Olive Garden
reviews and complaints

I sent an email to the manager (ruben valdez) of the olive garden in laguna hills, ca on saturday, june 10, 2017 and still have not received a response as of today, thursday, june 15, 2017. here is a copy of that email:

Ruben,

Tonight I went to olive garden to celebrate my retirement yesterday. at my retirement they gave me a visa gift card for $100. when I paid for my bill of $112.00, the waiter told me that only $83.00 was being applied to my $100 gift card. I explained that I just received the card yesterday as a gift and have not used it. eventually he brought the manager to my table to explain the situation. when I asked for his name, he gave me your business card. the manager who still had not given me his name said there was only $83 dollars left on the card. when I told him it was a brand new card for a $100 and wanted that amount deducted from the bill, he said no, there is only $83 left on the card. when I asked him to run the card again, he said that if I did not pay the difference he would call the police and have me arrested. I told him I was only going to pay the difference on what I owed after $100.00. again, he said he was going to call the police to arrest me if I didn’t pay the amount owed according to the difference on the card. after he consulted with someone else, he sent the waiter to explain to me that the visa gift card holds a reserve amount on the card to cover any additional amounts such as a tip. the waiter ran the card for a third time and the $100 was deducted from the bill. I left the $ 30 cash I had given the waiter and told him to keep the remaining amount as a tip.

There was no reason for the manager to bring it to a level of suggesting an arrest, when he clearly did not know how the gift card worked. no apology was given. on a night when I was celebrating my retirement at your establishment, I don’t appreciate the way I was treated. eventually the “manager” wrote down that his name was melton after asking twice for his name.

I'm horrified and disgusted with the staff at olive garden. It was my birthday celebrating with my family and parents. Everything was going well until the money was stolen from my birthday card my parents gave me,. After we got done the whole family went to the front lobby and I went to the restroom realizing I left my birthday card with my phone went back wasn't even 10 minutes I go retrieve my card with my phone I left back at the table checked and the $100 dollar bill was gone, what's funny I fold the $100 bill in half and hid it behind the card. That individual sure did get that money quick! The audacity and nerve for that individual. Why? It's the principal behind it, people! I'm so mad and irriate! Never ever will we bring our business there ever! This place does not show honesty, integrity, or dignity at all. Who ever took it needs to go spent 100 days in jail consecutively and use that money for commissary!

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g56208-d470269-r493158781-Olive_Garden-Lubbock_Texas.html#

I took my 9 year old granddaughter to your restaurant (her favorite restaurant)on her Birthday today. I told the waitor it was her birthday . After dinner we expected at least for "Happy Birthday " to be sung to her.
However she was disappointed because it was not even acknowledged that it was her birthday. Then the waiter asked if we wanted dessert and I said a piece of cake for the "Birthday Girl"! And he brought a piece of cake and gave it to her and then walked away. She said they arent singing to me? She was so upset. Then afterwards the waitor charged me $8.00 for her slice of birthday cake. I couldn't believe that your family restaurant would treat a 9 year old like this..!

Me and my wife both ordered the steak Condola cheese The Taste was horrible we went ahead and paid for the meal when we knew we shouldn't have getting home realizing how high the bill was I don't mind paying for the drinks the desserts and such but those two meals were the worst meals I've ever had. The service was excellent and the cleanliness was fine but that particular meal was the worst I think I've ever had the taste is still in my mouth and I live 17 miles from the nearest Olive Garden.

Hi I went out to celebrate my birthday yesterday on 6/13/17 . When I had a very unpleasant experience with the waitress if I am not mistaken her name is Nora. She said I hi I am your waitress, as began to throw the paper coater on the table from where she was standing. To me my mom and my two toddlers and husband. I found that very disruptive and disrespect I've it just commensens to go around each person to give them what ever item. Then I asked another waitress if I could switch her because I felt very uncomfortable. After this incident, the other waitress said her manger who ever he was. Could not because he did not have extra staff. I also felt this disrespect I've because the manger could have stepped in and took over. He never ever came out and talk to us or expressed his apology. Not to mention my food was more on the cold side later the waitress even sat down with her friends across the table from us with her friends who where dinning in. I had a very bad experience I just felt down right sad on my birthday. Any questions call me at [protected]. My mother also left the waitress a tip she honestly did not diserve.

