Olive Garden Italian Restaurant

Olive Garden is fairly consistent. The food is decent for the price. Nothing spectacular. We get the eggplant parmigiana with capellini and split it.
It is usually pretty good. The salad tonight had way too much dressing. The had the fried dough with sugar for desert with raspberry dipping sauce. That was pretty good.

Server was very nice, cleaned the vino glasses for us. Food was delivered promptly and tasty. Huge portions of eggplant parmesian. However my dish was suppose to have sun dried tomatoes per the menu. The tomatoes were fresh/​diced. Half of my entrée decision was the sun dried tomatoes. I didn’t send it back because it’s a headache for the kitchen and servers.
Not a terrible eatery, works in a pinch.

Service was bad and the entire staff are a bunch of smart asses. They food was meh at best and the gluten free rotini is nearly inedible.

Yeah, the food sucked. My Alfredo had no flavor. The chicken barely held any flavor together for the dish as a whole. My boyfriend didn’t even get his soup. The tiramisu tasted like watered down coffee. The cheesecake was alright and our server was friendly.

Ate here this evening with my family, party of ten. Very short wait at 7pm. Service was slow at first but improved during our meal. Trio appetizer was small portions for the price. Our main dishes were all pretty good. Main gripe is our check. They have the little iPad type things on the table to use to pay. Our check was long and difficult to scroll through on there so I apparently didn’t notice that I was charged for two glasses of wine instead of one and a glass of peach iced tea we never ordered. So overcharged by roughly $ 12.

Where do I begin? We stopped in for lunch and we weren’t given lunch menu’s. We asked our waiter, Devin, for lunch menus. He informed us that they no longer have lunch menus. I said «Really?», in surprise. He confirmed his statement. When he hame back to the table again, I asked when they stopped having a lunch menu. He said that «They got rid of it about a month ago.» I asked if there were any lunch portions available. He said that you could still get 3 different meals as lunch portions (he named them: rosemary chicken, portabello ravioli and chicken scarpino I believe), but that was all. We ordered our food. I couldn’t believe the lunch menu was gone, so I googled it to see if and when (and why) they got rid of it. LOW AND BEHOLD, HE LIED TO US! My husband went to the hostess stand to confirm and was handed a magical, nonexistent as of 10 minutes earlier lunch menu. Wow. Our waiter had blatantly lied to us. I’m sure it was due to the fact that most people base the tip that they leave off of the total bill. The dinner menu has higher priced meals, thus equating to potentially larger tips if the customer orders from it. Eliminate the lunch menu and viola! The customer is forced to order from the dinner menu. My husband hates to be lied to. He confronted our server and Devin made up some lame excuse about thinking that we were asking if the menu we had (the dinner menu) was the lunch menu… um try again. We confirmed it 3 times with him. He even told us they got rid of the lunch menu a month ago. Ridiculous. My husband spoke to Will, the GM. Will tried to make excuses for the waiter, saying that he must not have understood what we were asking. My husband explained how the waiter had definitely understood. A while later, Will came back over to my husband and agreed that Devin was wrong. He said «When he’s wrong, he’s wrong» and he told my husband to come see him before he left. We then received our $ 37.40 bill. Nothing was comped, even though we would have ordered from the lunch menu and spent less if we hadn’t been lied to about it no longer existing. We paid the bill and for the first time ever in my life, we left no tip. I don’t feel bad either. The kid lied to us over and over. I was a server for about 4 years when I was younger, so we normally tip 20% or more. I know what it’s like to work restaurants, but I never blatantly lied to pad my own pockets. Oh and Will is a new GM by his own admission. He has a lot to learn IMO. As he saw us walking out the door, he gave us an Olive Garden logo bowl… umm thanks, but no thanks. We should have handed it back. I guess it makes a. great White Elephant gag gift, but it’s useless crap to us otherwise.

Great Italian restaurant. They have great salads and dressing. We buy they’re dressing to use at home. I eat gluten free and they have a great gluten free menu including several delicious gluten free pasta options. Highly recommended.

I acctuly really love Olive Garden. I get the fettuccine Alfredo every time I go, along with bread sticks and a salad. I always end up with left overs that make a perfectly good lunch or dinner the next day.
The only reason I give the a 4 star and not a 5 is because they messed up my to go orders a few times. That certainly will not stop me going back though!

