Menu
Olive Garden

Olive Garden review: cold food, management 83

G
Author of the review
8:28 am EST
Review updated:
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Featured review
This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

Valentines Day nightmare. I ordered a steak and my wife ordered the kabobs. Both were to be cooked medium. When the food arrived the waiter carefully removed hers from the skewers, asked us to try our food and asked how they were. We both cut into them and they were both medium. My wife however noticed that hers was warm on the surface, but cold in the middle, like it had been sitting under a lamp for some time. The waiter apologized, took the plate back and said he would take care of it. When he returned, 15 minutes later, he cautioned that the plate was very hot. We noticed right away that the kabobs weren't on a skewer and only contained about half an order. When she cut into a piece of meat, it was hot allright, but it was also cooked well and had no juice left. The kitchen had either put it back on the grill or microwaved the heck out of it.

We had now been sitting at the table for over an hour and neither of us were interested in waiting any longer. We called the manager and told him we wanted our bill. We had never seen him there before and he just stared at the plates. He then said that he would have her kabobs re-made. My wife replied thanks anyway, but "my husbands dinner is now cold and this whole dinner experience is pretty much ruined. He finally said "just a minute". He left and returned, apologized and said that he had taken care of our bill. That was the end of it. He did nothing to entice us to return to his store and we will never go back. This is a real shame, because we live in the area and used to eat there a couple of times a month.

The first problem which was a cold meal was made even worse by the second problem, which was a manager that didn't have the first clue about customer retention.

Newnan lost a TGI Fridays last year due to lack of customers. Watch out

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

83 comments
Add a comment
G
G
Gindy
, US
Sep 19, 2018 1:49 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Me and my family came for a good dinner and it was awful first off young kids just hanging out in front of resteraunt on phones being loud food was nasty and when I went to the bathroom it was just as nasty as the food very unsatisfied with the service and food corporate needs to address the situation

P
P
Panthers77
, US
Sep 10, 2018 7:10 pm EDT

Ordered three choice apitizer. One of them was calamari. It not only had 6 calamari but the breading was not golden brown because it was microwaved and disgusting. I can’t believe Olive Garden would want their name associated with that.

View 0 more photos
P
P
Purchase
, US
Sep 11, 2018 1:25 am EDT

There need to be an Olive Garden on Hilton head south Carolina and one I sun city also thank you asap !

M
M
mbike2003
, US
Sep 03, 2018 6:27 pm EDT

8/28/2018
Shawn Foster
Worked the buy one take one with add chicken
No chicken was in the bag and had to drive back to the store to get it.
When called the togo person laughed and said add chicken.
Had to drive 20 min back to get dinner. wasted 40 mins of the evening.

Didn't want to go here but had a gift card. Will never go back

S
S
Syrethia
, US
Sep 01, 2018 9:39 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I had a to go order on saturday december 9 2017, I ordered fettucine alfredo sauce and two boats of alfredo sauce, but when i got it home it didnt taste the same as when i usually order it and I would like my refund

B
B
Bad service!!
, US
Sep 01, 2018 6:01 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

We waited forever for our food. The soup was cold. We never got our breadsticks, waited forever for refills on the water. Just overall bad service. The waitress made us wait for refills on our soup and salad. She told us she had other customers waiting for their soup. We will not be returning.

D
D
DanniWayni
, US
Sep 01, 2018 5:31 am EDT

The shrimp was over cooked, and the floor was dirty, also lettuce wasn't fresh, the wine was excellent I may say though but shrimp overly cooked, I was very embarrassed taken my mother there, I asked about the cleanileness the waiter was rude and act as though I shouldn't say anything

M
M
Meagan Moore
, US
Aug 29, 2018 8:16 am EDT

Thanks to olive garden my 16th Birthday is ruined. Since when do you stop taking reservations and why do you hire people who don't communicate with their workers to find out what's going on. Thanks for running my 16th Birthday. I don't think I'll be back..

O
O
Orlando Alvarez
, PR
Aug 28, 2018 10:40 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Restaurant #7102002 host Chris very unprofessional restaurant empty made me wait to be seated. Charnellis is a disaster. Salad had little amount of dressing but she came with more. She was slow. She never offered mor beverage. No Parmesan for the pasta. My wife and I had to eat from the same plate because she forgot to bring the other plate.

Q
Q
quei
, US
Aug 20, 2018 10:17 pm EDT

I am having problem with my kitchen manager at wake forest and I cant lose my job. He is not only rude to the boy staff but inappropriate with the girls who work their, I don't think that just because you are a manager you should be able to act like that to people.

K
K
Karina Fadeeva
, US
Aug 21, 2018 5:04 am EDT

after working for olive garden i haven't get my w2 form for tax return!

T
T
T bell66
, US
Aug 20, 2018 7:58 pm EDT

Manager on floor walking around with 20oz Mtn Dew and talking to people at Tables.

