Olive Garden OPENING TOMORROW!!
- Thread starter vklopez
- Start date
Beta84
They're out to get us
their employees seemed to be outside all day today. i drove by twice a few hours apart and both times they were all lined up outside. the second time there was a sign saying they were opening at 4pm on the 22nd. but that's all it seemed like they did in a 4 hour span. 
Franky4Fingers
New Member
They should throw a drive thru on that thing and call it MC GARDEN
LLS!! thats the best.
SamSpade
Well-Known Member
To my surprise, we got in easily last night. We saw the huge volume of cars but decided to check anyway (it was 5:30). So I was surprised to learn there was only a 25 minute wait, which ended up being more like 10-15 minutes. There was even room for all of us to sit in the lobby.
I don't know what the deal is with folks who disparage the Olive Garden. Unless I'm going to Rome, or to Little Italy in a major city or a very expensive restaurant with an Italian name, I don't get the "it's not Italian" stuff. If my Italian neighbor makes linguine for me, it's Italian food. If my Chinese co-worker makes something at home, sometimes it tastes worse than the stuff in your local Chinese shop. And it seems to me that just about any cuisine can pass the test except Italian food.
I've been to a lot of Olive Gardens. I went to the original Olive Garden about a month after it opened. I think it compares favorably with just about any franchise restaurant. I think what people object to is the charm and ambiance it lacks, which is true of any large restaurant.
That said...
Our service sucked.
It was mostly our server, because I saw plenty of attentive, alert staff. I don't expect a lot from my server. I expect them to be attentive, to respond to simple requests, get my order right and generally function in a timely manner.
After we were promptly seated, we didn't see our server at all for a good twenty minutes. Yeah. The woman who seated us brought the booster seat. We didn't even get water for twenty minutes.
Our server mentioned the name of the person assisting her. We never saw this person, so I don't know what they were doing. That might have been the reason why our drinks ran dry. We asked for napkins for our son at every visit. I insisted the third time. She never brought them. After we finished our meal, we waited to flag her down, as my son was tired and restless. We told her, two boxes for take-home and the check please. It was another twenty minutes before the bill arrived - without a pen to sign with - and only one box for carry-out.
Really, I wasn't angry, just very disappointed.
Back to the food, though...you know, I've rarely had the experience of having food at a restaurant where I thought "damn! I have to come back here". My brother in law makes the point that if a restaurant has superb service, you'll still come back even for mediocre food but you'll never go back to a restaurant with fantastic food and terrible service. Olive Garden has ok food and it beats anything I can make at home.
I don't know what the deal is with folks who disparage the Olive Garden. Unless I'm going to Rome, or to Little Italy in a major city or a very expensive restaurant with an Italian name, I don't get the "it's not Italian" stuff. If my Italian neighbor makes linguine for me, it's Italian food. If my Chinese co-worker makes something at home, sometimes it tastes worse than the stuff in your local Chinese shop. And it seems to me that just about any cuisine can pass the test except Italian food.
I've been to a lot of Olive Gardens. I went to the original Olive Garden about a month after it opened. I think it compares favorably with just about any franchise restaurant. I think what people object to is the charm and ambiance it lacks, which is true of any large restaurant.
That said...
Our service sucked.
It was mostly our server, because I saw plenty of attentive, alert staff. I don't expect a lot from my server. I expect them to be attentive, to respond to simple requests, get my order right and generally function in a timely manner.
After we were promptly seated, we didn't see our server at all for a good twenty minutes. Yeah. The woman who seated us brought the booster seat. We didn't even get water for twenty minutes.
Our server mentioned the name of the person assisting her. We never saw this person, so I don't know what they were doing. That might have been the reason why our drinks ran dry. We asked for napkins for our son at every visit. I insisted the third time. She never brought them. After we finished our meal, we waited to flag her down, as my son was tired and restless. We told her, two boxes for take-home and the check please. It was another twenty minutes before the bill arrived - without a pen to sign with - and only one box for carry-out.
Really, I wasn't angry, just very disappointed.
Back to the food, though...you know, I've rarely had the experience of having food at a restaurant where I thought "damn! I have to come back here". My brother in law makes the point that if a restaurant has superb service, you'll still come back even for mediocre food but you'll never go back to a restaurant with fantastic food and terrible service. Olive Garden has ok food and it beats anything I can make at home.
