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Worst Non-Meal EVER!!
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

HIGHLANDS RANCH, COLORADO -- Worst Non-Meal EVER!!
Today (1/27/19) we went to Olive Garden, Highlands Ranch for lunch. There were 4 of us. Service was slow but they were busy so we were willing to wait. One couple was splitting the Steak Gorgonzola, Medium, My Dear Husband(DH) Ordered the Shrimp Carbonara and I ordered the Steak Gorgonzola, Medium Rare over Spinach instead of pasta to make it a lower carb (although not Low Carb) dish. We had our salad and bread sticks and Waited and waited. Finally we got our meals, Sort of. The split dish was fine although a bit toward the rare side. The Shrimp dish was missing and my steak Gorgonzola was cooked Well Done! I sent my dish back to be remade. The manager came out to apologize and let us know that they were rushing the shrimp dish and she would be covering our meals. She apologized that my dish had been well done and said that they had switched cuts of meat. Ok. Fine. DH's dish arrives about 5 minutes later and I tell him to go ahead and eat while it is hot. And I wait for my remade dish. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes… Finally as my dining companions have all nearly finished their meals I get the servers attention to ask him to just have my meal boxed and I'll eat it at home later. The manager comes back over and says, “Was I supposed to remake your dish even though the meat will be well done? I have not charged you for your ticket”, “Ummm, no Why can't you remake my dish and NOT overcook the meat????” I appreciated that she covered the ticket but I went there for a meal and I left without one! I realize that they have a different cut of meat but that doesn't mean you have to cook it to oblivion! Had she said that they were unable to cook the meat in any fashion other than well done, but they would be happy to make me a different dish I would not be writing this but she did not. So now I have been at Olive Garden since 12:45 and we left after 2 and I am still hungry because I didn't get served lunch. I have NEVER been so poorly treated at any restaurant Ever in my life!! It's fine that you covered the other 2 meals but I was comped nothing, given Nothing. I was left hungry and that's not OK! I went for a meal and they failed to provide one. Whatever issues they may have had in the kitchen they needed to address or make right. There is NO cut of meat that cannot be cooked medium Rare! If you cannot provide what I ordered then offer to make me a different dish at no charge, or do charge, but don't just leave me sitting there while my dining companions eat, with nothing coming for me. It's great that they got their meal comped but I didn't even get a meal.... I certainly wouldn't have expected to pay for not eating!! I think they were short in the kitchen and blew it and were so swamped that the front and back were on different pages. The manager was blowing smoke on only being able to cook the meat well done, but wasn't going to fix it at that point. They offered a dessert to take home but who wants dessert when they haven't had a meal! My brother has been in the restaurant business for over 20 years. I've had ok meals, I've had great meals, I've even had poor meals but this is the first time I have sent a dish back to the kitchen to be remade and gotten NO MEAL! Never! Ever! Again!!! Will I be back!

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I was served by the best waitress who was so kind and helpful.
StarStarStarStarStarBy -
Rating: 5/51

CHEEKTOWAGA, NEW YORK -- On October 19th, I came to your restaurant to enjoy a wonderful meal with my grandmother. The time we spent in your restaurant was one of the most pleasant dining experiences I have ever had. I brought my whole family, of 6 people with me when we came to eat in your establishment, and each of them agreed that it was one of the best experiences they have ever had as well. This service was all due to one of your servers named Carly.

When we walked into the restaurant we were greeted and seated right away, which was very convenient seeing as my grandmother can't stand for very long. We came around 3 in the afternoon so there were not many customers in the restaurant at the time, which was nice because it was quiet. Once we were seated our waitress Carly came over to take our drink order. When she got to our table she was very friendly and outgoing. After our drinks came to the table she noticed that we were still waiting for one other person to arrive so she gave us some time to decide on our orders and wait for our other party member. Once our other member arrived Carly came to the table right away to take her drink order, then she gave us another minute so they could decide on what to order. My grandma is gluten free so she asked if they had a gluten free menu, Carly wasn't sure but she said she was going to ask. She came back right away with a gluten free menu for my grandma.