M
M
Macydavis14
, US
Aug 21, 2018 2:02 am EDT

I grew up going to Olive Garden with my grandparents. As with so many people they were creatures of habit. Cannelloni for the meal and Black Tie mousse Cake for dessert. I have not seen cannelloni on the menu now for years and wondered why? Could this ever be brought back? Would love to share this meal one more time with my nanny.

F
F
Franv35
, US
Aug 20, 2018 5:23 pm EDT

On February 17th, 2018 we were dining at the Olive Garden 11333 Abercorn St. Savannah, Ga. In my food I found a bug. I brought it the waiters attention. He apologized. I didn't order another dinner. Just wanted to bring this to your attention.no manager came over. I was very disappointed. Pictures enclosed.

View 0 more photos
J
J
Joseph N
, US
Aug 21, 2018 2:56 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

We dined in at their restaurant and had an order to go which was the fettucini alfredo. Went to go eat some as a snack and there was very little sauce to where it actually tasted dry. Our dinner was great . And never had an issue getting anything to go . The server was great and as usual this place is quite busy.

L
L
Lee Jonathen
, US
Aug 21, 2018 5:11 am EDT

I visited April 23 2018. I asked hostess a question about the menu . Instead of getting service she insulted my intelligence. I wanted to know what was the difference in price between lunch and dinner, not if i can add. Very rude. Not much help answering my question. If she do not like her job working with people than she should seek else where.

P
P
Phyllis King
, US
Aug 20, 2018 11:30 pm EDT

Went to Olive Garden on Merritt Island, Florida with my family... The smell of the carpet smell sourer... I couldn't enjoy my food. Please have shampoo or change it out or something ... Thank you

M
M
Monica Ogletree
, US
Aug 21, 2018 1:06 am EDT

I made a 8pm reservation for my daughter's graduation dinner, only for management to tell us 2 hours later that although my name was on the list that they didn't actually do reservations! Prior to finally be told these facts we were lied to and strung along by 3 different employees. Why except a name and time to only be ignored? Pathetic!

S
S
smithkate1987
, US
Aug 20, 2018 5:19 am EDT

She is a very rude server . I had made a mistake and forgot to order something and when i called her back over she had an atittude then took forever to bring it.

M
M
MaryJean DRdul
, US
Aug 18, 2018 1:53 pm EDT

I took my girlfriend for a special dinner after a doctor visit.It was a month ago at the place on Transit Rd in Amherst. I wrote back to them the next day, but it didnt do be any good. We had new waiter how told us, he had just came back football practice as he was very tired. We have gone many times, but he push us for fast service. He was taking our salads away, when we werent finish He got annoyed if we asked for more bread sticks .when the meal, was served, he said I surpose when need extra cheese .We asked for two containers, but he gaves us one Never asked us if wewould like coffee and never asked about dessert He asked, if we were paying by cash.but he did say thank you at the end. I took her thee, becauseit was easy for her to get in, We willgo backagain, but if see him, we will ask for another person My name is Mary Jean Drdul 317 Grover Cleveland Hwy Amherst N Y [protected] hairgal41@aol.com Thank you for reading this note

D
D
DanniWayni
, US
Jan 13, 2018 12:01 pm EST

The shrimp was over cooked and floor dirty

D
D
DanniWayni
, US
Jan 13, 2018 12:00 pm EST

The shrimp and restaurant was dirty

J
J
Jim smith1023
Easton, US
Sep 08, 2011 5:29 am EDT

I went out to eat with my wife for her birthday. After waiting an hour and a half we were seated and waited another 20 minutes just for our salad and bread. My wife and I both ordered the Steak gorgonzola medium rare. When it came out the beef smelled spoiled. I knew something was wrong and after digging through the food more, I found a little sticker in it that said "Use by Monday". It was thursday night. I asked to speak to the manager. He came out with a pink shirt on smiling away. After I told him he didn't look surprised and the only thing he said was, "Can I offer you a giftcard?". I said we were leaving and he stood there and watched us go without even trying to stop us. Worst place to eat ever.

C
C
christina marcoux
, US
Nov 30, 2015 5:18 pm EST

11/28/15. My husband and I went to OG in Attleboro ma. we both ordered Steak Gargonzola, this dish is one WE HAVE OFTEN, MANY TIMES THERE. THIS TIME THE FOOD WAS VERY BLAND AS THE SAUCE WAS MORE OF A WHITE SAUCE THAN THE USUAL CHEESE FLAVORED SAUCE THAT COMES WITH IT. THERE WERE NO SUN . TOMATOES THAT IT SUPPOSE TO HAVE IN IT. WHEN WE SPOKE TO THE WAITRESS SHE DID NOTHING BUT SAY SHE WAS SORRY. SINCE THE ORIENTAL MANAGER THAT WAS THERE IN THE PAST HAS LEFT THE SERVICE AND FOOD QUALITY OF FOOD HAS DROPPED. DISAPOINTED CUSTOMERS
This use to be one of our favorite place to go eat.
neptuneschild1@aol.com
Leo and Christina Marcoux

