Not such a great Olive Garden

[Tink]

We (11 of us) went to dinner last evening at the new Olive Garden on west 192.

The first of us there (Herself's sister) had called ahead and asked if they could accommodate us all at one table. They said yes.

When we arrived, Herself went to the bar to get a house red. They gave her something else that was more costly (and no better). That set the tone.

After waiting nearly an hour, we were taken to a table and a booth. Nope. Not acceptable. We all wanted to dine together, not at separate seating areas. We jiggled around some chairs and put the two little kids at one end and all snugged in.

It took ages for the server to come for the orders, but that was finally accomplished. Salad and bread were served... I'm not a fan, but this is a group that is beyond fussy so we go where they will be happy.

To cut to the chase of a long and tedious story, when the food came it was a mess. No one's entree was hot. The boy's was not even complete. They served him a bowl of cold, plain spaghetti. He'd ordered spaghetti with shrimp and parmesan butter sauce. I only ordered soup (I really don't like Olive Garden ) and it was inedible. Seriously. So, I didn't eat it. Herself took one bite of her entree (ravioli) and that was it. The boy's Da's entree was cold. Not warm, cold. He didn't eat his either...

It turns out there was no house wine as "they forgot to order it for this week" according to the server.

When it came time to clear the server asked if I wanted to take the soup. I told her no as I didn't like it at all. She said, "why didn't you ask for something else?" I said, "No one came by to ask."

Needless to say, Olive Garden is not a great place by any means, but this place? Give it a miss. If you must go to Olive Garden go to the one on I drive near where Race Rock used to be (It's Buster and Dave's now). They at least serve hot food.

[foreverducky]

What a joke! Did you speak with the manager? If not, I would at least email them through their site. Most places have the ability to do so on their site. That's completely uncalled for.

[josh.p.]

I'm shocked you don't like Olive Garden! I love it there, but I always visit the one just next to Crossroads... The service and food was always really good there.

[arkvilla]

That's such a shame Tink. Was it the one at Rolling Oaks by the new Bahama Breeze, Target etc?

I'd e-mail them to at least give them feedback (maybe they may take it on board and improve things)

Sandra

[Johnie]

That is completely unacceptable! I would certainly let their corporate office know

I used to not like OG but then I found the chicken scampi. I love it. I order it everytime we go

[foreverducky]

I think this really shows what we've all talked about regarding chain restaurants. One OG here might be good, but the one over there might be bad. Chain restaurants are run separately and it shows.

There are only two things that are similar across the same restaurants. 1: the name (i.e.: olive garden) and 2: the menu (usually).

[Tink]

Chains should imply consistency and provide the same general experiences across the board.

Yes, this is the new one by the new Target... one of the reasons I thought it would be ok. We've come to discover that the closer to Disney and Universal the restaurants are, the worse they are.

I did email the corporate office. I told them I expected nothing as it was time lost and opportunity missed, but that they needed to know about the poor quality experience.

We'll see if they respond. I don't expect much.

We do however expect Darden restaurants to be good here in Florida as this is the home of their corporate offices. (Darden is the parent company of Olive Garden and includes, Long Horn, Bahama Breeze, Red Lobster, Season's 52).

[uscwest]

Glad to hear that you let corporate know. I would have spoken to the manager, told him/her that the food was totally unacceptable and that I was NOT going to leave a tip, nor did I expect to pay for cold food.

[Tink]

It was an extremely stressful experience all the way around. When I saw that the server didn't take the soup off the bill, I just simply wanted out of there. Sometimes you just don't want to argue. This was one of those times.

It's a fact of life here. If you dine in the heavy tourist areas you are going to get substandard food (as compared to the same restaurant in non-tourist areas). Period.

In the email I sent I did let them know that there were 6 out of 11 guests who were local people (not that that will matter... they are totally geared toward ripping off the tourists who they don't see as returning).

[Johnie]

Tourist area or not, that is just unacceptable.