It’s that time of year where the leaves seem to have caught fire. A cold breeze rustles through the trees as the golden sun fades at six o’ clock. A cannon is fired and the worn down wood floors of the house shake, signaling a touch down for Western Michigan University. The percussion and horns of the marching band begin the half time show. Tailgaters cheer, “Fight on, fight on for Western!” It’s the beginning of a season; a soup season.
As the weather cools off and the body yearns for warmth, there is a restaurant in Portage that has its soup wells full to the brim year round. To them, it is always soup season. Olive Garden has a soup that is right for everyone. Whether you’re a classic that loves a creamy broth filled with chicken, gnocchi, and spinach or a meat lover who enjoys the spiced Pasta Fagioli that offers red and white beans and tomatoes to accompany the ground beef you so desire. If you prefer a lighter broth filled with Italian sausage, russet potatoes and cavolo greens, dip your spoon into the Zuppa Toscana. For vegetarians and vegetable lovers alike, the Minestrone soup offers a variety of fresh cut vegetables, beans, and small shell noodles for you to delicately sip or heartily slurp.
Olive Garden’s soups are made fresh every morning and prepared by their knowledgeable production staff to ensure that every bowl is a guaranteed satisfaction. Each soup’s broth is placed into gallon bags after preparation and frozen to ensure quality flavor to last through the entire day. After all, serving over 1,000 guests a day requires gallons upon gallons of soup! As the soups are sipped and slurped from the soup wells, the frozen bags are pulled from the freezer and placed into pasta cookers where they are brought to perfect serving temperature. Through the day, the to-go specialists that manage a portion of the kitchen temp each soup to 175 degrees and stock the soup wells with the broth, pastas, and greens required for each individual recipe.
So what makes Olive Garden’s soup so delicious? Aside from their authentic, homemade flavor and feel, it’s the price that keeps guests coming back for more. In this season, it is the upmost importance to taste as many bowls of soup as possible. That’s just what Olive Garden offers; unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks for the reasonable price of $6.95 seven days a week. If you’re not sure which soup is your favorite, the combination allows for every recipe to be tried, endless breadsticks to be dipped or dunked, and every bowl tilted up in celebration of the season. Happy soup season!
Editor: Samantha Sandler