Editor's Soapbox

The year was 2016. Those living in Bozeman had never known life without a selection of large chain restaurants serving only the finest selection of Italian cuisine. With Johnny Carino’s offering an exquisite assortment of pizza and pasta and Olive Garden offering endless salad and the best breadsticks out there, sometimes deciding where to go out for a special dinner took longer than eating the meal itself. While the choice may have been frustrating to some, I saw it as a great blessing on the Italian food of Bozeman. Having two restaurants trying to serve better spaghetti and ravioli than the competition down the road allowed patrons of both establishments to experience a wonderful meal.

Fast forward to 2018. A giant “For Lease” sign covers the name of a once great Italian restaurant that now sits cold and dark on 19th Avenue of Bozeman. On June 9, 2018, Johnny Carino’s closed its doors permanently, leaving Olive Garden the sole provider of Bozeman’s nationally recognizable Italian food. The crowd at Olive Garden rejoiced over such news — who wouldn’t be happy to lose the only competition for the title of “best meatballs in town”? While Olive Garden fanatics were relishing in the sweet taste of victory (and five-cheese marinara sauce), many were unaware of the horror that would ensue as a result.

Today, only Olive Garden stands in its genre. To put it briefly, “fine Italian cuisine” has now simply become “adequate Italian cuisine.” Having dined there recently, I could not help but reminisce about the days where the endless breadsticks were actually endless and the house red wine had more complexity than Welch’s grape juice. While the kind people working there do an astounding job waiting on their customers, the food is simply subpar. So subpar that it could have forced Olive Garden to close its doors for good if it was served while Carino’s was in town. I believe this sad story should serve as a warning to all: always seek out the competition, and strive to serve the best meatballs in town.