Being born and raised into an all Italian family, I'm pretty darn picky about my pastas and gravy (tomato sauce for the unknowing). My great grandmother's sauce was the first I remember, she never opened a can to make her sauces, always using tomatoes she canned herself in mason jars. She simmered her sauces until every seed melted away. My mother's sauce was a bit more thicker, using puree and paste as a base, later adding whole peeled tomatoes, garlic and fresh basil. Her sauce cooks down to a velvety pasta sauce that should be jarred and sold on super market shelves.\n\nSorry on to my review of Olive Garden. seriously? Really? No! I will admit it's good in a fit of really, REALLY needing a pasta fix, or if you want to eat breadstick and salad. But the sauces are overly rich, and I don't mean the tomato sauces. I mean the sauces they put over the pasta with chicken, beef or fish. And, let me be real Italian here, pasta is NEVER the main meal in an Italian supper, Pasta is normally the first course and NEVER served with meat, including MEATBALLS. Thats as American as fortune cookies. after pasta, comes the protein, that includes meatballs, then finally salad.\n\nOkay, I'm done being a snooty Italian who looks down upon Olive Garden, I got out all my frustrations on you, my readers. But seriously, if you want good Italian food, hit up a REALLY good neighborhood, family owned Italian restaurant. The service is better, it will be cheaper and it won't go to a big conglomerate who over charges on a plate of pasta, which is one of the cheapest food you can serve. Oh, two stars for a pretty good bowl of Pasta Fazoo (pasta and beans).