After her whirlwind culinary tour of NYC, North Dakota restaurant critic and Internet viral sensation Marilyn Hagerty has finally filed her review of one of the city's best restaurants, Le Bernardin. And guess what—it seems better than the new Olive Garden in Grand Forks! more ›

Olive Garden, home of unlimited breadsticks, and Red Lobster, purveyors of fine cheddar biscuits, are shaping up at Michelle Obama's request. more ›

Celebrity "chef" and No Reservations host Anthony Bourdain stopped by The Colbert Report last night, where he discussed anger management ("I can't drive past a Chili's or an Olive Garden and not boil with rage"), exotic foods ("It's hard to beat, for sheer grotesqueness and bizarreness, a Cinnabon"), and the patriotism of fat Americans (Colbert maintains that because our portion size is so large, we must have the best food). Bless his cranky little heart. The video: more ›

Applebee's restaurants around the country have been forced to retrain their staff and enforce new beverage policies after a 15-month-old child was mistakenly served a margarita instead of apple juice. And now it looks like Olive Garden will have to do the same. A Florida mom (video below) says that her two-year-old son was mistakenly served "Tropical sangria," a mixture of juices and white wine, instead of orange juice while the two were dining at the restaurant in March. Now we just need TGI Friday's to pull the same stunt and we'll have a trend! Oh screw it, let's call it a trend anyway. more ›

Don't get us wrong, endless salad and breadsticks are great, but this tidbit from Post columnist Steve Cuozzo's feature on the recent rash of restaurant closings was pretty depressing: "Prudential Douglas Elliman's Faith Hope Consolo said landlords want chain "Fig & Olive types." "Every time I get a space that's fit for a restaurant, the landlord calls and says, 'I don't want a typical restaurant -- I want Pret a Manger," she said. "Or, 'Bring me another Olive Garden.'" Well, not only are you family at the OG, you can also apparently find classy chicks. more ›

Published earlier this month, Sara Barron’s book People are Unappealing, Even Me is what happens to a bildungsroman in the Craigslist age. It follows the author on a mad-as-hell/not-taking-it-anymore complaining spree through the dregs of thankless, low-wage jobs. Along the way, Barron makes several keen observations about the strange things people do, and also manages to canonize John Stamos as “the most flawless man who has ever lived,” which had to be done by somebody. We asked her primarily about a waitress-nightmare story told in one of the book’s chapters, which recently garnered the author some major Page 6 column space: Up until recently, Barron worked at a restaurant not-to-be named (she calls it, simply, “Hell”) where she had the opportunity to wait on a rock star who didn’t tip after an epic and fully comped, after-hours meal (for 19 people total) that dragged on until 5 a.m. No longer a waitress, Barron is the host of The Moth; her next gig is March 30 at The Bitter End. more ›

This week in New York life is like a box of chocolates – on steroids. (Mmmm, chocolate steroids.) The wicked masterminds behind the 10th annual International Chocolate Show decided that this year the usual three day, 40,000 square foot cocoa orgy just wasn’t going to cut it. So they’ve gotten a number of area restaurants to collectively boost the city’s blood sugar levels by declaring the next six days Chocolate Week. Some notable New York... more ›

Local One, the Broadway stagehands’ union, has never struck in its 121-year history. Since salaries for stagehands – who handle lighting, props, sets and, yes, even Tarzan's vine – currently top off at 100K, who could blame them? But The League of American Theatres and Producers, who control 22 of 39 Broadway houses, are now wringing their hands after the union’s unanimous vote on Sunday to strike. (Last week the Nederlanders, the producers who represent nine Broadway theatres, seemed to distance themselves from the League’s stance and drift toward the union’s side.) more ›

A 26-year-old Yale graduate and Greenpoint resident got a lot of attention in Times Square yesterday - and the NY Post's cover today - by walking around naked. The Post reports that Josh Drimmer was walking in his birthday suit for "several minutes" around 11AM along Seventh Avenue between West 47th and 48th Streets. Reporter Jennifer Fermino overheard one witness calling a friend on his cellphone and saying, "Yo, homeboy's got full-frontal nudity right here!" more ›

Times Square has always offered a nice dose of "weird," whether it be in the pre-Giuliani days or its now more Disney-fied incarnation. Now some more strange will be saturating the area, in the form a famous Odditorium. Yes, tourists will be able to see things like locks of Abe Lincoln's hair after having a nice meal at the Olive Garden. more ›