My family and I stopped by the Olive Garden Times Square and was attended by a horrible bad mood woke up on the wrong side of the bed waitress. (Jessica). Transaction # [protected]. Check # 103575. Olive Garden 1451. I was very surprised that we had a waitress like this since every time we visit we always are attended by great staff. So first we start by giving the waitress our order and she was giving us an attitude. She acted as if we knew the entire menu completely and every time we had a question she acted as if we were dumb. Once we ordered I asked her for some water and noticed she rolled her eyes at me. I asked my wife what is her problem. I was very close to asking a manager to please change waiters, cause she apparently was having a bad day, and I wasn't about to put up with her. I have zero tolerance for rude people. I just want to have a nice dinner with my family and don't want an attitude from the waitress. Finally after about 45 min the food arrived and one of my children had to watch my other girls eat because she wasn't given her food with the other kids. She waited 20min for her food and my wife and I waited 45min. Once we ate and we were finished she gave us the check and didn't even ask if we wanted dessert or coffe, NOTHING! Just get out of here and move on the the next annoying customers. This was a horrible experience and next time we go and see her I am asking for another waitress. I was looking over at the other tables and all the waiters were so nice.
Just an FYI She never asked us once if everything was ok. Did we need anything.

I volunteer for Faithful Forgotten Best Friends, a non profit group in Columbus Ohio who help provide free veterinary medical care for the pets of the Homeless and low income of Columbus. They have one fundraiser each year. I stopped at the Olive Garden in Reynoldsburg a month ago and spoke to the manager John about this group. I presented him with three pieces of information, 1. information about this organization, 2. information about the annual fundraiser, 3, a copy of a donation receipt. He shared with me, " Do you know how many requests we get per week?". I asked if he would consider reading the information and if they could give, it would be appreciated. He told me he would call the following week. It never happened.
This past Saturday night, June 10, we were eating at the restaurant and once again I asked to see the manager. He came to the table. I explained to him the above situation. His response was the same, " do you know how many requests we get per week?" I shared with him that a telephone call would be appreciated when I was told I would get one. He shared with me that he knew of this non profit group. He told me he would go and look for the information and come back to the table to give me an answer if Olive Garden could contribute to the fundraiser. He never came back to the table. In fact when we left he was at the front desk talking to the staff. Both managers could have taken the time to tell me no but instead give me a response such as Do you know how many requests we get.? Other restaurants have been much easier to deal with. This experience has been a big disappointment in Olive Garden's management behaver told their customers.

I gave another chance to ameda location and I took my family to dinning in at almeda location. Worst mistake ever. The staff (hostess) and manager robin don't have clue how to treat customers especially when there kids very hungry after church. They manager robin was unprofessional, unhelpful and don't care about customers. She is those workers that only there for a pay check. 2 senior citizen and 3 kids super hungry waiting to be sitting when the place were empty just because we will waiting for 2 more people and the party of 8 wasn't completad but they were 6 ppl ready! I paid over $100 dls in the restaurant and that woman robin was urge with me when I point to her that the kids were hungry and we need a table. Horrible service. You guys lost me as a customer! I won't never stop at olive garden just because that type of management with very poor people skills. I will post this in social media also

They gave me the tomato mussels first which I didn't order. When they brought out the correct order they were horrible. Same thing with the Shrimp Scampi some horrible cloudy garlic sauce not buttery at all. Had to take the mussels home, rinsed them off added a little butter & heated them. Server was a nice guy but he was not trained correctly. He was not informed about the product he was selling.

I recently ordered chicken altered and was extremely disappointed when it arrived at my table. It appeared that none of the noodles had any sauce on them. The Alfredo sauce was running and lacked any creaminess/taste. It was like I was eating cooked noodles with no sauce. On top of that, it is supposed to be topped with grilled chicken, and the chicken was anything but grilled. It was most definitely pan seared which is not what I want on my Alfredo when it is supposed to be grilled. Will not be returning to this location again.

Upon entry of the site door glass full of fingerprints prints the restroom was at disarray no toilet paper yet paper towels which plugged the toilets. Toiletries all over the floor I have pics. In addition our service was very poor. Our appetizers arrived we had no plates or forks or napkins. Protocol would be to setup the table first prior to sitting the customers.

On June 6, 2017 my husband and I stopped for a late lunch for spaghetti and paid with my debt card of 24.87 and zero for tips because I placed 4.00 cash on the table however I was very upset because Olive Garden turn and took 4.48 from my card without my approval! This is what the restaurant train their employees to do? Therefore I need for Olive Garden to take care of the problem and contact me regarding this problem as soon as possible!

Hey. I work at olive garden in Rome Georgia and our "service professional" is bullying me. She believed a rumor outside of work and brought it into work and she is now sending me vulgar cussing text messages and treating me rudely at work. I would just like clarification on what the service professional job title intells and why its okay for someone to treat someone with such disrespect.

