American Orders Olive Garden-Style Chicken Parm in Italy, Waiter Balks
A TikTok video with more than 7 million views shows an American father asking a waiter in Italy for Olive Garden chicken parmesan from a photo. The waiter says it does not exist in Italy and calls it horrible. The dish was created by Italian immigrants in America.
An American father showed a waiter in Italy a Google image of Olive Garden chicken parmesan and asked to order it, in a TikTok video that has drawn more than 7 million views. The clip, posted by creator Gabby Donahue, shows the American orders Olive Garden-style chicken parm and meets a polite but visibly baffled response.
Donahue captioned the video: "My Boston Irish father trying to order a Google image of the Olive Garden chicken parm in Italy."
What the waiter said
The waiter studied the photo and looked puzzled. "Only in the States," he said. "It doesn't exist in Italy."
The father was surprised. "It doesn't exist in Italy?" he asked.
The waiter tried to make sense of the chicken breast covered in cheese and sauce. "I don't know what it is… on the pasta?" he said. Then, holding his chin, he gave his verdict: "No. That's horrible."
The father laughed and pushed back. "It tastes good," he said, and offered to mail the waiter some. The waiter replied, "Okay? Olive Garden chicken, I'm gonna search," and walked away from the table.
Commenters read the body language
Viewers focused on the waiter's expression. "'No, that looks good' while looking completely disgusted was the most Italian reaction ever," one commenter wrote. Another added: "Bro remembered halfway through his disgust that he's at work."
Where chicken parmesan comes from
Chicken parmesan is common in Italian-American restaurants, so the assumption is understandable. According to Paesana, the dish was created in America by the Italian diaspora, meaning the large-scale emigration of Italians to the United States.
In Italy before that emigration, proteins like chicken were not widely available. The earlier dish, melanzane alla Parmigiana, used breaded, fried slices of eggplant instead of chicken, according to Paesana.
Pasquale Sciarappa, an Italian-born food influencer living in America, cooks chicken parmigiana anyway. He wrote that people often tell him it is not Italian. "And you know what? They're right," he said. "But you know what else is true? It's Italian-American."
He said the dish was born in immigrant kitchens, where people who left Italy "recreated comfort from memory using what was available."