Once our orders were placed she brought over our soups and salads. My grandma being gluten free ordered a salad but asked for the croutons to be on the side. When Carly brought the salad over she brought the croutons on the side but she also brought salad dressing on the side for everyone. She had a to-go dressing for my grandma and a regular plate of dressing for everyone else. She did this because she said sometimes the croutons fall inside of the dressing and she didn't want my grandma to digest that. Also, I had ordered an appetizer at the same time we placed our meals so at first I thought she forgot about my appetizer because she brought the soup and salad out first. Then I realized that it was faster to get the soup and the salad out before the hot appetizer. Once the appetizer was ready she brought it right out. I ordered the lasagna fritta's, which I always do and they we delicious as always! Another thing I always order is the lasagna as my meal, which Carly thought, was very funny. When our dinner was finally ready she brought it to our table. When Carly came to the table with our food she had mine in her hand and she said, “Ready for round two of lasagna”? Everyone at the table thought this was so funny!

While we were eating Carly kept coming back to the table to check up on us and make sure everything was going well. Every time we ran out of something she was at our table right away to help us. When we finished our meals she came and cleaned everything up and brought us the take out boxes we needed. We asked her for take out boxes at least 3 different times. I felt really bad because we kept asking for take out boxes but she was really understandable and she was so nice about it. After dinner was over Carly asked if we decided on dessert. I was torn between the cheesecake and the chocolate cake, which I told her. She then informed me on her favorite, which is the cheesecake and why she loved it so much. Carly convinced me to get the cheesecake and I'm glad she did because it was extremely delicious! Finally, after our dessert was done she brought over our check. After she gave us our change we had a ten-minute conversation with her about her life and our lives.

This was such a different dining experience then I have ever had before. Carly was so consistent with her orders and she was so friendly and outgoing. I loved how she was able to converse with us but also able to be such an amazing server. While we were leaving the restaurant we stopped at the front desk to write a compliment card about the amazing service we just experienced. You can tell when a server likes their job and they care about it, Carly was one of those people. This experience was unlike any I have ever had. Every time I go out to eat people just want to help you eat your food and get you out but this was not like that, she wanted us to enjoy our meal and the time we had there. My entire family appreciated what Carly did for us and we will be returning to your restaurant again because of this amazing service that she provided for us.

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We Had Such an Amazing and Outgoing Server Named Carly!
StarStarStarStarStarBy -
Rating: 5/51

CHEEKTOWAGA, NEW YORK -- On October 19th, I came to your restaurant to enjoy a wonderful meal with my grandmother. The time we spent in your restaurant was one of the most pleasant dining experiences I have ever had. I brought my whole family, of 6 people with me when we came to eat in your establishment, and each of them agreed that it was one of the best experiences they have ever had as well. This service was all due to one of your servers named Carly.

When we walked into the restaurant we were greeted and seated right away, which was very convenient seeing as my grandmother can't stand for very long. We came around 3 in the afternoon so there were not many customers in the restaurant at the time, which was nice because it was quiet. Once we were seated our waitress Carly came over to take our drink order. When she got to our table she was very friendly and outgoing.

After our drinks came to the table she noticed that we were still waiting for one other person to arrive so she gave us some time to decide on our orders and wait for our other party member. Once our other member arrived Carly came to the table right away to take her drink order, then she gave us another minute so they could decide on what to order. My grandma is gluten free so she asked if they had a gluten free menu, Carly wasn't sure but she said she was going to ask. She came back right away with a gluten free menu for my grandma.

Once our orders were placed she brought over our soups and salads. My grandma being gluten free ordered a salad but asked for the croutons to be on the side. When Carly brought the salad over she brought the croutons on the side but she also brought salad dressing on the side for everyone. She had a to-go dressing for my grandma and a regular plate of dressing for everyone else. She did this because she said sometimes the croutons fall inside of the dressing and she didn't want my grandma to digest that.

