, complete with fresh ricotta and Tuscan kale with a sprinkling of breadcrumbs on top.
As someone who will always choose red sauce over white, I was surprised how much I liked this dish. I thought it was delicious and flavorful even though it had no meat.
I finished my meal in true Italian-American style with a tiramisu.
This fresh-tasting tiramisu was one of the best desserts I've had in a while. The texture was definitely melt-in-your-mouth and I dug in even though my stomach was hurting from all the food at that point.
Saint Lou's Assembly invoked parts of Olive Garden with its menu and decor, but most of the food felt pretty unique.
Saint Lou's Assembly doesn't normally serve Italian-American dishes, but I could hardly tell.
Most of the meals I tried felt unique and tasted just as good as, if not better than, the dishes I've tried at Olive Garden.
The big exception is the breadsticks — the fast-casual chain's endless ones definitely reign supreme.
Overall, it was fun to see the restaurant try something different and, fortunately, Stewart said he and his team are already planning a transformation for Halloween 2020.
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