The machines on the table ruined my entire experience. our family wanted to order an appetizer and we were told we had to use the machine to order our appetizer. our daughter had chosen to play a game on the machine which we were aware costs $ 1.99. we were okay for using the machine for a game, but not to replace our waitress. was very strange. we also were told she could not bring us our check because of the machines. we had to pay with our credit card on the machine because some servers put in the wrong tips and this will make sure the correct tip is put in. Sorry, I don’t buy that story. What is really happening is the servers are slowly getting replaced with machines and will eventually just have food runners. If that’s the case, the servers will not get tipped. Well I wanted to pay cash, so my daughter told me on the machine how much our bill was and i laid my cash down including a tip. the serving on the tour of Italy proportions has gone significantly down. the salad & breadsticks were fresh and tasty. the shrimp alfredo was excellent. the appetizer was so so. stuffed mushrooms good but the fried calamari was comical. they were the size of a penny. i mean tiny. was a waste of time making those. lose the machines please!

Food and beverage bland. Service and management worse. Party paid our bills, got receipts, and some left. Were then told we should not have used tabletop devide (that hostess encouraged us to use to pay separate checks) because it messed everything up. Waitress then manager demanded we pay again, even for departed guests. Refused to provide refund receipts showing previous CC charges cancelled. Became hostile when we would not double-​pay. Our credit card statements later show we were charged and not refunded. Basically a shake-​down for double payment. General manager would not return call to discuss. So not just bad food or service, but entire organization cares nothing for customer satisfaction and willing to treat customers in hostile manner for their own technology problems. I recommend you dine elsewhere!

First time I’ve been in an Olive Garden in a few years.
The best:
— Warm service as soon as we walked in
— Clean, open environment
— Our hostess was attentive, good humored without being silly or rude
The okay:
— Bread sticks were hot, while our lettuce was almost all wilted
— My mom’s peach tea tasted very artificial, like a lot of Splenda had been added
— My aunt got a latte that arrived ten minutes later lukewarm
In a nutshell: Excellent wait staff. The kitchen staff could be more attentive and keep the food rolling out in a timely manner.

To start off with I’m not a huge fan of chain restaurants, but I’m not from temple and our group wanted to go, so I just went along not expecting much. Upon entering the restaurant we were greeted with sincere smiles. Our group of 5 people were seated immediately.
Our waiter, Daniel, was able to give us several suggestions from the menu, his own personal favorites. He was very knowledgeable about the company and the cooking school the company owns in Italy. He had a great sense of humor and was able to connect with us on a personal level. Over all Daniel was awesome! He made our experience memorable. He was very attentive, but did not rush either.
I was very reluctant about the food because I’m gluten free and was worried about getting sick, but they had several options without pasta and have a gluten free pasta. I had rosemary garlic chicken and it was amazing! I was so satisfied with my meal :) I left happy with a smile on my face. The manager even came to greet our table to make sure things were going good. My experience at this location we beyond good. Will be returning again soon.

Worst olive garden ever! Never got bread sticks, most of our meal without drinks, the kids mac and cheese tasted like water and mold and no sause on my husband’s fettuccine. AWFUL! The waiter was nice. Slow, inefficient, but very pleasant when you spoke with him.

So Olive Garden’s Guest Relations sent a gift card to me because of the last review/​experience. I was instructed to call Leslie, the GM next time I return. I went to Temple again. The night before, my Father and my aunt made plans to go after a film. So I called OG on Saturday morning. I am told Leslie doesn’t come in until 10a.m. I said, «o.k.» PAUSE, as I wait for an appropriate response. Then I ask, «Should I leave a message?» They ask, «would you like to?» So I did, but come on, wtf? I had to ask? How about you ask me if I want to leave a message or speak to another manager.
Later on, Leslie returns my call. I explain that I was just instructed to call. I don’t know why. She explains that they just want to know that I received the gift card. She asked me what time I was coming. I told her, and she says that is great. Looking forward to our visit. SO WTF? Why did I call again? Was a waste of time. I would think that the manager is supposed to make sure we have a great visit or something. I don’t understand why I bothered calling.
Anyway, after the film, I forgot the gift card at my parent’s place. However, we decided, what the hell. We went anyway. Nathan S. was our server. Despite the the last experience, and the negative impression from my phone calls, Nathan started off fine, better than many in Temple. However, after our drink orders, his service was executed quite well. He was very attentive, good attention to detail, strategy, and timely in his process (asked about dessert after we were ALL FINISHED EATING and knew when to ask about bringing the bill), and we probably had him on his toes just a bit, but he remained timely and courteous. Even another employee came by and picked up a couple of plates after asking if we were finished with them. AND HE DID NOT HOLD HIS HAND OUT EXPECTING ME TO HAND IT TO HIM LIKE A MANAGER DID LAST TIME. No one likes to feel challenged, especially because one thinks I am being rude as a reaction to crappy service. Great to see team work this time, as it was lacking at our last visit.
Not at all did I feel that anyone was challenging me. Nathan made us all feel that we deserved good service, he provided good service, and overall we were pleased and our expectations met.
Hot Dog stand or Spago. One should always receive basic, positive service. The staff we experienced last time could learn from Nathan.
Request Nathan S. Good service and good looking.