Chasey_Lane
Salt Life
Good review, Sam! 
Like you, I don't expect much when I dine out. If you keep my water filled, you're doing good. Enjoying a meal out is what you make of it. It sure beats standing in the kitchen cooking and then cleaning up your mess.
Like you, I don't expect much when I dine out. If you keep my water filled, you're doing good. Enjoying a meal out is what you make of it. It sure beats standing in the kitchen cooking and then cleaning up your mess.
huntr1
.
Good review, Sam!
Like you, I don't expect much when I dine out. If you keep my water filled, you're doing good. Enjoying a meal out is what you make of it. It sure beats standing in the kitchen cooking and then cleaning up your mess.
I don't expect really good service at a new place until it has been open for at least a month. I also expect there to be issues with the food prep for the same amount of time.
SamSpade
Well-Known Member
I don't expect really good service at a new place until it has been open for at least a month. I also expect there to be issues with the food prep for the same amount of time.
That's also my thought, having worked in restaurants (in the distant past) before - and having worked in food prep also. So I expect some early wait time in service. Mistakes are another thing. While a waiter might wait a while for food to be completed, there's not a lot of excuses for forgetting a PEN to sign with. And while this didn't happen, there's never an excuse for surly servers.
I'll still probably go back some time. They mentioned a huge number of tables (much higher than I had guessed) and that the cars parked along the side roads are staff. When I looked around inside, I realized, damn, this place can probably hold more than twice what other places can. My guess is, if you want to go, go just as they open for dinner on a weeknight, and you'll get in, no problem.
GWguy
*
With Olive Garden, there are bound to be growing pains. Another reason why I don't visit someplace new for 6 months or so. I let everyone else break the staff in!
HOWEVER... there is no excuse for a long time established restaurant to have poor wait staff. I desperately wanted Italian last night, didn't want to cook, but did not want to go to Olive Garden. It was 7:30, I knew the line would be long, so I opted for Nicolleti. I ordered something simple, ziti in sauce. 2 minutes after I sat, the entire girl's hockey team piled in. Thinking to myself, glad I already got my order in! I waited. and I waited. and I waited. Girl finally brings out my order, drops it in front of me, realizes there is no silverware and runs off to find some. I look at my linguine. It's not ziti like I asked for. Takes a good 5 minutes for the girl to find a fork, I point out the mistake in my dish, she runs off to correct it. Takes my fork with her. and I wait. and wait. another 15 minutes goes by before my ziti comes out. Oh, no fork, she runs off to find one. She's gone for 5 minutes looking for a fork, during which time I glance over to the salad buffet, and there are piles of silverware that she had no idea was there. Just 6 feet away. I finally get my fork, point out the buffet bar, finish my meal in less time than it took to get it and left. The only reason I didn't get upset was because of the big crowd and she looked obviously flustered. I figured she was just overwhelmed. Next time, I cook my own.
HOWEVER... there is no excuse for a long time established restaurant to have poor wait staff. I desperately wanted Italian last night, didn't want to cook, but did not want to go to Olive Garden. It was 7:30, I knew the line would be long, so I opted for Nicolleti. I ordered something simple, ziti in sauce. 2 minutes after I sat, the entire girl's hockey team piled in. Thinking to myself, glad I already got my order in! I waited. and I waited. and I waited. Girl finally brings out my order, drops it in front of me, realizes there is no silverware and runs off to find some. I look at my linguine. It's not ziti like I asked for. Takes a good 5 minutes for the girl to find a fork, I point out the mistake in my dish, she runs off to correct it. Takes my fork with her. and I wait. and wait. another 15 minutes goes by before my ziti comes out. Oh, no fork, she runs off to find one. She's gone for 5 minutes looking for a fork, during which time I glance over to the salad buffet, and there are piles of silverware that she had no idea was there. Just 6 feet away. I finally get my fork, point out the buffet bar, finish my meal in less time than it took to get it and left. The only reason I didn't get upset was because of the big crowd and she looked obviously flustered. I figured she was just overwhelmed. Next time, I cook my own.