Olive Garden Review and $100 Gift Card Giveaway

**This giveaway has ended!!**

I was asked earlier this year to be a part of Olive Garden's "Real Food Real People" campaign and jumped at the chance as I love me some Olive Garden. How can anyone resist their soup, salad and breadsticks?

So a couple of weeks ago, some of my girlfriends and I headed out for a Girls' Night Out, and Olive Garden was our dinner destination point for a fresh, delicious Italian-inspired meal.

Now, I don't get to Olive Garden as much as I'd like to these days. The one in my area is a good 20 minute drive, and I'm usually found wrangling three kids. I have to say, every single time I go, I am always so happy with their menu selection. Everything always sounds good, and when I finally do make a selection it always tastes great. I actually don't think I've ever had a meal there I didn't like!

My friends and I visited on a Saturday night, and we only had to wait about 20 minutes for a table with no reservation. Not too bad! Once we were seated, our super friendly waiter offered us a sampling of their house wine for the night (which I of course declined as I am currently with child!)  But what a way to start off a girl's night out :-) 

Then we literally spent 20 minutes picking out our dinners as there was soooo much to choose from that it was hard to narrow it down to just one dish. Our waiter was so polite and funny, and he did such a great job of taking care of us. Olive Garden always seems to have the best staff and service every time I visit. I also love the comfortable, friendly atmosphere, especially the rolling chairs if you sit at a non-booth table; it makes for an easy out if you need to visit the bathroom during your meal!

Most meals at Olive Garden come with unlimited breadsticks AND unlimited soup or salad, which is my absolute favorite thing about eating there. Oh, how I wish I could just buy a bottle of their salad dressing; that stuff is seriously so good. Their portion sizes are large, and each one of us ended up taking leftovers home; they even offer to give you the breadsticks to take home to boot, which in my opinion is so awesome, as so many restaurants just take the bread away and throw it out.

I think our husbands enjoyed us having a night out, too, as my friend's husband asked her to bring her leftovers home, and mine was begging for my leftovers when I walked in the door! Of course I gave them to him as a thank you for putting our kids to bed while I enjoyed a night with friends, a total win-win.

Also, Olive Garden is coming out with a NEW $12.95 DINNER SPECIAL that I cannot wait to go back and try. It is going to include:

3 Course Italian Dinner for $12.95

1^st course is soup or salad

2^nd course is one of 5 new entrees

3^rd course is one of 5 Dolcini desserts.

If you want to see all the delicious options available in Olive Garden's 3 Course Italian Dinner just visit Olivegarden.com/specials

Would you like to enjoy a night out at your local Olive Garden?

BlogHer and Olive Garden are giving away a $100 Olive Garden gift card to ONE of my lovely readers!

To be entered for a chance to win, just tell me 'who you would take to dinner at Olive Garden and why.'

**The Winner is #261...

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a)Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b)Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c)Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d)For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 1/23/12 - 3/18/12.

Also, visit the Olive Garden page on BlogHer.com to check out the other blogger reviews and more chances to win!

XOXO,