Bill Simmons: Tommy DeVito's Agent Calling Olive Garden an Italian Restaurant is 'Absurd'

The NFL season came to an end with the Kansas City Chiefs beating the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday night in Las Vegas. On Sunday night after the game Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal Iacano recapped the action, which included a story from Sal about meeting Tommy DeVito's agent on Radio Row ahead of the big game. And now we must discuss whether or not Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant.

According to Cousin Sal, he bet Sean Stellato $20 that he couldn't name 15 Italian restaurants in 30 seconds: "He really could have just said anyone's name, like Mario's, Joseph's, Antonio's. He could have said that. He got 14 and added the Olive Garden. I didn't count it. I said get out of here, you're not Italian."

To a normal person, this sounds like Sal busting balls, but the reaction from Bill Simmons may have you rethinking everything you thought you knew about casual dining.

"He said the Olive Garden was an Italian restaurant? That's absolutely absurd."

Folks, how famous does your celebrity chef have to be for the restaurant to count as Italian? Or is it just immediately disqualified because the people who dine there use unleaded gasoline?

Yes, Olive Garden may be the biggest Italian restaurant chain in America, but does all that pasta really count as Italian food if you have to hold one of those gauche buzzers before you can be seated on a Friday night? Is it really a tour of Italy if you never leave Grand Forks?

So what do you think? Is the Olive Garden an actual Italian restaurant just because it serves Italian food and has "Italian Kitchen" written right there on the logo? The truth may surprise you.