Also, I had ordered an appetizer at the same time we placed our meals so at first I thought she forgot about my appetizer because she brought the soup and salad out first. Then I realized that it was faster to get the soup and the salad out before the hot appetizer. Once the appetizer was ready she brought it right out. I ordered the lasagna frittas, which I always do and they we delicious as always! Another thing I always order is the lasagna as my meal, which Carly thought, was very funny. When our dinner was finally ready she brought it to our table. When Carly came to the table with our food she had mine in her hand and she said, “Ready for round two of lasagna?” Everyone at the table thought this was so funny!

While we were eating Carly kept coming back to the table to check up on us and make sure everything was going well. Every time we ran out of something she was at our table right away to help us. When we finished our meals she came and cleaned everything up and brought us the takeout boxes we needed. We asked her for takeout boxes at least 3 different times. I felt really bad because we kept asking for takeout boxes but she was really understandable and she was so nice about it.

After dinner was over Carly asked if we decided on dessert. I was torn between the cheesecake and the chocolate cake, which I told her. She then informed me on her favorite, which is the cheesecake and why she loved it so much. Carly convinced me to get the cheesecake and I'm glad she did because it was extremely delicious! Finally, after our dessert was done she brought over our check. After she gave us our change we had a ten-minute conversation with her about her life and our lives.

This was such a different dining experience than I have ever had before. Carly was so consistent with her orders and she was so friendly and outgoing. I loved how she was able to converse with us but also able to be such an amazing server. While we were leaving the restaurant we stopped at the front desk to write a compliment card about the amazing service we just experienced. You can tell when a server likes their job and they care about it, Carly was one of those people.

This experience was unlike any I have ever had. Every time I go out to eat people just want to help you eat your food and get you out but this was not like that, she wanted us to enjoy our meal and the time we had there. My entire family appreciated what Carly did for us and we will be returning to your restaurant again because of this amazing service that she provided for us.

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Poor customer service and dirty environment
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

RIVERSIDE, COLORADO -- I went to an Olive Garden with my family by Tyler mall in Riverside ca. Everybody was rude. The waitress had an attitude since we got there she would take a long time to take the order and to bring everything even to bring our drinks. We ordered and then after s while she brought the salad and breads. We started eating. I was eating the salad and when I was going to take a bite I saw a bee on my fork with the salad. I got so discussted by it and the fact that I was about to eat it. I called my waitress she never came so I told someone to call the manager for me. He came and all he said was that probably "it came from the farm" ..what?? So you guys don't clean anything when you guys are going to cook with it. So he asked us if we still wanted to stay and we of course said no and he said okay and walked away. So rude not customer service at all they could care less. Never coming back to Olive Garden and not recommending it either to nobody.

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Gift card BS
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

GIFT CARD -- I take my elderly parents to Olive Garden on a regular basis. The waiter they always ask for is wonderful he treats them with kindness and respect. I purchased a gift card a month and half ago for a business associate. I told him to watch for it he says it never came. I am assuming it looks like spam now that I pull up the offer. I sent a email and heard nothing from Olive Garden. I called this morning and they offered to resend the email. At this point NO I want you to resend the item to me and I don't want it as a stupid email that I have to activate and print out I want a plastic card (that was an option originally ) that way I can send it to him so I am sure he gets it. NOPE they can't do it only the e paper can be sent. I don't understand why they cannot send a card. They sent the bonus cards to me and they have record I have my confirmation number. If I print this out can I take it to a Olive Garden and trade it for a gift card. Response is you can try but it will be up to the local restaurant. So no I don't want to drive 30 minutes to find out they cannot or will not do this or they will only honor it in one place. I don't want to send a gift of a printed piece of paper as a gift. Wake up Olive Garden its a gift and for a hundred fifty dollars you could give me the little plastic card you have record of it NOT CUSTOMER FRIENDLY you lost my gift card business today. I guess I'm stuck with a crappy piece of paper next time Ill get out my crayons and paper and just give money. NO SERVICE FROM CORPORATE SHAME ON OLIVE GARDEN. Maybe a local restaurant doing this but from corporate its shameful

