What's for Dinner? - Olive Garden

So, DH suggested a lunch date today....Olive Garden. Not the location that had the insect issue, so I figured safe enough. And they have a Gluten Free menu I wanted to try. I checked out the menu online ahead of time, so I could focus on that and not all the lovely pasta dishes I shouldn't be eating :( So sad and so tempting knowing what I could have been eating...sigh.

Anyways, I did enjoy their salad (waitress kindly brought the croutons on a side plate for DH without being asked!). No breadsticks for me, but DD polished off a few. Pasta dish from their special menu is called Penne Rigate Pomodoro. It's corn pasta with a very light (aka skimpy) tomatoe sauce.

First off, I've never tried corn pasta. And I didn't care for it...plus it's a bright yellow colour? The picture doesn't do it justice. I don't think it was cooked long enough because it was crunchier than al dente should be. For a pasta restaurant you'd think they should know how to cook pasta....even if it is GF. I'll stick to my rice pasta, thank you!

Secondly, I wish there was more options for sauce then just tomatoe. Maybe a nice bolognese or something? Oh well.

Third, very small portion I would have to say. I had two big plates of salad, almost a whole order of mussels and nearly all the pasta. For lunch, that's huge amount of food for me. Before the pasta came out I didn't think I would be eating any of it since I was already borderline full. Oh well.

Will I eat at Olive Garden again? Probably, although not high on my list.
Will I order the Penne Rigate Pomodoro? Probably not :)