Nice to see Lawton is finally getting an Olive Garden! I noticed they seem to be moving into smaller markets. San Angelo, also about 90K city, is also getting one. Olive Garden and Starbucks, what could be next?

I just hope that Olive Garden doesn't hurt Bianco's. Bianco's is very, very good. It has been around for over 50 years owned by the same family. Olive Garden is blah; it's too Americanized to be called Italian.

I agree! Generally Olive is in the middle as far as good Italian. I've tasted much better and much worse. However, if I have to choose my very favorite Italian place its not OG.

Bianco's may be family owned, but I've never been very impressed by it. Bit on the bland side. However, I should note I lived in New York City for 5 years (went to art school there) and know how real quality Italian food is supposed to taste.

I would also agree Olive Garden isn't exactly real Italian food either. I'm just happy the city is finally getting one so I won't have to listen to anymore whining over the issue.

Honestly, I'm more excited about Buffalo Wild Wings building in Lawton. The new sports bar/restaurant should be open around April. It's not going to bother me at all if the new place hurts Mike's Sports Grille or Gertlestones. Both places have been coasting lazily for many years. It's high time they got some competition.

Other restaurants I'd like to see in Lawton: On the Border, Chipotle, TGI Fridays, Red Robin. I would not expect to see something like Red Hot & Blue open a store in Lawton. I wish there was one in Oklahoma City. Ate dinner at one in Colorado Springs and it was some of the best barbecue I've ever eaten.

Despite the fact OG is the McDonalds of Italian food its still a good add for the city IMO!

Bobby, I can see you and I aren't going to get along very well. :fighting4

My mom's family is Italian. I know what Italian tastes like. Bianco's is authentic Italian. Sicilian, really. And another family member of mine owns Mike's. While some of the building may be getting a little tired, perhaps [a very small number of] customers ought to quit treating the place like dirt. That's a large part of the problem. And if you knew what the family had been through the last few years, you wouldn't be complaining-- you would commend them for surviving.

By the way, Bobby, I don't have anything against you. I just think you have the wrong opinions. :)

I'll stand by my opinions.

Mike's Sports Grille has indeed been coasting along for several years, due to lack of competition. Lots of people are friends with Mike Underwood, but that changes nothing. Restaurants like Buffalo Wild Wings are just the beginning. Mike's is just going to have to improve in order to compete.

As to Bianco's, not only have I been served bland food there, I have even had problems with customer service. One time in particular, some friends of mine and I had dinner there. I ordered a lasagna meal and it took what seemed like forever to get it. By the time I got served everyone else was nearly done with their meals. On top of that, the waitress just seemed to regard me as pond scum when finally bringing out the dinner. I didn't throw any fits or cop any sort of attitude to warrant that sort thing either. At other restaurants they usually offer some sort of apology for making you wait. None here. I suspect that perhaps they felt they could do what they like being the only Italian restaurant in town.

Lots of people in Lawton drive considerable distances to eat at chain-concept Italian restaurants like Olive Garden, Johnny Carinos and others in Norman, OKC and Wichita Falls. Many even drive over to Marlow, OK to eat at Giuseppe's. If Bianco's was so great I don't think so many people in Lawton would be driving those distances.

Mike's Sports Grille has indeed been coasting along for several years, due to lack of competition. Lots of people are friends with Mike Underwood, but that changes nothing. Restaurants like Buffalo Wild Wings are just the beginning. Mike's is just going to have to improve in order to compete.I don't necessarily disagree with this statement. I am sure they will do what is necessary to compete.


As to Bianco's, not only have I been served bland food there, I have even had problems with customer service. One time in particular, some friends of mine and I had dinner there. I ordered a lasagna meal and it took what seemed like forever to get it. By the time I got served everyone else was nearly done with their meals. On top of that, the waitress just seemed to regard me as pond scum when finally bringing out the dinner. I didn't throw any fits or cop any sort of attitude to warrant that sort thing either. At other restaurants they usually offer some sort of apology for making you wait. None here. I suspect that perhaps they felt they could do what they like being the only Italian restaurant in town.Ahh, yes. Because we all know that Bianco's is the only restaurant that has ever had a bad waitress. And it's fine if you don't like it. No one is making you eat there. But don't lie about it and say it is bland. Well over 50 years of loyal customers would beg to differ. Very, very few have your opinion. In fact, you are only about the 3rd or 4th person I have "met" (such as it is over the Internet) that had your opinion.


