Reddit Asked People to Defend Why They Ate at the Times Square Olive Garden

The immense popularity of a Reddit post asking people to defend voluntarily eating at the Times Square Olive Garden needs little explanation. Posted in the Ask Reddit subreddit, the post has exploded with more than 12,000 comments logged.

The Times Square Olive Garden is seen by many as the epitome of a tourist mistake. It's a restaurant most tourists have back home. It's a chain serving pasta in a city that's got more than a couple quality options for Italian food. It's basically a big shiny, expensive, busy chain in an area that most New Yorkers try to avoid. 

It's such an oddity, New Yorkers feel a weird compulsion to understand why people go there. That's why this Reddit post is going viral and why one man's account of a date with a former Times Square Olive Garden manager went viral last year.

Here is a taste of the best responses on Reddit.

At first glance, it seemed like this would be the only reason. 

A hurricane is a legitimate, albeit unexpected, reason.

This is also unexpected.

It's true. It's an expensive toilet. 

Seems fair. 

One reason you might want to avoid it. 

And, of course, there's this. 

h/t Grub Street

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Dustin Nelson is a News Writer with Thrillist. He holds a Guinness World Record but has never met the fingernail lady. Follow him @dlukenelson.