So this is exactly how my visit to Olive Garden went:
1– Walk in and request table for one.
2– Proceed to table with hostess and take seat in booth.
3– Look at menu for all of a minute before deciding on my fave. Look around for server… who seems to be… busy?
4– Fiddle around on phone for five minutes to kill isolation time.
5– Server pops head (not whole body) and asks what I want to drink, as well as taking my order. Short, easy, sweet. Er, no…
6– Wait another five minutes while server does everything but get me a glass of water.
7– Having just finished a butt-​busting workout, decided that my growling stomach was about to go full-​on BEAR on someone and proceeded to the exit.
8– Told both hostess and manager (who just so happened to be there) that I was leaving, thank you so fucking much.
The End.
And this, Olive Garden, is why you’ll never be above 3 stars.

Yeah yeah it’s cookie cutter chain restaurant Italian food. But you know what, it’s good. The salads and bread sticks are endless. The meals are good sized portions and well priced for your regular income American. So when you have a small Army for a family and want to go out to a family friendly restaurant that what bust the bank this is the place. I’ve been to this one for many years and they always have good service.

I brought my kids here the Saturday before back to school. The service was good but the food was not. I was disappointed that they didn’t have the Sicilian scampi appetizer anymore but whatever. We ordered the pick two with calamari and stuffed mushrooms and some bruschetta. We also had Alfredo dipping sauce with bread sticks and that was good. But the calamari was greasy and over cooked as were the stuffed mushrooms. Bruschetta was so so. My son and I split a chicken Alfredo pizza and it was ok. My daughter had chicken Alfredo which I’m sure was fine. They both had the Zuppa Toscana which they have always loved and neither one of them liked it. I think after tip and all it was around $ 60 bucks which I’m fine paying as long as the food is good but it wasn’t. Doubtful we will be back.

While visiting the area last weekend, a family member chose the Olive Garden for our all important catch up luncheon. For those in the neighborhood of the greater Central Texas interstate triangle, yeah its not my favorite. Chain restaurants that create a perceived genre of cuisine often fail miserably compared to the actual flavors that can be achieved.
What about the subtle fatty flavors of soppressata? Prosciutto and bitter greens with olive oil? Instead you give us fried lasagna churro looking appetizers. I can’t count the times I’ve laughed at the made up words for some of their entrees I’ve seen on TV commercials. I digress thanks to several Italian margaritas consumed on this visit.
I chose the unlimited deal thats available for lunch. That salad is decent, if you ask for extra onions, tomatoes, and olives. They will stiff you; with instructions from the corporate suits at Darden limiting the amount of every ingredient unless requested. The dressing is subtle and unlike any Italian I’ve had; again making me think its not really Italian.
The chicken with gnocchi soup could have used a kick in the flavor department. While it was good, They could have used sage along with other aromatics to really develop the flavor beyond basic stock. In comparison with other competition like Bucca de Beppo and Macaroni Grill, I don’t think OG’s breadsticks are that great. I long for herb infused olive oil with additional black pepper.
Service was pleasant for my visit including my trip to the bar while waiting for my party. I come from the Austin area and we have glorious offerings when it comes to Italian. In Temple, not so much. The concept is flawed, the spirit of true Italian is dulled for the masses. Good results for the visit, but I still would have rather spent my money elsewhere.

It’s an Olive Garden. Not bad, but definitely not great. I don’t normally go to Olive Garden unless my friends hold a celebration there. If it were my choice I would definitely pick out something more authentic.
Service is good here so that’s a plus.

Oh, Olive Garden. Sometimes you’re good, sometimes you’re so-​so, sometimes it’s bad. It’s the inconsistency that holds you back, especially at this location.
My co-​worker loves the waitress «Helen», says she’s the best, and that’s why he comes here weekly. Me on the other hand visits OG about once every couple of months on average. The salad and breadsticks are fine — a staple with OG. IMO the service here is better than average, there are some areas of improvement.
But the food — it’s just not as good as it used to be. I’ve had their Capellini Promodoro on occasion, it just wasn’t as good — the angelhair pasta was way overcooked, and it doesn’t keep well in the fridge as leftovers — — a day or 2 later it doesn’t look that appetizing.
Today for lunch there were a few minor issues. I got their new shrimp and ravioli dish w/​alfredo and drizzled w/​balsamic — — I asked for the alfredo on the side (I got it), but no balsamic vinegar. Someone else had the same issue, so we had ask for it — the runner seemed confused but got it for us anyway. My dish was good, not great, but good. For dessert — some of us got the tiramisu — — and it was frozen. Oh well.
So the bottom line here is I can say Olive Garden is «A-​OK».