It’s no secret: Olive Garden is just another Italian-American chain restaurant that doesn’t provide truly authentic tastes of Italy. And yet, many people love it, and customers consistently rave about its big portions and endless breadsticks. However, for those who aren’t too fond of pseudo-Italian dishes like seafood Alfredo and spaghetti and meatballs — or for those who don’t want to commit gastronomic crimes against Italy — consider ordering one of the chain’s non-Italian dishes: the 6-ounce sirloin steak. While you might not think “steak” when you hear the name Olive Garden, this is actually a hidden gem and one of the most beloved menu items among diners.
According to Olive Garden’s online menu, the 6-ounce sirloin is topped with a garlic herb butter and served with a side of fettuccine Alfredo. As with all entrees, this one comes with a soup and a salad. We taste-tested the small-but-mighty 6-ounce sirloin ourselves in our non-pasta Olive Garden taste test, and we rated it second, just behind the stuffed chicken Marsala. The garlic herb butter really made it stand out, and the chef cooked it to “medium rare perfection.” The only thing we didn’t love about the dish was the heavy Alfredo pasta that comes with it, but the steak itself? We were impressed.
Read more: 13 Facts You Should Know About Olive Garden
What Olive Garden customers have to say about the steak
olive garden 6 ounce sirloin dish – Samantha Maxwell/Tasting Table
Most people don’t visit Olive Garden for its steak, but honestly, we’d return just to order it a second time — and fans of the chain’s sirloin seem to agree. One Redditor said that they didn’t expect much from a chain restaurant’s steak but that they were “amazed” by the quality, especially considering the price, and they ended up ordering it three times in one month. Another wrote that they’ve “never had a bad steak from Olive Garden” and that it’s “always so juicy and flavorful.”
Since Olive Garden is a chain, it’s fair to say that staff talent varies depending on your location, so keep this in mind if you decide to order the 6-ounce sirloin. While ours was pretty perfectly cooked, you might visit on a bad day, or you might visit a bad location, where the steak chef has no proper training. However, based on most customer reviews online, it seems like many Olive Garden locations know what they’re doing when it comes to their steak. One reviewer on Facebook wrote that his steak was “seared hot for that golden crust, juicy and tender inside, finished with garlic-herb butter that melts right over the top.” Honestly, if that’s not enough to convince you to try this Olive Garden hidden gem, we don’t know what will.
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Read the original article on Tasting Table.
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