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Plenty Of Other Restaraunts To Go To
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

LAWRENCEVILLE, NEW JERSEY -- My family has decided to take a break from Olive Garden for a while. We don't get to go out to dinner much because money is tight. We were able to go out tonight and of all the restaurants, my kids wanted Olive Garden. By the end of the meal the kids even agreed we won't go back. I love salmon. 3 visits in a row the salmon was so dry it was difficult to eat. My husband got it this time and same thing. A mortal sin in my family 😕.

The toscana soup is one of my husband's favorite foods. I even tried to duplicate it at home, and successfully I might add. You guys changed the soup and now it is more of a potato soup. Not good at all. He was very disappointed as this is what he had looked forward to.

I had lobster ravioli. The description had it served with scallops and shrimp, none of which I had gotten. Waiter said this was an option he forgot to offer. No mention on menu it was an option. Also the ravioli was not allowed dente...it was grainy and very undercooked. I left the restaurant feeling defeated, less $130. Not at all worth the money at all, and a fun family night out totally wasted. Again, this is something we don't get to do more than one every few months if we're lucky.

This is after our last visit when we weren't waited on for an hour and a half, and when the waitress was assigned to us she must have been less than happy because she was not nice at all and never showed up back at the table after the food was served. We complained and the manager offered free dessert...something we didn't plan on ordering. You guys need to get your ** together. Your online reviews are less than stellar. I should have paid attention. Until next time, maybe.

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Bad Service Trying to Chase Good Customers.
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

LARGO, FLORIDA -- On Wednesday May 16, my wife and I went to eat at Olive Garden restaurant for our 45 wedding anniversary. At time we arrived there was a long line of customers with 35 minutes waiting. After we ordered our meal, we were served bread sticks and salad. Within a few minutes while we were still eating our salad, the waitress arrived with our main meal not giving us the time to finish eating our salad. We look at the waitress who put our main meal next to our salad in a rush without any concern. We tried to tell her that it was way too fast, that we were planning to enjoy our wedding anniversary relaxing while eating.

My husband and I told her to remove the two plates. While he told her that we were not interested to have her to bring it back from the kitchen all cold. After we finished our salad, the waitress brought back the same plates that were returned to the kitchen where she warned us "THAT IT WAS VERY HOT"... what a joke two hot plates from the microwave oven ready to burn our mouth.

We told the waitress that we were not interested to this kind of reheated food from the microwave oven... that she returned for new ones. Within a few minutes the Manager came to ask us what seem to be the problem. My husband told her that it was our wedding anniversary that we were planning an evening eating at our prefer restaurant, she apologized were she went to get us two new plates of fresh food... from the kitchen

This is it for two long time customers at Olive Gardens. We have been customers for the last 17 years. No more rush service without any concern to care for their good customers. Kiss it goodbye. There are too many good restaurants just a few miles from Olive Garden. Stay away from restaurant who just hurry for the next customers. Forcing you to eat at two plates at one time.

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11 REASONS TO AVOID OLIVE GARDEN
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

DUNWOODY, GEORGIA -- 11 REASONS TO AVOID OLIVE GARDEN & Why I will never go back again.
1. 20 minute wait
2. Very cold in bar area. Asked three times if the temp could be raised so we wouldn't have to wear down jackets.
3. After 20 minutes, we still did not have our beverage order. When my wife's wine came, the server did not know that Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir were different types of wine. I gave up on my drink order when I had not been served for over 45 minutes.
4. Love me some Olive Garden salad. Not today. The lettuce was stale, and the salad had no dressing!
5. Never offered bread sticks. Had to ask twice.
6. Asked the hostess and the server to have a manager come by, and he never came. We stopped another waiter and asked her to point out the manager.
7. After an hour and twenty minutes, we still had not received our food. We spoke with the waiter who had been telling us the food would be out any minute for about 45 minutes. Yet, that was not enough.
8. When the manager finally found us some food, my pasta was overcooked, the ravioli was stuck together. Both our dishes were luke-warm.
9. We chose OG because we have always had great service and edible food. But I was embarrasssed to have taken my mother to this restaurant.
10. I received a txt message from them with a discount code & link. The web page you land on is not an existing page.
11. The waiter whispered everything he said and we repeatedly had to ask him to speak up.

