The Olive Garden Appetizer We Ranked As Worst On The Menu

When you're craving a hearty Italian-American pasta or the infamous soup, salad, and breadsticks combo, Olive Garden is a classic choice. However, some menu items at the restaurant chain are far better than others, especially when it comes to appetizers. Luckily, Tasting Table ranked popular Olive Garden appetizers from worst to best to make the decision easier. And, if you ask us, there's one Olive Garden appetizer you probably shouldn't order: the calamari. It came in last out of eight appetizer options for a variety of reasons, including subpar texture and taste.

A good crunchy fried calamari should be pleasantly crispy on the outside with a tender inner seafood bite, while the taste should have a nice balance of salt, fried seafood, and seasonings. However, Olive Garden's take is more like "a helping of rubbery calamari rings" that lacked crunch. On top of that, the rings were largely composed of breading. And the fish itself seemed to be a bit overcooked. 

While fried calamari is usually a good restaurant starter, Olive Garden customers agree these tend to be tough. On a Facebook post by the restaurant promoting the appetizer, one person commented, "Love Olive Garden ... last time I had Calamari they were too chewy!" Someone else wrote about an experience they had with the appetizer dish being overcooked as well. And unfortunately, the flavor wasn't enough to redeem the textural experience. 

In addition to a rubbery texture, our review noted that Olive Garden's calamari also doesn't come with the right balance of flavor. The appetizer was too salty, and the breading lacked seasoning. While the fried calamari tasted better when dipped in marinara or spicy ranch sauce (which the chain introduced as a dipping sauce for the appetizer in 2017), the fish should still taste good on its own. 

We wish this were a one-off fluke from the restaurant chain, but consensus shows the flavor of the squid itself is generally lacking. In an Olive Garden menu review via Business Insider, the writer said that while eating the appetizer, she didn't really notice the fish, noting, "If I were blindfolded, I would be able to tell only that I was eating fried food." In her batch, the calamari did, however, have a crispier finish.  

Perhaps the appetizer would taste better, more complex, and more pleasantly fishy if Olive Garden included more squid tentacles (our plate didn't have any) and not just the rings. Maybe some better fried seafood seasonings or a lighter, more consistently crisp coating could help. Until then, you're probably better off ordering other appetizers off the menu. To fulfill your fried seafood craving, you could try Olive Garden's Shrimp Fritto Misto, which we ranked third (each bite was notably juicy, not chewy). Or for something a little bit different, try the top-ranking appetizer on our list, Toasted Ravioli.