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Olive Garden In Chicago: City To Get First Outpost Of Italian Chain Within Its Borders

Yes, Chicago Is About To Get Its First Olive Garden
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It used to be that if a Chicagoan had a hankering for a never-ending pasta bowl, "ample portions and [a] relaxed ambience," a trip out to the suburbs was required.

Before long, however, area carb loaders won't have to drive outside of the city limits to get their fix.

Italian chain Olive Garden is reportedly planning to open its first Chicago location located at 3535 W. Addison St., in the parking lot of a Kmart in the city's Avondale neighborhood, Chicago Real Estate Daily reported Wednesday. Work on the restaurant is set to begin this summer.

The Darden Concepts-owned chain -- which already has 10 suburban locations -- isn't the only eatery previously confined to the suburbs that are expanding in the city. Last December, reports emerged that Sonic is eying opening its first location in the city in Uptown. And Chick-fil-A's efforts to expand beyond its one existing Chicago location has received never-ending media coverage.

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Before You Go

Olive Garden Items You Won't Find In Italy
Hot Artichoke-Spinach Dip(01 of06)
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What Olive Garden Says: A blend of artichokes, spinach and cream cheese. Served with Tuscan bread.What We Say: Artichoke spinach dip is awesome, but it definitely isn't an Italian creation. We get why Olive Garden wants it on the menu -- who doesn't like hot, creamy dips -- but this is more of a chain restaurant staple than something you'll find across the pond. (credit:Olive Garden)
Chicken & Gnocchi Soup(02 of06)
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What Olive Garden Says: A creamy soup made with roasted chicken, traditional Italian dumplings and spinach.What We Say: You can definitely find gnocchi in Italy, but it is usually a standalone dish with sauce and definitely isn't something served in soup. Gnocchi is pretty rich on its own, so it hardly needs creamy broth and chicken to accompany it. (credit:Olive Garden)
Tour of Italy(03 of06)
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What Olive Garden Says: Homemade lasagna, lightly breaded chicken parmigiana and creamy fettuccine alfredo.What We Say: You'll get blank stares if you say the word "fettucine alfredo" to Italian, despite the dish's popularity, stateside. Likewise, chicken parmigiana is everywhere in the U.S. but not nearly as ubiquitous abroad.Flickr: Casey Florig (credit:Flickr: Casey Florig)
Moscato Peach Chicken(04 of06)
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What Olive Garden Says: Grilled chicken breasts with a moscato wine and peach glaze served with spinach, tomatoes and curly mafalda pasta in a creamy parmesan sauce with a touch of pancetta bacon.What We Say: Moscato is an Italian sweet wine, so Olive Garden sort of gets some points there, but there's just way too much going on here to think that this is actually based on an Italian dish. (credit:Olive Garden)
Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara(05 of06)
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What Olive Garden Says: Chicken and shrimp with bucatini pasta in a parmesan cream sauce with pancetta bacon and roasted red peppers, baked and topped with seasoned breadcrumbs.What We Say: Carbonara is typically made with pancetta, egg, cheese and black pepper. While U.S. restaurants will sometimes use a cream sauce in place of raw egg for food safety reasons, we're not sure where the red peppers come from. Italians probably wouldn't put additional proteins in a carbonara. (credit:Olive Garden)
Grilled Pork Veneto(06 of06)
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What Olive Garden Says: Tender boneless pork ribs topped with a sweet red wine glaze, served with tomato and mozzarella ravioli topped with roasted garlic tomato sauce and alfredo.What We Say: We're not sure why the northeast region of Veneto has been tacked onto this dish title. Grilled pork is hardly a standout of that region, nor is all the other dish accoutrements. But hey, sure, let's just throw a random Italian region on a dish name. Why not? (credit:Yelp: Michael C.)
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