The entrance was clean yet had a foul stinch as we were lead to our tables by the 2 hostesses that was up front. Prior to being seated they seemed to be having an issue figuring out where to seat my party of 2! .The waitress was nice however when my appetizer arrived and it was time to unwrap the silverware the napkins had a "funny" odor so I requested hot water to clean my silverware. I waited approximately 3 to 5 additional minutes to get a cup of hot water to wash our silverware and to recipe our plates that showed splotchy fingerprints on it. What happened to OLIVE GARDEN! Ive attached photos of the numerous handprints/ smudges on the edge of the plate that was provided for us to use for our salad and appetizers. Not real appealing!

Steven pendergraph
843 vine street
Harrisonburg, va 22802
[protected]

Information:
Olive garden #4492
Check #82434
Table #418
Server: chelsie h (as listed on ticket)
Total cost: $64.87
Time of ticket check out: 22:26:43

To whom it may concern,

My family and I recently visited your newly established olive garden on 6/3/2017 around 6:30pm in harrisonburg va and needless to say we were very disappointed. when we arrived we had about a 30-40 minute wait, which was to be expected, and once we were seated in the back part of the restaurant (facing 81) it took 10 minutes to even be greeted by any server. finally, after three servers debated on who wanted to serve us we were finally asked what we would like to drink. it took about 15 minutes for us all to receive our drinks in two separate and reminded trips from our server and then we had to call her over after another 8 -10 minutes to take our order (which we already knew coming into the restaurant) because she was not returning to our table. now, we are aware that busy nights do put a lot on servers and it can become very frustrating for them to deal with a packed house (my husband and I have worked, managed, and opened restaurants before so we can understand to certain point). once we finally got served our soups and salad we were in shock that the “food runner” just handed my husband a big salad bowl (no salad plate) and left the table. instead of waiting any longer my husband just decided to eat straight from the bowl which caused some interesting stares from other consumers. then, after 35 minutes our frustration began to set in when our server comes back to us and tells us that she did not send in our order to the kitchen! she explained that she just put in the order and that the kitchen would be making our food on the “fly” and it would be out in about 6-8 minutes. she apologized for the delay and that she would bring our food out asap; 30 minutes later we were served our food. so, a total of almost an hour and a half later we were served our meal which needless to say was lacking in quality, but at this point there was no time for remakes of our food and we were starving! it was also becoming a problem with our children ages 9 and 1 years of age that were becoming cranky, hungry, and tired of sitting which was upsetting because bread sticks were their only option for a somewhat full tummy. after dinner, our server stated that she would talk to her manager to see if we could get a possible free dessert since we had to wait so long. at this point, we are expecting to actually see and talk to a manager, but sadly that was not the case. our server returned and said “yea, he said I could do that for you guys; so what would you like.” at this point we just wanted to run for the hills, but our 9 year old wanted to try the cheesecake so we ordered it to go so that we could get dessert at sweet frogs (across the street) because things were taking so long. we even searched for a manager, speaking we had not seen one since we entered the store (there were no walk thrus’ or table talks from management) and then we finally seen one manager (blue shirt) standing against the rock wall at the bar just talking with the bar tender as we were leaving. we finally made it out of olive garden at 10:30 pm, which needless to say is ridiculous by any standard in food service when taking into account we entered the doors at around 7-7:15 pm. then, once we walk across the street to get ice cream, my daughter opens her cheesecake to enjoy her (comped) dessert and it is sitting “in” strawberry sauce which made the crust very soggy and made it fall apart. this experience needless to say was very disappointing and we are most likely not going to give good reviews to people we know, which is very sad because we had been waiting for an olive garden for over 15 years to come to our home town in harrisonburg va.

Sincerely,
Steven and candy pendergrapgh

The Olive Garden in Springfield PA on Baltimore pike. One of the hostess in the night shift on 6/3/2017 was extremely rude to me from the moment I walked in the door: she talked down to me, didn't put my name in the computer but did the people behind me, ignored me when I said I wanted to eat at the bar and talked to me in such a disrespectful way. Besides that ridiculousness the food was just ok, the bartender did not practice the best cleanliness at the bar where we sat and the bathrooms were so gross and dirty.

My wife and I went out to one of your Olive Garden branches in Sacramento and were extremely disappointed in the Food Quality and Sanitation. I used the restroom facility and observed the following, urine all over the floors with scattered toilet paper and towels. I noticed the bathroom "Cleaning Log" and it stated the last time checked was over 8 hours. I alerted the staff and they had no sense of urgency or concern for my request.

As my wife and I waited for 40 minutes for a table when the hostess stated the wait was only 20 minutes. It was irritating to me cause there was about 5 servers by the host station talking and laughing while we waited. As The hostess escorted us to our table and in passing I observed two staff members eating bread sticks by the refreshment work station. The floors were covered in water, loose pasta and salad. As we both arrived to our table I noticed the table to be wet after being cleaned, I sat down and in the process the bench seat was wet causing my pants to be wet.