Lots of people in Lawton drive considerable distances to eat at chain-concept Italian restaurants like Olive Garden, Johnny Carinos and others in Norman, OKC and Wichita Falls. Many even drive over to Marlow, OK to eat at Giuseppe's. If Bianco's was so great I don't think so many people in Lawton would be driving those distances.And lots of people drive to Lawton to eat at Bianco's. And Giuseppe's is also good. Have you tried his new concept on Wednesday nights? My parents tell me it is excellent.

Here are 2 photos I got from okmet--

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/4776/1129061814fy6.jpg

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/4955/1129061818ma5.jpg

Has Olive Garden opened yet in Lawton?

No, not yet.

A lot of demolition of old properties has taken place (such as tearing down the old Rainbow Tavern next to Wolf Creek). Some earth work is happening and some building construction is taking place. I think it will be at least several months before Olive Garden, the rest of the small shopping center and the hotel behind it open for business.

Gotta reply to myself since the "edit" button is flat out refusing to work on this forum thread right now.

Oh, and another word about Bianco's, its building resides in the zone slated for demolition to make way for the new shopping center downtown. I don't know if the owners of Bianco's have signed the papers to sell yet. Some other business owners haven't signed the papers yet either. Bianco's is also already dealing with competition from three other Lawton-based Italian restaurants. Luigi's is located along Sheridan Road. Giovanni's is in the same shopping center as Buffalo Wild Wings. Bella Mia is located on 11th street in the building that used to house El Zarapé years ago. All that competition is probably putting a dent in Bianco's bottom line. And so many Lawton residents are still driving out of town to eat at Olive Garden, Johnny Carino's or other chain Italian restaurants elsewhere.

Well, thanks for the update Bobby!

What's that next to Olive Garden in the picture?

Looks like a Big 5 Sports store to me?

Big 5 Sports and Leslie Pools will be the two larger tenants in the shopping center. There will be room for at least four other tenants as well. This is all, of course, in addition to Olive Garden and the new hotel being built behind the shopping center.

The last time I drove by the construction site it appeared they were finished with the frame work and proceeding on fascia work for what appears to be Leslie Pools' place in the shopping center. The company is still operating out of their old building. So I guess the plan is they'll move into their new spot while the rest of the construction continues around them. Pretty much everything else on the site is bulldozed earth, but I imagine the Olive Garden building will start going up soon.

Hello all,
I am new to the boards, and am not from Lawton, or even from Oklahoma.
I am a trainer for Olive Garden, and will be in Lawton for three weeks to open the new Olive Garden. I will be arriving January 6th, and the restaurant is slated to open January 14th.

Now my rant,
By no means do I consider myself a connoisseur of Italian cuisine, by I believe I am fairly educated on what good food is or is not. Italian food is regional, meaning that depending on what part of Italy you are in, determines what type of food you get. Some parts of Italy you can not even get lasagna, while minestrone is available almost everywhere.

Olive Garden represents a Tuscan Farmhouse, with some American influences. At first glance true Tuscan food appears simple: Not much in the way of spices other than pepper, few sauces or seasonings other than olive oil, and only a minimum of herbs. Olive Garden actually has a pretty healthy spice rack, although only minimal amounts of spices are added to most foods.


But the food is only one part of the Genuine Italian Dining Experience. It's very difficult to approach food without touching on drink -- they're two faces of a coin, so to speak, and one naturally leads to the other: Italian food without wine doesn't seem quite right, and then there's the coffees and liqueurs.

In Italy, every meal is served with wine, and for good reason; next time you are enjoying Italian cuisine try a nice glass of my favorite, Antinori's Super Tuscan. Or for truely authentic Italian wine a hearty Chianti, which can only be produced in the Tuscany regions. Unlike Cabernet Sauvignon, Chianti doesn't show well by itself. But when paired with food, Chianti shines.

Sorry to have gone on and on, and didn't mean to bore you, but as an Assistant Culinary Manager I like for people to be educated about the food they eat.


P.S. What is there to do in Lawton?
I would like some information on things to do around town as I will be there for three weeks.
On behalf of Olive Garden, Thanks for your support Lawton.

