Olive Garden - Mall of Asia — Restaurant in Pasay

Olive Garden: A Review of America's Go-To Italian-American Chain

Olive Garden stands firmly as a pillar of American casual dining, defining itself not through culinary authenticity, but through a commitment to generous portions, a family-friendly atmosphere, and, most famously, its endless supply of soup, salad, and garlic breadsticks. This chain offers comfort food designed for the American palate, resulting in an experience that is consistently accessible, if occasionally inconsistent.

The Unstoppable Trio: Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks

For many diners, the real value and highlight of an Olive Garden meal lie in the complimentary items. The signature breadsticks—warm, soft, and dusted with garlic butter—are undeniably addictive and a major draw. Similarly, the Famous House Salad, with its generous mix of greens, tomatoes, black olives, and pepperoncini tossed in Olive Garden’s Italian dressing, is reliably crisp and refreshing.

However, the standout feature is often the soup selection. Fan favorites like the creamy, slightly spicy Zuppa Toscana (Italian sausage, kale, and potatoes) and the rich Chicken & Gnocchi are routinely praised as the best items on the entire menu. For those looking for a filling and affordable lunch, the unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks offer excellent value.

The Entrée Experience: Comfort Over Cuisine

When moving to the main course, opinions tend to diverge. Olive Garden specializes in heavily Americanized Italian-American dishes, which is both its strength and its biggest criticism. Classics like the Tour of Italy (featuring Chicken Parmigiana, Lasagna Classico, and Fettuccine Alfredo) are massive and satisfying but are sometimes criticized for being overly salty or inconsistent in quality.

The creamy pasta dishes, such as the Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara or the Steak Gorgonzola Alfredo, are often among the most popular and well-received entrées, thanks to their rich, decadent sauces. Conversely, simpler dishes like Spaghetti and Meatballs can sometimes be bland, lacking the deep, complex flavors of a traditional Italian kitchen.

Appetizers, however, boast another winner: the Lasagna Fritta (fried, parmesan-breaded lasagna) frequently earns high praise for its texture and flavor combination.

Service and Atmosphere

Beyond the food, Olive Garden consistently scores points for its service. Reviewers frequently highlight the warmth, attentiveness, and professionalism of the wait staff, which enhances the overall dining experience and reinforces the chain's "When you’re here, you’re family" slogan. The atmosphere is generally comfortable, lively, and suitable for family gatherings or casual dinners.

Final Verdict

Olive Garden is not where you go for authentic Italian fine dining; it's where you go for reliable, hearty, and copious Italian-American comfort food. It offers a solid experience anchored by its endlessly popular breadsticks and soups, making it a reliable choice for families seeking great value and a...

Olive Garden is one of my favorite restaurants in over 12 years of living in the U.S.(moved back right before pandemic), because of breadsticks, unlimited salad & pasta, we dine in an Olive Garden around 3x a month. I was excited when one opened in Manila, if they are as good as the local versions of my other "go to places" (Texas Roadhouse, Panda Express, Denny's, Ippudo), I'd be a regular. Sadly, this Olive Garden is mediocre. FOOD: Breadstick - almost the same as in the states, same with the soup (quality & portion). House salad - taste is good, portion is about 1/3 of what was usually served in the states. Reduced portion is ok (unlimited refills anyway) but they should have used a smaller bowl. Same with the pasta. Overall - food is not bad but not great either. SERVICE/AMBIANCE: Awful! Within minutes after being seated in a booth, I got 3 mosquito bites, whacked 2 more! We complained to server K (she is good), she admitted that there are mosquitoes in our section, her solution was turn on a floor fan which somehow pushed the mosquitos away but food got cold faster (I turned it off). Then came the cockroaches, on the seat, on the walls. We saw 3, the staff smacked 2 right in front of us! Manager M apologized on the 1st cockroach sighting, did not offer to move us to another table when half of the place was empty. We are already in a bad dining mood when 2 more cockroaches appeared on the wall a bit later. Manager M came back to apologize again and tried to smack one more roach. Then said, don't worry, we will make it up to you when you come back!!! The kind of BS a manager SHOULD NEVER SAY to a customer. She should have given us a discount voucher for the next visit (most likely guaranteeing a returning customer) or gave a discount right there or even comped the food due to our unpleasant experience! WHO WANTS TO DINE IN A RESTAURANT WITH ROACHES & MOSQUITOES, A NEWLY OPENED ONE AT THAT! We asked for the bill, paid and tipped server K. A few hours later, I am still upset that I'm on a computer writing a negative review. I have videos of crawling roaches on the seat & wall but only posted screenshots. The really sad thing in this Olive Garden location is management's lack of "damage control". As a business owner myself, bad things can happen BUT I TAKE THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO 'WOW" THE CUSTOMER TO MAKE SURE HE/SHE COMES BACK/BUY AGAIN. The staff never made an effort. We left Olive Garden MOA extremely disappointed. We came in around 11:20 a.m. and was out shortly before 1pm,...

Let me start with the something that I liked. The soups, I LOVE! Specially the chicken and Gnocchi (though let me say, there's only 1 pc of gnocchi per serving that they gave, and we had 3 servings, mind you). Minestrone and Pasta E Fagioli did not disappoint too. We didn't order Zuppa Toscana anymore, we got stuck with satisfaction with the Chicken and Gnocchi, but since all other soups we had was good, I hope the Toscana would be good too.

You cannot go wrong with fried Mozzarella, or maybe because we love cheese? But yes, this was okay.

Salad: Too plain, uneventful, looks sad even.

Breadstick: Personally, it was not worth raving for. Yes, it was not bad because it was warm when served, but it was too pale (undercooked?) and too soft. There was not a bit of crust, which I think it should have, to add texture.

Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara: It was just okay. Shrimp on it was good but the chicken was not flavorful, it was even what was left on the plate.

Pizza: We had Four Cheese and also Truffle and Honey Mushrooms. Pizza crust was thin, but not crisp. It did not elevate the pizza at all. So basically, pizza was just okay too. I had better pizza elsewhere.

Strawberry Passion Limonata: This was good. Peachii: Also good.

As for the service, yes it was peak hours at the time we were there, but I can see 2-3 staffs huddled together in 1 area and keept serving that area, nobody minding our table. The server assigned to our table only came once, to take our order but the rest of our meal, we had to call anybody who happened to catch our attention. There was one staff who was nice enough to approach us and asked what we needed, as there were missing orders or we ordered it for sometime and has not been served still. So, I appreciated that guy. Thank you.

Would I go back? Maybe, to try other food in the menu, maybe food is better, but I am not keen on it. With the food I was able to eat from their menu, I would say, it was...