The server was polite and assertive. Our meals came out and I had the 3 choice create your own dish which was Scampi, Fettuccine, and Ravioli. The noodles were burnt to a crisp and shrimp was dry. I'm not one to complain, but it upset me so much that I didn't have the nerve to address this in person so writing it down helps. I'm not here to benefit on a gift card, but to only address my concerns. I'll be speaking with management today and see if these issues can be resolved cause OCCUPATIONAL HEATH AND SAFETY ADDMINSTRATION SHOULD BE NOTIFIED.

Olive Garden #4456 Salina, KS June 2, 2017 from 11:30 am -12:30 pm, receipt kept by restaurant. Manager: Charles ?
I ordered Lunch duo: spaghetti mini pasta bowl, 3 meatballs, with salad and water. Menu priced: $6.99 for duo and $2.99 for extra meatballs.
I order this selection often for a total bill of $10. 82 but not today. My first receipt showed: $6.99 for duo, $1.49 for EACH meatball, and $.96 for tax for a total of $12.42. When I questioned the different price for the meatballs, the waitress told me there was a menu price change. I turned to the kiosk to pay my bill when I got a second receipt for: $6.99 for duo, $1.49 for EACH meatball, $1.99 for a game (which I didn't play) and $1.13 for tax for a total of $14.58. I asked for a manager because I didn't play a game. Charles came over to the table and told me the difference in price for the meatballs was because the waitress forgot to include the meatballs on my ticket and he told her to ring them up separately (thinking it wouldn't get noticed). So now the waitress has lied to me and the manager tried to pull one over on a customer and got caught. Now, I'm upset because of a lying waitress and a bill padding manager. The manager realizes he has been caught and now he wants to give me a free meal and a gift card! A free meal and a gift card is NOT going to excuse either or both of these behaviors. I demanded a receipt for the menu priced meal which I paid for myself with my own gift card because I don't believe in free meals or gratuities for customers to enable poor behavior by employees. We (our group) go to this restaurant often and have problems with the final bill for our meals often. So obviously giving free meals and gift certificates to upset customers does NOT improve the mistakes and/or behaviors of the wait staff or manager.
I won't go back to this Olive Garden until they hire employees with more honesty.

4 of us went to Olive Garden #1838 for lunch and set in the bar at our usual table. Today was the worst service we have ever received. Or server was Christine E and we decided to try the dip duo with the Angry Alfredo Spicy Chicken Dip and the Five Italian Cheese Fondula. The crostini's were not toasted and the Angry Alfredo was greasy and the Alfredo cause appeared to have broken because is was just grease and not creamy at all.

When we told the server we needed silverware when she delivered our salad. They brought us salad that would only serve two people not for. The server never returned with our silverware so I went to the bar to get us some so we could eat.

We all ordered off the lunch menu but when our meal arrived the spaghetti in meat sauce was not the lunch portion, so that had to be taken back to the kitchen. The lasagna was very dry so we asked for additional meat sauce.

We asked for additional salad and again a small salad was delivered, enough for two people.

We eat at this restaurant and this is also the second time we tried to pay at the machine at the table, only to have no paper in there to print a receipt. Why is that not checked prior to opening.

We asked to see the manager, but he never appears.

It appears Christina E needs additional training and the manager should be more responsive when he is requested.

May 31, 2017, 10:44pm

Good evening,

My name is Nytia Jenkins, I am currently at the Olive Garden on 125th street in Harlem. Since this location opened I have been coming here regularly with my mother and sister. My complaint is about the hostesses on the evening shift. One of them is named Natasha and I didn't catch the name of the other one, but she normally wears her hair going straight back in cornrows.

This has become an ongoing issue. A couple of weeks ago we came here as usual to eat dinner, but as we approached her, you could already sense an attitude. When we went to ask for a table and our favorite server, Tobias, she got an attitude and said that he had a lot of tables at the moment. Regardless, we said we'd wait and she continued with her attitude. Then after she seated us, she went back to the front and started talking about us to other workers as well as the security guard. I felt this was completely out of line, so I reported the incident to one of the managers. He assured me he'd address the issue and thanked me for telling him.

Ever since, whenever we come she makes a grimacing face when she sees us and has a snooty attitude. Even, today it is the same issue and she watches what we do when we are talking to the waiters and gossips to other workers. I wish for something to be done about this because it is completely childish and I am sure, as aren't establishment, Olive Garden does not want any tarnish to come upon their reputation.

I want to thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Nytia Jenkins