Hello all,
I am new to the boards, and am not from Lawton, or even from Oklahoma.
I am a trainer for Olive Garden, and will be in Lawton for three weeks to open the new Olive Garden. I will be arriving January 6th, and the restaurant is slated to open January 14th.

Now my rant,
By no means do I consider myself a connoisseur of Italian cuisine, by I believe I am fairly educated on what good food is or is not. Italian food is regional, meaning that depending on what part of Italy you are in, determines what type of food you get. Some parts of Italy you can not even get lasagna, while minestrone is available almost everywhere.

Olive Garden represents a Tuscan Farmhouse, with some American influences. At first glance true Tuscan food appears simple: Not much in the way of spices other than pepper, few sauces or seasonings other than olive oil, and only a minimum of herbs. Olive Garden actually has a pretty healthy spice rack, although only minimal amounts of spices are added to most foods.


But the food is only one part of the Genuine Italian Dining Experience. It's very difficult to approach food without touching on drink -- they're two faces of a coin, so to speak, and one naturally leads to the other: Italian food without wine doesn't seem quite right, and then there's the coffees and liqueurs.

In Italy, every meal is served with wine, and for good reason; next time you are enjoying Italian cuisine try a nice glass of my favorite, Antinori's Super Tuscan. Or for truely authentic Italian wine a hearty Chianti, which can only be produced in the Tuscany regions. Unlike Cabernet Sauvignon, Chianti doesn't show well by itself. But when paired with food, Chianti shines.

Sorry to have gone on and on, and didn't mean to bore you, but as an Assistant Culinary Manager I like for people to be educated about the food they eat.


P.S. What is there to do in Lawton?
I would like some information on things to do around town as I will be there for three weeks.
On behalf of Olive Garden, Thanks for your support Lawton.

Hey, welcome to the boards.

I'll give you my .02 on your .02 :D

You say that it's a blend of Italian with an American flare of sorts? Good, THEN GET A DECENT BEER SELECTION. My biggest pet peeve in this state is the crappy beer selection in restaurants and wait staff that doesn't know what's carried beyond Bud Light. Old Chicago has a great selection, but I can't eat there every time I go out and want a good beer with my food.

I know I'm pissing in the wind here, but I have this problem at most places. I ask for a beer list, and I get a dull, blank stare. I've lived all over the country, and this is one of the few places like that.

As far as what's to do in Lawton? I hate to say it, but not a lot...Drive up to the city, it's only an hour away :D

Hi Rufus,

Here's the word from someone who actually lives in the Lawton-Fort Sill area.

Be prepared for the new Olive Garden location in Lawton to be very busy. Honestly, I don't think they built the restaurant with nearly enough capacity -although it does look a good bit different (and larger) than what is shown in that low resolution computer rendering.

It's kind of been a running joke for a long time that whenever anyone talked about economic development in Lawton someone would pop the question, "so when are we getting an Olive Garden?"

Sit down restaurants in Lawton also draw customers from Duncan and Altus as well as other neighboring communities.

As for things to do in Lawton, some of that depends on what you like to do for entertainment and how "conservative" your leanings may be. Lawton has plenty of bars, but few decent night life spots.

C.W. Scooters (on Lee Blvd. west of 82nd Street) is the most popular night club in town. It's mostly a country bar, but plays a lot of pop music too.

Gertlestones draws a fairly "preppie" crowd and it can be busy Wednesday night and sometimes on the weekends. It's on Cache Road across the street from Red Lobster (another Darden owned restaurant). Gertlestones re-opened recently under new management and had some interior work done. They're still waiting on their full liquor license (they can only serve beer currently), but they'll probably have everything going by the end of this month.

Mike's Sports Grille and Buffalo Wild Wings are competing with each other on the Sports Bar concept.

Lawton now has a 2nd Starbucks location fixing to open (on Sheridan Road). I still prefer Atlanta Bread Company. It's a full restaurant and their WiFi access is FREE.

If you like movies, go to the Carmike 8 on Old Cache Road. All 8 screens are Digital Cinema equipped and stadium seated. 3 of the screens are able to show Digital 3D movies. The two largest auditoriums are THX certified. I'm sure the managers there can work out some free passes for you if you have anything to trade (they love Olive Garden).

Try out Wayne's Drive Inn if you like a good burger. There's two locations. One at Sheridan & Gore. The others is on the west side of town along Old Cache Road in front of the Carmike theater and next to Outback Steakhouse.

