Olive Garden Has its Place (But it’s Not in the North End)

This may be the start of the great Italian war of 2015. Olive Garden is bringing it's food truck to the historic North End of Boston.

This weekend, according to Boston.com, Olive Garden will be giving Bostonians and tourists alike a taste of their new breadstick sandwiches as they bring their food truck into the North End. As you can imagine, it's not sitting very well with the true, authentic Italian restaurants in the city.

I for one, enjoy the occasional meal at Olive Garden. As a matter of fact, I was just there last week. However, being from the Boston-area and having the opportunity to have many meals in several North End establishments, this isn't going to end well for the Garden.

“There is nothing authentically Italian about Olive Garden,” George Mendoza, one of the owners of Monica’s in the North End, told Boston.com. “It’s an insult to everyone in the North End selling Italian food for more than 100 years.”

I'm with Mr. Medoza on this one. Monica's, Mother Anna's, Pat's Pushcart, Massaminios, Tresca's...I could go on and on. You just can't compare homemade true Italian food with the chain restaurant's menu.

Don't even get me started on dessert time at Mike's Pastry and Modern Pastry.

I've had friends that lived in the North End, it's a unique place steeped in Italian traditions and everyone watches out for one another.

(If you get the chance this August, join in the fun that is the St. Anthony's Feast. It's definitely something you need to experience whether you're Italian or not.