By now you’ve no doubt heard about Marilyn Hagerty, the 85-year-old restaurant critic from Grand Forks, North Dakota, who became an overnight sensation after she reviewed the town’s newest restaurant, The Olive Garden. In fact, by now you’re probably sick and tired of hearing about her. On one day last week, nearly all of the news stories in my daily Google Alerts email about restaurants had to do with Hagerty and her review.

(If you haven’t heard anything about it, first let me say congratulations on waking up from your coma. If you need background, here’s a link to one of the dozens of stories.) 

Why did the review gain so much attention? One of the reasons is that it was a positive review. Yep, imagine that — a positive review for Olive Garden. Another possible reason is that her son, James R. Hagerty, writes for the Wall Street Journal. Or that’s what Darden Restaurants CEO Clarence Otis thinks may be the reason. When I asked Otis last weekend what he thought of all the hubbub, he said that everyone at Darden is a little surprised by it, in a bemused sort of way. It’s not like chain restaurants don’t get reviewed. Even Darden’s brands. Otis noted that every new Seasons 52 gets written up by the local critics. Same thing with Capital Grille, though both of those are premium brands. But chains nonetheless.

I’ve written about all of them. I even reviewed the Olive Garden for the Orlando Sentinel when it opened its first revamped OG with the Tuscan farmhouse decor, the style that Hagerty said such nice things about in her review. But did I get a trip to New York City to dine in Manhattan’s poshest restaurants and appear on the morning talk shows? No, I did not.

All of what happened to Marilyn Hagerty in the past couple of weeks was done with not a small amount of snarkiness. You could just hear the snickers as bloggers, columnists and reporters told of how she reviewed the restaurant as if it were worthy of a serious critique.

And, of course, it is.

Here’s the inconvenient fact that people who consider themselves foodies refuse to face: chain restaurants exist, and lots and lots of people eat in them, including people who consider themselves serious foodies. And no, the chain restaurants don’t exist only in places like Grand Forks or Paducah or Orlando. You will find chain restaurants in all the great cities of the world, and not just in the tourist districts. London is loaded with chains, though they may be names you wouldn’t recognize. (Do you feel better about dining in a chain restaurant if you don’t know it’s a chain?) 

When I visited New York a couple of weeks ago, where I once again did not appear on “Good Morning America,” I saw an increasing number of Chipotle’s springing up all over Manhattan. There are numerous TGI Friday’s in New York City, and several Olive Gardens, including one in Times Square — the chain’s largest and highest-volume restaurant — where Hagerty was feted last week. Recently, a Steak n Shake opened in the space next to the Ed Sullivan Theater, where David Letterman tapes his show.

And here’s something else you should know: those restaurants are filled with plenty of New Yorkers. Oh, they’ll tell you they’re not really dining out — they just had to get a bite to eat and the restaurant was convenient. 

Oh, please. Stop making excuses. Not every meal has to be taken at a Daniel Boulud restaurant. 

It would be nice to have the luxury to confine oneself to reviewing only full-service, independently owned and operated restaurants, upscale ones, preferable. But that’s not how we eat. We eat sandwiches and barbecue. We pull over to food trucks parked in gas station lots. We eat tacos and burgers and fries. And sometimes we eat in chain restaurants.

Last year, more than 51 million people visited Orlando. That’s a lot of mouths to feed. Chain restaurants serve that need. There are, certainly, many chains worthy of disdain. I have no compunction with pointing them out. I also don’t mind telling you which ones do a decent job and give you a good meal for a fair price. 

That’s what a restaurant critic is supposed to do.

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