Two decent sized casinos are located off Gore Blvd: Comanche Nation Casino (I-44 & Gore) and Fort Sill Apache Casino. The Ft. Sill Apache Casino is being remodeled and has a huge white temporary "tent" over the place while construction continues.

The Wichita Mountains and Medicine Park are good tourism spots. Medicine Park has a growing number of restaurants, taverns and other shops, like the biker-aimed "Chaps My Ass" store. There's a lot of hiking areas, wildlife, etc. The Meers Store is a popular tourist attraction -they also serve some really good burgers. Ann's Country Kitchen nearby makes great Indian Tacos.

Lawton has a few parks. Elmer Thomas Park is the best one. It has a 2.5 mile long concrete bike path, 2 mile long gravel/dirt jogging track (the east half is lighted), small lake stocked with fish (permit required), lots of ducks and geese and a pretty decent sized prairie dog population. The prairie dogs are popular. There was a big stink recently when the city poisoned a bunch of them to get the population under control. The mayor wanted to eradicate them all, but many citizens let him know he would eradicate his job if that happened. The Museum of the Great Plains and McMahon Auditorium border the south edge of the park.

Cameron University usually has various things happening on campus that are open to the public. I don't know what is on their calendar, but it's probably not difficult to find out.

Lawton is an hour's drive north of Wichita Falls -which has a number of other things to do. Oklahoma City is not very far away either -a little over an hour's drive when you're doing the 75mph speed limit on the turnpike. Lawton is 3 hours driving distance from Dallas-Fort Worth.

Sorry, should have mentioned, I'll be flying, so no car. Will be able to get around town as we will have trainers from OKC and Tulsa that will be driving down I could catch a ride with. Is there public transportation; city bus, DECENT taxi service, tram? Also, time will only permit some activities, I will be at the restaurant about 16 hours a day, 5 days a week. If I'm not mistaken, Olive Garden is located on Old Cache Road, how far away from everything is that?

Hey, welcome to the boards.

I'll give you my .02 on your .02 :D

You say that it's a blend of Italian with an American flare of sorts? Good, THEN GET A DECENT BEER SELECTION. My biggest pet peeve in this state is the crappy beer selection in restaurants and wait staff that doesn't know what's carried beyond Bud Light. Old Chicago has a great selection, but I can't eat there every time I go out and want a good beer with my food.

I know I'm pissing in the wind here, but I have this problem at most places. I ask for a beer list, and I get a dull, blank stare. I've lived all over the country, and this is one of the few places like that.

As far as what's to do in Lawton? I hate to say it, but not a lot...Drive up to the city, it's only an hour away :D

About the beer, Darden restaurants (Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Smokey Bones, Bahama Breeze, and Season's 52), have a contract with Anheuser-Busch. All restaurants must have Bud and Bud Light on tap, and by the bottle. We do have a decent selection of imports and specialties. Peroni, Heineken, Samuel Adams, Killian's Red, Corona, Corona Light, Stella Artois, and Guinness. Any of these appeal to you?

Honestly, if you want more selection, go to Buffalo Wild Wings, where you can choose from 24 beers on tap. We focus more on wine, so if you want great Italian food and great wine, then Olive Garden is the place for you.

Lawton has the "LATS" bus system, which has been in operation for a couple of years now. The Green and Blue routes run along Cache Road in front of the Olive Garden.
ridelats.com - RIDE LATS (http://www.ridelats.com)
http://www.ridelats.com/PDF_files/routes.pdf

Several different taxi companies serve the Lawton area as well. The town isn't large enough to support any kind of rail service.

The new Olive Garden location is in one of the more heavily traveled sections of Lawton. It is across Cache Road from Home Depot & Lowes. A Baymont Inn hotel is next to Home Depot. The old Cache Road Square shopping center is at the corner of 38th and Cache Rd. There is a K-Mart store nearby. A few restaurants are within walking distance (Denny's, Furrs, Branding Iron BBQ, Taco Mayo, Taco Bueno, Braums, KFC, Gandolfo's Deli). A couple popular dive bars are close too (Jimmy's, Wandas).

