Marilyn Hagerty's Olive Garden Review
Overview
Marilyn Hagerty's Olive Garden Review is an earnest restaurant review written by North Dakotan newspaper columnist Marilyn Hagerty which became the subject of celebration and mockery after being posted online in March of 2012.
Background
On March 7th, 2012, the Grand Forks Herald[1] of North Dakota published a review by the 85-year-old food critic Marilyn Hagerty titled "Long-awaited Olive Garden receives warm welcome."[1] In the review, Hagerty earnestly remarked that the chicken Alfredo was "warm and comforting on a cold day", "the server was ready with Parmesan cheese", and that the Olive Garden was the "largest and most beautiful restaurant now operating in Grand Forks."
The same day, the Denver, Colorado blog The Denver Omelette[7] published a post titled "North Dakota….where Olive Garden is king" which mocked the Grand Forks Herald review and referred to Hagerty as "the cutest food blogger ever." Shorty after, Daniel Malloy tweeted a link to the review which received 3 retweets.
Can't-miss restaurant review about the new Olive Garden in Grand Forks, N.D. bit.ly/xIrkGd (h/t @David_Ely)
— Daniel Malloy (@ajconwashington) March 8, 2012
Notable Developments
The day after the review was published, it was callled "unwittingly hilarious" by the men's lifestyle blog Guyism[11] before making its way on to a number of websites including the food blog Eater[9], the tech culture blog Boing Boing[8], the Internet humor site UpRoxx[10], the Internet tabloid Gawker[2] and the content-aggregator blog The Huffington Post.[6] A Reddit[12] post by user Andewz111 titled "Big happenings in Grand Forks, ND where an Olive Garden has finally opened; check out a local paper's review of the restaurant" linked directly to the review and accumulated over 2,500 up votes in less than a week.
Hagerty's Reaction
On March 8th, Hagerty was interviewed by the Village Voice[3] and addressed some of the negative attention she had received from the review:
"I may sound a little on the defensive to you today because of the emails I've received. One was kind of snotty. But the other four or five were kind of friendly. But my daughter tells me I should go on Facebook and read all this crap. And I do not have time to let myself be bothered or read all that stuff. I have a Sunday column I'm doing now about a completely different subject. I don't have time to sit here and twit over whether some self-styled food expert likes, or does not like, my column. The publisher likes it."
Anthony Bourdain, the host of the American travel and food show No Reservations, tweeted a link to the interview in a show of his support for Hagerty against the "snarkologists":
Very much enjoying watching Internet sensation Marilyn Hagerty triumph over the snarkologists (myself included) blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/…
— Anthony Bourdain (@NoReservations) March 8, 2012
On March 9th, the Grand Forks Herald[4] revealed that the review had accumulated nearly 300,000 views within 56 hours and posted a video including an interview with Hagerty herself.
New York City Visit
On March 13th, Hagerty visited New York City[13] for a publicity and dining tour. On her first day, she ate a "dirty-water dog" on camera during a press event with the New York Times. She remarked that the hot dog could've been "a little hotter" but that she liked the "combination of mustard and onions."
Her entire trip is currently being chronicled via a Twitter[15] account and a blog.[14]
Search Interest
External References
[1] Grand Forks Herald – THE EATBEAT Long-awaited Olive Garden receives warm welcome
[2] Gawker – Grand Forks Olive Garden Receives Positive Review
[3] Village Voice – Marilyn Hagerty, Grand Forks Olive Garden Reviewer, Speaks
[4] Grand Forks Herald – Marilyn Hagerty takes America by viral storm
[5] Gothamist – Grand Forks Food Critic Actually Hated Impressive Olive Garden
[6] The Huffington Post – Marilyn Hagerty's Olive Garden Review For 'Grand Forks Herald' Goes Viral
[7] Denver Omelette Blog – North Dakota….where Olive Garden is king
[8] BoingBoing – The Grand Forks Herald reviews the new Olive Garden in town
[9] Eater – Grand Forks Olive Garden Called Impressive by Critic
[10] UpRoxx – Elderly Viral Phenom Completely Flummoxed By Her Sudden Internet Fame
[11] Guyism – NEWSPAPER FOOD REVIEW OF NEW OLIVE GARDEN IS AMAZING
[12] Reddit – Big happenings in Grand Forks, ND where an Olive Garden has finally opened; check out a local paper's review of the restaurant
[13] New York Times – For a Professional Midwest Palate, a First Taste of a Dirty-Water Dog
[14] Area Voices – Marilyn Hagerty
[15] Twitter – lostincentralia
Top Comments
xHarry777
Mar 14, 2012 at 09:29PM EDT
Mr. Mediocre
Mar 15, 2012 at 01:20AM EDT