Watching the Duggars Try to Order Italian Food out at a Restaurant Is Bizarre

We already knew that, despite all of their international travel, the Duggars aren’t exactly well-acquainted with foreign cultures. But it was never more clear to us than watching them sit down to eat at an Italian restaurant in Gainesville, Florida. You’d think with all of the time they’ve spent abroad they’d know how to adapt a little better, and yet they’re just so endlessly awkward — even in what’s basically their own backyard. And we saw that once again while revisiting an old episode of 19 Kids and Counting, then just 17 kids.

While Josh Duggar and some of his younger sisters were visiting then-Anna Keller to help plan the wedding (while their parents simultaneously dealt wth the Duggar household falling into chaos without them), they stepped out for a celebratory dinner. Jana Duggar, ever getting stuck being responsible for her siblings, found a nice Italian restaurant for them to eat at — but she didn’t seem to take into account that the Italian restaurant would have, well, Italian dishes on it. “Jana, you got class!” Josh announced as the family walked up to the eatery, but the second that they sat down, things started to fall apart.

“Oh, man, it’s Italian!” Josh exclaimed while looking at the menu, though you’d think that the restaurant’s name on the sign outside — “Amelia’s Fine Italian Cuisine” — would’ve given that away. “I definitely don’t know anything here, let’s see,” he continued. “We live in Tontitown, so let’s see.” We’re pretty sure lasagna and ravioli are pretty entry level foods — heck, even Chef Boyardee makes canned versions — but sure.

And then the family tried to figure out the individual menu items. “Fredo… Okay, that’s gotta be some sort of cheeses?” Josh wondered, probably talking about the fettuccini alfredo. “Fongoli? Rollatini?” he sounded out as his sisters frowned at their own menus and then leaned in closer, furrowing their brows, and leaned away in confusion. For the record, you can check out Amelia’s menu online here, and while there are definitely some less familiar dishes, there’s also your classic linguine bolognese, aka spaghetti with meat sauce, so we’re not sure what the drama was about.

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But the shock wasn’t just over the menu items and their fancy foreign names. It also apparently was about the table settings itself. “It’s a little different for us to go into a really nice restaurant like that,” Josh said, presumably referring to how nice restaurants have a thousand different salad forks and dessert forks and soup spoons and steak knives and butter knives. Wait, that’s not what he was referring to? He just meant they had legit silverware and not throwaway paper plates and plastic cups? “I mean one where you’ve got all glass and silver and, you know, got to keep your napkin just right, and all these real high, real nice things.” Oh. Okay.

Luckily, the siblings all seemed to figure out how to put their napkins in their laps and use forks that they didn’t throw away at the end of the meal and mostly kept their composure. At least until the waiter came back to ask how the oldest Duggar liked his puttanesca and he replied, “Muy bueno… I only know Spanish.” Welp. What did we expect, we guess? This family may be modest, but they’ve never been much for class.