UPDATE! You should go to Olive Garden or any of the Darden restaurants WITH YOUR FLAGS. Little ones, big ones, bring ’em. Be sure to have your videocams with you.
And if someone at the restaurant tells you you cannot bring the flag into the restaurant, tell them to call the police and have you removed. Videotape everything.
Then call the local media and plant yourself there with your flag. Defy them, politely.
What are the corporate brains thinking of? What will they do on Nov. 11, Veteran’s Day? Memorial Day? Independence Day?
If they had half a brain, they’d be handing you a flag as you walked in the door. Or offering you a 20% discount off your meal if YOU ARE carrying a flag.
I enjoy dining at Olive Garden — their soup and salad are my favorite, and their Italian dishes are always enjoyable. But…
I’m not so sure the food wouldn’t stick in my throat after reading this.
Woman upset over no-flag policy at restaurant
ANNISTON, AL (WBRC) -A restaurant chain’s policy has an Anniston woman upset. A little more than a month ago Marti Warren went to the Olive Garden in Oxford to see about holding a Kiwanis Club banquet there. The restaurant agreed, but it wasn’t until the night of the banquet Warren learned that she would not be allowed to bring the American flag inside the building.
Warren said, “This is not my country. This is not my country I grew up with.”
And at 80-years-old Warren knows a few things about this country. She lived through World War II, was on the front lines pushing for desegregation in Anniston, and was an educator for decades so when she was told she couldn’t display her American flag at a Kiwanis club meeting Warren was outraged. “I was so angry. I felt like I had been slapped in the face.”
That slap came from the Oxford Olive Garden. One hour before the Golden K Kiwanis club’s awards banquet the restaurant manager told Warren she couldn’t bring in their banner or even an American flag. “I said having known this earlier you can bet we never would have eaten here. And I said if we had time we would have gone to McDonald’s because we know they are American all the way through,” said Warren.
We contacted the Olive Garden’s parent company Darden restaurants. They gave us this statement: Read the rest.
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The parent company of Olive Garden is Darden, located in Orlando, Florida. Darden also owns Longhorn Steakhouse, Red Lobster, Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, and Seasons 52. The company’s Chairman and CEO is Clarence Otis, Jr..
I called the company this morning to say I am so disgusted by their shameful decision that I will not patronize any of their restaurants unless and until they reverse and publicly apologize for their action.
I urge you to do the same!
Call Darden at (407) 245-4000, ask for Guest Relations and leave a strong message for Clarence Otis, Jr.!
Please forward this to everyone on your contact list.
Sharon L. Cook, PH.D.
I called the guest relations office of Darden and expressed my shock at this and was told that it is not their policy to forbid the American flag in their restaurants, and that the manager who refused to allow the Kiwanis to display it has been chastised. I said that I hoped that was the case. They stated that they are an American company and have no wish to forbid the display of our flag.
They can SAY anything — and probably WILL — to appease the public, but the only way they will get my business from now on is if I SEE an American flag in their entry hall or dining area. If it is not there, I will leave. This political correctness trash has got to stop somewhere and it can stop here as well as anywhere. I have loved Red Lobster most of my adult life and I have loved Olive Garden in the past. However, our family just lost a nephew in Afghanistan recently and he left behind a wife and two little daughters as well as a number of other family members who loved him very deeply. I will NOT sully his memory by dining in a restaurant that forbids the symbol of the very country he died for.
Here is the link between OBAMA and DARDEN. The CEO of Darden is a huge Obama supporter (he is African-American but he did donate money to McCain as well). He was supporting both parties but switched a majority of his money to Obama when Obama surged int he polls and then won the election. Supposedly he almost took a job in Obama’s administration. The company just finished ‘catering’ to Michelle Obama’s nutrition policy and now you will eventually have to get parent’s ‘permission’ to order fried at their restaurants. The company constantly meets with people from D.C. about policies. I cannot confirm this, but Darden is now exempt from the Healthcare law. Obama just flew into Orlando on Tuesday, October 11 and used the Darden hangar to park Air Force 1. Obama then met with fundraisers and went to the local Ambulance Chaser Attorney (guy on the back of the YELLOW PAGES) owner’s house and to promised no MORE TORT reform in order to PROTECT the people. (He meant protect the wallets of the attorneys so they can sue without a Cap). Obama supports lawyers that do not want TORT REFORM for it would cap the limit on lawsuits. On a side note, this president barged off Air Force 1 into the crowd (without security) and shook hands with the crowd when he landed. It is noted that he never did this before and some internal people made a comment that “He must be in election mode for they have never seen him be this cordial and is known for not being cordial ‘only when he has too’ in front of the cameras’. I personally like Darden Restaurants although it now has a Cloudy HAZE of pure liberalism hanging all over it. This will affect their revenues into the millions. Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahamas Breeze, Capital Grille and others.