After last year's mess of an awards show and this year's joke of nominations (where is love for Lauren Graham, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences?), we were going to swear off this year's Emmys. But then we realized Conan O'Brien was hosting, so we must watch and liveblog. And there's the hope of a good Steve Carrell bit, not to mention awkward reaction shots of Candy and Tori Spelling during the Aaron Spelling tribute. more ›

Just two weeks ago we were telling our friend to have his birthday party at Dave & Buster's. "There is no Dave & Buster's in the city," he said. Since we had never thought to go to the place, we didn't know...we just assumed this city would have one. more ›

Eager to reassure everyone that things were moving along at Ground Zero, Governor Pataki's World Trade Center flunky chief of staff, said that the PATH Transit Hub designed by Santiago Calatrava would offer 200,000 square feet of space for retailers and bidding will start in a few months. All hell, does this mean there will be an Olive Garden down there, to compete with the Applebee's at the Battery Park Regal Cinemas? The NY Times says the retail corridor plans, which would include another 300,000 square feet along Church Street, might face "same criticism that felled the Freedom Center"; plus Cahill's remarks were to a group of business executives, including those from Wal-Mart (of course, the Port Authority chairman Anthony Coscia had to tell the Times, "It's premature, to be frank, but if you think we're planning a big Wal-Mart, the answer is no."). At any rate, if there's one thing Gothamist remembers after September 11, it's that if you don't shop, then the terrorists win! Perhaps the LMDC can build a mall to rival the one uptown...and call it "Freedom to Shop Center." more ›

Gothamist can recall a time before Smith Street's hip eateries - a time when Carroll Gardens was home to a myriad of "red gravy" dining establishments, with nary a stylish Thai restaurant in sight. Happily, some of the nabe's old world Italian mainstays remain, but changes are still afoot. more ›

Even though it's June, on fall television show we're excited about is Kitchen Confidential, the Darren Starr spin on Gothamist favorite Anthony Bourdain's seminal "life of a working chef" book of the same name. Zap2It has an interview with Bradley Cooper, who will star as the Bourdainish character and explains the premise:

"[My character] got addicted to cocaine and blew it all up my nose, lost everything. Now I'm a line cook at an Olive Garden-esque restaurant. This guy Pino, this Italian guy played by Frank Langella, just fired his chef last night. He's got 300 on the book for tomorrow. He has no chef, no food, nothing. So he hires me and takes a chance."

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How do you deal with crossing the street? more ›

Today we wrap up our discussion with Steve Hurst, the guy who makes you look back at the television screen during the local forecast on The Weather Channel and ask, "Is that... Moby?" If it weren't for him, we'd still be listening to the Windham Hill New Age library during our local forecasts. But instead, Steve has mixed it up and given us something a little more interesting to listen to while we evaluate our weather-conscious wardrobe for the day. Recently however, the music has been getting drowned out by the addition of an automated voice-over reading our forecast to us. Gothamist isn't a big fan of the voice, but we asked Steve about it as well as come other questions about the on-air personalities, security, and his favorite things about our wonderful city. more ›

It's always an issue. Where do you go to eat after the theater? You want a unique dining experience, and not to end up at the Olive Garden. Here are some recommendations: more ›

You can tell a lot about a year by seeing which posts were popular, and from Gothamist's standpoint, it's been a banner year for our readers who are perverts or nerds (we're hoping the loyal readers are both). Here are a few of our most popular posts: Thoughts on the Matrix Reloaded; 100 Best Songs; when we pretended to know all about friendster messages; Paris Hilton sex tapes and her SNL appearance; Nicole Richie's racial identity; What not to do when you blog; Jelly Kelly; Best Movie Sex Scenes; Michael Jackson's mugshot; Nudist camps for teenagers; Blackout Edition; Lever House Restaurant; Metrosexuals; Hating Lauren Weisberger (related, Weisberger on her boss Anna Wintour ), Jayson Blair, Blair Hornstine; Larry Wachowski's possible sex change; anything on teenaged stars, speficially Hilary Duff (related, her nutty fans); the New York City Blackout Edition; and our Events page, brought to life by editor Mindy and intern Willa. more ›

The NY Post gives date suggestions for where to take girls, whether they be trend surfer, a highbrow glamour-puss or a proud bohemian" - apparently proud bohemian also means "cheap date." (And it seems like the Post doesn't think the Olive Garden is a good date option. D'oh!) Some of the usual suspects are named: Sumile, The Sanctum at Tribeca Grand, the new cafes at the Met. But, if you want to show someone a Gothamist good time, our top picks are:
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The bitchiest NY theater critic in town, Michael Riedel at the Post, asks a panel of "four cranky New York drama critics" (no word if Riedel is one of them) what they are dreading this new theater season. Some priceless excerpts: more ›