Joliet Olive Garden: Patch Reader Reaction Tells The Story

JOLIET, IL — On Monday afternoon, Joliet Patch broke an exclusive story that was shared on Facebook by hundreds and hundreds of loyal readers: Olive Garden is coming to Joliet.

The new Olive Garden will be built on land along Route 30 near the Interstate 55 exit for The Boulevard, the development anchored by the new Costco and hundreds of acres of undeveloped real estate. City of Joliet officials said the Olive Garden is expected to open in 2022.

Part of The Boulevard is located in the village of Plainfield, but some of it is in Joliet. The land where Olive Garden will go is part of Joliet.

News of the Olive Garden building in Joliet will certainly go down in history as one of the biggest Joliet restaurant stories in recent memory. During the first seven hours of Monday's article being published, Joliet Patch's Olive Garden story got shared on Facebook at least 794 times, drawing at least 583 Patch reader comments and 999 Facebook reader reactions.

Given the tremendous buzz on social media, Joliet Patch has chosen to highlight 22 comments from people who posted their reaction to the Joliet Patch Facebook page.

Why 22 comments?

Because the year 2022 is when the Olive Garden will be open for business.

In no particular order, here they are:

1. "Is this some kind of cruel April Fools joke?" asked James.
2. "This news just made a lot of people happy. What will they want next, now that they can't say Olive Garden?...lol" wrote Vicky.
3. "They’re doing something right because every time I go by one it looks pretty crowded. If you didn’t like it, wouldn’t you just not go and not care that they’re bringing one to this area??" wrote Bill.
4. "So now Joliet has made it? Insult to Als, Syl’s, Merichkas, and all the former great restaurants that Joliet was built on," stated Brian.
5. "Don’t see what big deal is! Food not that good! Maybe just soup salad that's it!" Stacy replied.
6. "Looks like Red Lobster isn’t the only place for a fancy date night dinner anymore," John wrote.
7. "Welcome to the '90's Joliet!" proclaimed Kathleen.
8. "Been waiting 5 years to get unlimited bread sticks and salad in the Joliet area," replied Jason.
9. "Don’t play with my heart! My kid and I like to smash the salad and soup," answered Danielle.
10. "Olive Garden was voted best Italian food in Green Bay. So there you go!" noted Wayne.
11. "FINALLY JOLIET !! You got what you've been wishing for. We lose Barolo and gain Olive Garden? We really lost!" pointed out Laura.
12. "But what about a place that serves Italian food?" asked Joe.
13. "Sweet baby Jesus... Everlasting bread sticks... Is this heaven?" declared Darrell.
14. "Finally all of our dreams will come true," remarked another Brian.
15. "Thank God! Maybe now all the whiny Olive Garden posts can finally stop!! LMAO," stated another John.
16. "May I make a suggestion? Maybe some of us really love Olive Garden. Maybe some of us are overweight? Maybe some of us have too much salt intake? Maybe some of us just don't care." #loveolivegarden responded Leia.
17. "Romeoville will get jealous," replied Tony.
18. "When??? Where??? I'm so ready for it," answered Crystal.
19. "I was just a meme but now it's real!" noted Matthew.
20. "Where’s that guy on here that’s been hollering about an OG in Joliet for about a decade?. Today he won the Internet," Jason noted.
21. "The people have spoken. And they want Authentic Italian Food! Bring on The Olive Garden," replied Jim Nasium.
22. "Gonna be busy as hell," predicted Jacquelynn.