N
N
N contreras
nova scotia, CA
Apr 11, 2014 2:20 pm EDT

I would like to report that Olive Garden located at 1710 Old Fort PArkway, Murfreesboro TN 37129 has illegal immigrants working there. I know for a fact there is a Mexican employee there working as a server and sometimes as a bartender that goes by the name of (Alex Rodriguez, Alex Torres or Alejandro Rodriguez) and he does not have a valid working permit to be able to work in the United Sates. He is using someone else's Social Insurance and he also uses a false alcohol permit when he operates as a bartender. When he works as a bartender he offers other services to customers for an extra charge and steals coupons to sell/use for his own benefits. It's a disgrace knowing that Olive Garden is a prestige American Restaurant and knowing that hires people that have no permit to work in the country and are stealing the jobs of many other legal Americans (Citizens and Residents).

G
G
golfingmorris
Hayward, US
Apr 17, 2013 4:52 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Just had lunch at the Olive Garden, will never eat there again. I ordered the beef with pasta, and mushrooms. I received, four slices of mushrooms, 7 small piecers of beef, and a lot of pasta. We arrived at 10 to 12, had to wait 10 minutes for the tables to be cleared.
Service was very, very slow. My Daughter, and I spent over an hour, and a half for lunch. Not many people eating at this time. Like I say, this was my last trip to the Olive Garden. What you should do is, send your people to the Elephant bar to see how a business should be run.

T
T
TheItalian
, US
Feb 12, 2012 11:39 pm EST

Olive Gardens food is mediocre and given the way the servers are treated by management there, im sure the prob will get fired eventually. Best bet is to complain to corporate and you'll prob receive a nice gift card for a free meal and better service. Also mention upon arrival that last time you were there, you have received bad service and they will make sure you get the 4 star treatment. Good Luck

V
V
VCK41
, US
Oct 27, 2011 1:15 pm EDT

Receiving 2-3 spam advertisements daily from Olive Garden. This company doesn't care about their customer's privacy. On top of that, they constantly violate the spam laws. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who breaks the law is a criminal! I will not do business with criminals! By the time I'm finished with Olive Garden, the whole country is going to know what a bunch of jerks all of these people are. On top of everything, I've never seen a clean restroom in any Olive Garden. As far as general cleaniness for the entire Olive Garden chain, I would rate the about a THREE! I'm taking them to court!

JuliePooh51265
JuliePooh51265
Lancaster, US
Sep 08, 2011 4:35 pm EDT

Isn't Gorganzola one of those very pungent cheeses? That's probably what the smell was. I wouldn't even know if there was a sticker in the steak unless I took a bite out of it. I'm surprised the Manager didn't say "oh, that's just the cheese"

A
A
ambiekay
Topeka, US
Sep 08, 2011 10:04 am EDT

i agree stickedr in the steak? Gorganzola is what smells spoiled

K
K
kensie007
, US
Jun 08, 2011 6:00 pm EDT

You people who complain never cease to amaze me. Seriously, the guy paid for your meal and apologized. You essentially got two free steak dinners and then still feel it necessary to go to a complaint board because he didn't "entice" you to come back? You are an entitled piece of [censored] and it is likely they don't want you to come back. Enjoy your ungrateful miserable life and you should look into getting some therapy... Seriously.

B
B
Bronx johnny
El Paso, US
Mar 28, 2011 2:31 pm EDT

So you've been there several times before? Get over it, you had 1 bad experience, go back and try again, i swear i hate people like you!

A
A
ANGRY WILSON CUSTOMER
Wilson, US
Jan 25, 2011 11:26 pm EST

Olive Garden WILSON, NC
Horrible Service, Filthy, and lack of MGMT. WOW! Worst restaurant experience I or my wife have ever had! You think a new restaurant would have an experienced well trained staff, or after being opened for 3 months would have atleast adjusted! Well first of all the staff created all the kaos by themselves, empty tables everywhere and no employees sitting us! We waited 5mins until we were even acknowledged. Where is the manager I asked the host said "hes too busy in the back." Well after several customers walked out in front of us and after we waited 28 minutes they decided to sit us, then had the nerve to sit us down at a dirty table At this point I already had enough and was ready to leave but my wife wanted to stay. Finally they moved us to a different table and we only had to wait 6minutes more before someone even said hello then another 10 minutes before we got our drinks. What really made me upset was all the waiters and servers just standing around talking and laughing while we were just waiting. My wife decided to use the bathroom she said it was absolutely filthy and had a horrible stench that neither did she want to use the bathroom or eat anymore. Filthy, filthy restaraunt dirty tables waiting to be bussed trash all over the carpet, my waiter had to rewipe my table. We waited another 35 minutes before we even got our salad or any bread sticks, I look down at my salad plate and it was disgusting, it had a used straw and crumbs all over it! At this point I insisted to speak with a manager I asked several waitresses and a busser! So after 5 minutes all they gave me was his name Michael, we never saw him. He didn't even have the nerve to come and speak with us no wonder this restaraunt is so horrible! So we left without paying anything or even talking to a manager. They lost 2 customers and ruined Olive Garden for the rest of our lives. I plan on calling the health department to do an inspection and I figured Id save as many customers the stomach pains and neglect that we had experienced as I can.