The manager offered us our dinners free, and a dessert to go. We skipped the dessert and explained that we had made a mistake taking my mother to OG for her birthday celebration.

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Harassment and Rudeness Allowed by Managers at This Location.
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

SPRING HILL, TENNESSEE -- The managers are idiots that allow their cooks to harass the new employees like it is a game. I walked out on a Saturday night after working there 4 months and putting up with too much rudeness and harassment from a coworker on the line that I quit.

I told ** about the harassment from my coworker but the GM didn't care, he has no balls, and no backbone. He allows this distasteful, harassing behavior to go on at his restaurant and than wants to act like an **, calling me on my cell after I walked out on a busy Saturday night telling me I'd better get back in and work or I may be fired if I don't. Gee that really makes me want to come back in and work with another ** on the line that you refuse to talk to about getting in my face and cussing at me, putting me down by treating me like a **.

I am 6 years older than him, and he isn't going to treat me like dirt, because he is good at what he does and feels like boasting his ego. Well, I know he just didn't like the fact that I am an awesome worker, smarter and more efficient and just better at my job than him, and he been there 3 years. I don't and encourage others to never put up with harassment of any kind from anybody at any job EVER! I don't care if you have bills, a house payment, 10 kids, 8 baby mommas, and 5 child support payments, QUIT the job and find a better one!

Don't allow yourself to be degraded or put down, or harassed! I am so glad I quit, **, the general manager, or should I say the general **, has no integrity, no balls, and desperately needs a tic-tac. Not trying to be mean but seriously dude, you talk to guests all day and night, freshen your breath. And teach your veteran employees, one in particular that I won't mention his name because all in all I actually like and respect him despite how mean he was to me, I believe in forgiveness and second chances.

But for the management to not give me my job back and not address the issues at hand... just shows what kind of managers run that restaurant... the kind that have no compassion and no people skills whatsoever. I told them about the issues I had, they tried to bury it and act like they like me working there so it be best to just let the dude harass me, because they don't stand by the true Darden code of conduct like they are supposed to! I hope justice gets served someday and they realize the sins they have committed and the pain they put my family and me through now that I have to look for another job, instead of them handling the hostile employee, they let me go.

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Long Wait for Food and It Was Lukewarm When It Arrived
StarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 2/51

PORT RICHEY, FLORIDA -- Going on and off to this Olive Garden over the years. Never really had a problem before until the last 2 times. I had ordered a lite fare meal and it came with so much salt on it. I sent it back and ordered something else. Gave it another try yesterday. We waited a bit for a table. We rec'd our drinks, salad, soup and breadsticks quickly. Waiting... waiting for our main meals. The waitress (who was very nice) came over and asked if the manager had come to talk to us. We said "NO". She explained about a backup in the kitchen and to please be patient stating it wasn't her fault (which it wasn't). She also said we would be getting free desserts.

So our food finally comes. We both had dishes with Alfredo sauce. It was lukewarm, dried out looking all around the edges. We didn't say anything more as we just wanted out of the restaurant. We doggy-bagged it, got our free desserts to go and left. I feel the service and food have gone down over the years. I don't think we'll be going back there again.

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Olive Garden Rating:
Star Half star Empty star Empty star Empty star
1.6 out of 5, based on 65 ratings and
121 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Olive Garden
1000 Darden Center Drive
Orlando, FL 32837
407-245-4000 (ph)
www.olivegarden.com
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