You'll probably need to travel by vehicle to get to other areas in town, such as the better chain restaurants and movie theater farther west on Old Cache Rd or to go downtown to the mall or farther east to the Casinos. Hopefully you'll be able to do something out in Medicine Park and the mountains -if it isn't too cold. We had a heck of an ice storm last January.

Agreed about the beer situation. I don't go to Olive Garden for a wide beer selection (I don't visit Red Lobster for that either). Buffalo Wild Wings does have a great beer selection. Gertlestones pub is also pretty good.

sorry all, I had to giggle...

As a former DFW resident, you won't find any good brew pubs or crawl areas, like lower Greenville. Very few places have live music, but there was a "hole-in-the-wall" place over on Lee that served up blues with a volleyball court and outside fireplace. I was there a couple of years ago. Groovy place, within walking distance of the Motel 8/6, or something.

Taxis must be called, but at least they can be had, in Lawton. Altus has some down and dirty clubs and last I heard, they were trying a bus service for the party crowd. Tom's Tavern serves a "perfect margarita" with live bands and the hotel is a few blocks down the hwy.

There's a few museums, but not alot to do in SW OK. Mall, dinner, movie or bowling, otherwise, it's bars, casinos and drinking. If you have transport, you can play golf, hike and camp. We go to OKC or DFW for baseball, sports, concerts, zoo, museums and general leisure.

As a former DFW resident, you won't find any good brew pubs or crawl areas, like lower Greenville.

I don't think anyone should honestly be expecting any bar or night club in Lawton to match the variety of beers one can get in a bar in a much larger city serving a much larger, more varied customer base. That goes for brewing their own in-house beers as well. Bars like Gertlestones and restaurants like Buffalo Wild Wings are already hanging themselves out on a costly limb with as many draw beers and bottled beers they already serve. Anyone would go broke trying to do in Lawton what Tapwerks does in Oklahoma City. You would have lots of different, expensive import kegs of beer going bad from not enough people drinking them up fast enough.

The same kind of thing goes for hiring decent music talent on a regular basis. That runs into some serious money. A much bigger city is going to have a far easier time filling a bar with customers to hear a good music act. Lawton is a much smaller market. Bars there can't afford to be quite so ambitious.


there was a "hole-in-the-wall" place over on Lee that served up blues with a volleyball court and outside fireplace. I was there a couple of years ago. Groovy place, within walking distance of the Motel 8/6, or something.

That bar/night club is called Duvalls. I haven't been there in some time either. The place can get a bit rough. Lots of bikers and people just barely old enough to drink.

The new Lawton location of the Olive Garden opened for business on Monday. This week, the restaurant is opening daily at 4:00pm. The restaurant will start its lunch rotation next week.

As expected, the restaurant is being slammed with a huge amount of customer traffic. Although the finished site is bigger than what was shown in the early project drawings, I still think it was built too small. The place is going to be packed until other competing chain restaurants open for business.

I've now eaten there twice and I've had great food and great service. Ladies, if you want a real good waiter and hot, hot, Italian, ask for Mahki. He was a wonderful server and my elderly mother got all hot and bothered by him. Excellent food, service, just a bit of a wait for seating. Go early.

i can't believe Lawton is so far behind in the times as in retail business. i left Lawton in '89 and only been back a few times since then. my last visit was last year in May, i can't believe how slowly the city is growing. i've always had my suspicion that people on the chamber of commerce wouldn't let businesses build w/o a little cash under the table. since moving to Dallas/Ft.Worth and going to all the businesses saying to myself this would be great in Lawton. don't get me wrong I love Lawton and i plan to move back (medicine park area) when i retire and would love to see all new businesses there. if i had the money i'd build some franchise business there.

Lawton has actually grown a good bit since the end of the 1980s.

One of the difficulties is that the city is just under the 100,000 person threshold on population. That makes a tremendous difference for many national retail and service oriented businesses on choosing where to build new locations. The Olive Garden is one of those businesses that goes by that market size rule.

As the major expansion aboard Fort Sill continues Lawton will be pushed well over the 100,000 mark. By 2015, the combined population of Lawton and Fort Sill will be closer to 120,000. By that time, many more coveted national businesses will be in the area.

To be realistic, there are certain stores you see in Dallas that will never locate in a town as small as Lawton. I don't see Lawton ever getting a Sephora store or Ikea or some other chain that demands a 500,000 person or larger market.

Good to hear the restaurant is doing well, hope it continues to do so.