J
J
jerrygl
Ocala, US
Oct 31, 2010 6:04 pm EDT

I have eaten many times at Olive Garden and it seems the Jax, FL locations are terrible. I have yet to have an enjoyable experience there. My last was 10/30/10 at 330pm. We went there and were told 10-15 min wait, after about 30 mins my wife asked how much longer and was advised they had no idea. The place was half empty and there were 4 host/hostess standing up front. We have had this happen before do to poor management. Again I do not stop going for 1 problem, but to continue to have this happen over and over is enough. I've also sat with my party at OG as others in my party ate and I waited another 45 mins for my meal. Again management did not seem to care. Red lobster in Ocala, Fl had this problem several years ago and we stopped going for about a year and now this is no longer a problem. Either new managers or enough complaints. jerrygl

J
J
John Rinaldo
, US
Oct 24, 2010 9:05 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

First I want to thank Olive Garden. I do like wine and it was there that I discovered Riunite Lambrusco. That is the good part. Olive Garden charges $5.00 a glass or $25.00 for a small carafe.
I found the Riunite Lambrusco at Smart and Final grocery store for $3.99 per bottle. 85% less that a bottle by the glass would cost at Olive Garden.

OK, that is the good part. I like soup and their soup is consistently terrible! Yesterday I ate at the one in San Diego. The menistrone was awful. The vegetables were uncooked, not good in a soup, OK in a salad. And the broth was just water. Like it was just made and had no time to soak up any flavor. I complained since this had happened several time before. The server was quite understanding and I decided to try the pasta [censored]oli, again terrible no past and no beans. That less than five tiny piece of pasta and less of the beans. So I decided to complain to the manager. He seemed not to really care, but offered to bring me a bowl with more pasta and beans.
But of course the broth was terrible. I pointed it out to the manager and he replied "well soup is suppose to have water in it"
It was around 2:30 and I think they were just preparing a new batch. You really cannot make soup instantly unless your culinary training is limited to top raman!
I suppose you could just right the soup thing off as "never order soup".

But it is not just the soup, or just the stupid manager. It is the food.
I like chicken parmigiana. At Olive garden they deep fry a frozen chicken parmigiana breast! I have ordered it several times and the edges are alway over fried and hard as rocks.
This restaurnat sucks, and the public should wake up and show them that people really matter.
Hopefully if enough stop going there they will go broke since they have forgot the simple ethic of providing good food at a good price results in sucess in the restaurant business.
And the reverse ultimately results is failure!
And that is where they belong! There obsession with the bottom line and their stock price shows where American business is going.

K
K
katherineg
San Antonio, US
Aug 20, 2010 1:01 am EDT

they don't serve "kabobs" they sell steak medallions on a skewer its called "mixed grill" and it's one of my favorite dishes from olive garden, the manager apologized and offer to replace your meal, he even paid for your check what else did you want him to do, kiss your feet? things are not always going to be perfect specially on a day like valentine's when they get slammed, sorry but life may continue to be hard for you

A
A
Anonymous
Chico, US
Mar 29, 2010 4:12 am EDT

yeah i just looked at their menu and they didn't have "kabobs" or "skewers."

B
B
BossesSuck
Russellville, US
Feb 18, 2010 10:26 pm EST

Sherry1 for your information they do serve "kabobs" or "skewers"...I ate there and that is what I ordered directly from the menu and it contained chicken and steak smarty pants.

S
S
Sherry1
, US
Apr 25, 2009 2:22 am EDT

The Olive Garden Doesn't Serve "Kabobs" ! FYI

S
S
SIR. FARAMARZ FRED ABOLFATHI
Tampa, US
Mar 12, 2009 5:50 am EDT

DO NOPT SEE THE DVD TWILIGHT IT COMES OUT ON MARCH THE 21ST IT IS A JUNK MOVIE THEY ARE MAKEING A SEQUEL I STILL AM BOYCOTTTING THEM AND PANERA BREAD AS TO THIS VERYT DATE IF THE MANGER WAS NOT TAKEN CARED OIIF MAYBE WE CUSTIOME4RS SHOULD DO THE JOB FOR THEM?