Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Alcoa

The building on the outside, its landscaping, and the inside layout was beautiful. However, the cleanliness once inside was definitely not up to par...especially considering how slow the restaurant was. The wall next to our booth had bits of food and drops of brown liquid while one of the back cushions had crayon scribbled on it. The wine station next to us had crumbs and bits of cheese on it the entire duration of our stay. For our entire meal we had two trays on jack stands within 5 feet with dirty plates on them. Our table was never prebused and we were never asked how our meals were. Our server was pleasant and the food was just satisfactory. For example the fagioli soup's pasta was overcooked and mushy. The chicken scampi was soggy as well. Even the bathroom sink and counter were dirty along with an overflowing trash can. My wife and I both used to work at an Olive Garden for years and these are not the standards we expected. Two managers were at the front host stand for most of the time we were there, but they were not tending to their restaurant or their guests. Sad.

UPDATE FROM 2ND VISIT (in hopes of a better experience):

We visited on Mother's Day (we know it's a busy day and can get hectic), May 10th. They did a pretty good job getting us in smoothly, especially considering being set up differently due to COVID19. Our server seemed like she didn't want to be there. I am unsure her name as she didn't introduce herself or have a nametag on. She was more of an order taker rather than bringing a welcoming experience. No pre-bussing (despite empty plates/bowls on our table), no checking on how our food was, etc. The biggest surprise to my wife was that the server never once said, "Happy Mother's Day." There wasn't even a "have a nice day" with a few mints dropped off at the end. Odd.

The lasagna was dried out (plates came out super hot like they'd been sitting under the heat lamp awhile). Overall, the food was decent, but just not what we expected.

Perhaps the biggest issue I had was the cleanliness. As we were getting seated we walked past food on the floor and a used rubber glove. Once again, there were trays of dirty dishes on tray jacks next to us in the dining area for the entire duration of our stay. Additionally, after a family next to us left, their table sat with dirty plates on it for half our stay. Gross. There were menus and coasters laying on the ledges around the booths near us. When I got up to use the restroom, I noticed the glove and food was still on the floor. That's when I got frustrated. In a high traffic area, for 45 minutes, no employee or manager stopped to clean this trash up!

I would say that this experience was actually worse than our previous one. I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a clean dining area, clean restaurant, pleasant service, and fresh food. I just wish these were present on this visit. I felt badly for my wife that I had selected Olive Garden to celebrate Mother's Day. Nothing about it was special (nothing even mentioned to my wife from anyone on staff despite having our...

Me an my husband came in on August 4th for our 19th anniversary. The restaurant was not busy it was around 5:30pm or so. They didn't ask us if we wanted a table or booth so we had to ask to be seated at a booth. Our waiter was not at all knowledgeable it the menu or how the process works. We had to ask for bread sticks and salad. When he replied I think we still do unlimited salad and bread sticks. I then said will you find out because if you don't we will be leaving to find another restaurant. The waiter then said yes left and came back only with bread sticks. We waited a little longer then ask for a salad. Once the salad arrived it was brown and had huge chunks of the hard root or end pieces. We had to pick them out. Barely had any dressing on it at all. 2 tomatoes, 4 black olives and had to practically beg of parmesan cheese to be put on it. After we put our salad in our bowls we began to look at the menu that has changed for the worse. Prices for simple things have absolutely skyrocketed. The stuffed mushrooms are no longer available at this location. In shock we looked and was now disappointed we choose Olive garden to celebrate this special day at. Regular spaghetti was over 12$ and alfredo ( just sauce and noodles) was over 16$ the chicken alfredo was over 19$. Tour of Italy was over 20$. Keep in mind that most folks ( I know I have) have figured out the very simple recipe for the alfredo sauce, spaghetti, etc. And buying the most expensive heavy whipping cream and other ingredients to make the alfredo sauce and noodles would not cost 16$ for the portion they give you. But you pay for the convenience and apparently there time and effort is extremely pricey. We then just ordered the creat your own and both got the noodles with creamy mushroom sauce. Once again disappointed it was so dry. We had to look for a mushroom and I found one the size of a pea. My husband had no mushrooms at all in his. Needless to say it was beyond disappointing. No need to complain about anything because our waiter wouldn't had known what to do or whom to ask. We simply ate our sauce less noodles and paid and left. We will not be...

Before I work day started, I sent a curbside pick up online order in to the Alcoa location. After work, I swing by the restaurant and receive the food in a very timely matter. When I got home and started to set out the food - I noticed that my Shrimp Alfredo had scallops in it (very allergic to these!) and my shoulders slump.

I've already decontaminated from my work day and I still needed to wake my husband up to eat. We work opposite shifts so dinner time is truly the only time we can spend any time together. I call the restaurant and after hearing my concerns, the sweet women on the phone referred me to the manager.

I simply wanted to share with the team that my food was not what I had ordered, that I would not be able to consume what had been delivered and was hoping that I could come back to the restaurant to pick up my original order.

With Covid forcing a new normal, I completely understand kitchens being overworked and even in more "normal" times - humans being human. After personally working at 120% for 10 weeks since my work opened - I simply wanted to enjoy one of my favorite meals instead of cook for once.

This team at the Alcoa location is exceptional!

The manager expressed his concerns and was sorry to hear about my order - not only would I receive my shrimp Alfredo but he would include a dessert (he even took the courtesy to listen to my other health concerns, other allergies) for my time having to come back to the restaurant. I drive out to the restaurant and call that I was back - the manager immediately walks out with my food, a fresh salad, dessert and an absolutely delicious raspberry/white peach tea (I think it was that - I loved it so much on the way home!!).

What was a minor inconvenience - the manager and awesome team at the Alcoa location quickly transformed the evening into a wonderful night.

Thank you so much - I hope your staff stays...