Legendary N.D. columnist Marilyn Hagerty, of viral Olive Garden review fame, dies at 99

In a world that rewards snark and cruelty, Marilyn Hagerty was kind.

Even when she was reviewing a chain restaurant. Even when the food wasn’t much to write home about, the longtime columnist for the Grand Forks Herald could find something nice to say. Even if it was just to compliment the décor.

“The chicken Alfredo ($10.95) was warm and comforting on a cold day. The portion was generous. My server was ready with Parmesan cheese,” she wrote in a 2012 review of her hometown’s first Olive Garden. “As I ate, I noticed the vases and planters with permanent flower displays on the ledges. There are several dining areas with arched doorways. And there is a fireplace that adds warmth to the decor.”

Hagerty, who forever changed the way we look at an Olive Garden, died Tuesday morning at the age of 99, the Grand Forks Herald reported.

Her journalism career spanned almost 70 years. She was in her 80s and still reporting when her earnest, endearing review of her hometown’s first Olive Garden launched her to viral fame and a book deal.

“My booth was near the kitchen, and I watched the waiters in white shirts, ties, black trousers and aprons adorned with gold-colored towels. They were busy at midday, punching in orders and carrying out bread and pasta,” she wrote, walking her readers through the Olive Garden’s ambience, menu and the moment her server arrived with “the familiar Olive Garden salad bowl with crisp greens, peppers, onion rings and yes — several black olives. Along with it came a plate with two long, warm breadsticks.”

Her review was gentle. The internet was not, spreading the story along with snide remarks about those simple North Dakotans, wowed by breadsticks.

But Hagerty was just as amused by the people bombarding her with comments and interview requests.

“I’m kind of in a dither around here,” she told the Star Tribune in 2012, as her name was making the rounds everywhere from the Onion to the New York Times. “My email has been going crazy and my phone has been going crazy and I just don’t get it.”

She was well aware of the online mockery, and completely unfazed by it.

“I’m greatly amused,” she said. “Some of the people who email me [from places like New York City] say they’re kind of snobby there.”

Among those charmed by Hagerty’s Olive Garden review was celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who roared to the defense of the author and the Grand Forks restaurant scene.

“Very much enjoying watching Internet sensation Marilyn Hagerty triumph over the snarkologists (myself included),” he tweeted at the time.

Bourdain went on to write the forward of her 2013 book “Grand Forks: A History of American Dining in 128 Reviews.”

“Anyone who comes away from this work anything less than charmed by Ms. Hagerty — and the places and characters she describes — has a heart of stone,” he wrote.

We lost Bourdain in 2018. We lost Marilyn Hagerty on Tuesday. Nothing good lasts forever, not even never-ending breadsticks. But this world was lucky to have her as long as we did.