Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Aurora

OK so this is a negative review to start out but thanks to the GM Adam, was able to completely change the course of our experience. So as y'all probably know one of the best part of the meal is the breadsticks, who could of thought that these famous breadsticks would cause such a ruckus. It all started with my Birthday on Friday, My wife ordered the food to go for our family get together. I stopped by after work to pick it up on the way home. When I arrived young lady was very helpful she pulled out like 3 receipts and saw them and looked for the bags and proceeded to hand me my order. She even asked if i needed help getting to my car. I let her know i was fine and thanked her. I drove home which is about a 30 min drive from the location and it is the closest location to me. I arrived home brought the bags and placed them on the kitchen island. Hurried up to shower since guests would be arriving in about 45 min. When I got out my wife had set up the food since we had about 5 min before everyone arrived and asked where are the breadsticks? Of course at that point the look in my face was priceless and also concerned. I said I don't know they should be in the bag did you order them. She of course said yes. So this is where the call came in. Asked for a manager immediately and finally got one of the assistant managers (AM) I will not disclose his name as to not put him on the spot and obviously he knows who it is, and hopefully is a teaching moment on his ongoing management journey. Phone call with AM was really bizarre apparently there is a protocol or his own protocol for him. He basically said I can't bring you the bread and I am sorry for the inconvenience and I can take off the salad for you a $25 value. I was under the impression we had paid $15 for bread, but really I was trying to figure out at this point what am i going to do since people are beginning to arrive and no bread. I was thinking king soopers like french bread and cut it up into smaller pieces. I was not thinking $$$. When he brought it up though I immediately said wait your going to discount the salad and yet i don't have bread??? So in my head I was thinking he is giving $10 off for the inconvenience, yet all i wanted was bread for the guests. I basically asked him and said are you the GM? he said I am the manager you have to deal with tonight I am it. at that point I was upset and said I did not ask you that, I asked are you the GM? He then said no, his name is Adam and he is not here today and will not be here tomorrow. As a GM myself I was clearly seeing the struggle the AM was going through in his decision making process. He than said well thats where I start off what would you like, if you come in your next visit i can get you a gift card and buy you a bunch of bread. Ok at this point I just said WOW!! again the breadsticks made a mess. So I explained to him its not even about the money at this point. I am in a bad spot and guests are here now i need to come up with something fast. I told him thank you for the info and that I will speak to Adam the GM on Monday, he said ok yes sir my name is ..... and GM's name is Adam. Anyways about 10 min later I got a call from Adam and he was very sincere in his apology and listened and also brought me the breadsticks all the way home. That is why he is the GM and its exactly the kind of service has been missing or I guess we have allowed as a society. Thank you Adam and I will be sure to pass on my story and recommend olive garden southlands. P.S. all the bread finished and we had pasta left over just goes to show how important that bread specially...

Olive Garden is often known for it's Italian eatery and simple dishes. This specific location is set near the Southlands mall. I am writing this review because of the astonishingly terrible first experience I had eating at this establishment for lunch. I often frequent the locations near Lakewood and Littleton. However, as I was coming down near the Southlands area I had a craving for something Italian. Thus, I came across a nearby Olive Garden (this location).

The atmosphere and environment are standard. However, upon ordering I was met with a strange question for my entree. The waiter asks, "Do you want the dinner portion? Or the lunch portion?" I have never heard this question but settled for the dinner portion. Upon receiving the entree I found that it was a regular portion. This discovery left me dumbfounded. I was told that the dinner portion is slightly larger. However, what I received was a regular portion that should not have warranted the question of "dinner" or "lunch" portion.

The entree I ordered was the Chicken Alfredo. The pasta noodles were undercooked and still hard. Additionally, I had asked for a shared plate. What I received was not two plates but rather a regular plate of Chicken Alfredo with two spoons. This is an irregular experience. Often times when ordering for a shared entree I receive two plates with the entree split evenly.

Additionally, the soup or appetizer I ordered was the Chicken and Gnocchi. As I was attempting to share the entree and soup, I asked for two portions of the soup. Regularly, at other locations I frequent, I am met with good service and told that two soups will come out shortly. However, the waiter receives my request and replies that it will be charged as an appetizer if I wish to have a second plate of soup.

Despite this additional cost, I proceeded with the order. The two soups arrived and I found immediately that the Chicken and Gnocchi was thin. The soup, compared to every other location, is thin. Generally, the Chicken and Gnocchi is a thick soup base with some vegetables that warms the soul. However, this soup is comparable to a warm and watery sop for the warm breadsticks.

In the end, the meal was dissatisfactory. From the thin soup base for the Chicken and Gnocchi to the undercooked pasta noodles for the Chicken Alfredo it was a terrible experience. The total cost for the meal was $31.62. The cost for the additional soup appetizer was $8.79. Normally, this shared meal of two small plates of Chicken Alfredo and two plates of Chicken and Gnocchi is roughly $22.83 total. Essentially, an extra $9 for terribly thin soup and undercooked pasta.

I do not recommend this location at all. However, if you should come here I would highly advise that you do not order the Chicken Alfredo nor ask to share your entree and soup. I would recommend going to a different restaurant to eat at or a different Olive...

Yesterday my husband went to Olive Garden to pick up dinner as a surprise on his way home from work. He placed his order at 4:45 and the app said it would be ready by 5:15. He drove to Southlands and discovered tons of cars lining the street and the parking lot over flowing. He waited in line thinking the store was just busy due to the holiday. He eventually made it to the curbside hostess who took down his name and information. She told him to park in the lot and wait for his food.

My husband waited until 7:00 and decided to talk with the hostess at the door. She was surrounded by numerous customers in similar situations i.e. waiting for orders that were placed earlier in the day. The hostess explained their system went down close to 5:00 and the orders placed before then were lost. She took down everyone’s name that was waiting and was surprised when my husband said he had been waiting since 5:15. The hostess took the list of names inside. My husband waited and waited.

At 8:00 he approached the hostess again and asked about his order. The hostess said it was lost among orders that people didn’t pick up and that she would take his name straight to the kitchen. She said she expected it to be ready in 10-15 minutes. At 9:00 his food was finally handed over. When he got home the order was correct, but the food was cold.

Today I called the manager and explained what happened last night. He said he “understood” that I was frustrated and that he was “sorry” my husband waited so long. He tried to tell me my husband should have left when his food didn’t come out sooner. When I told him he waited because he was constantly told it would only be a few more minutes he didn’t have an excuse. When I asked him how he was going to resolve everything he said he could refund our order or give us a gift card. I tried explaining that no one should have to wait for 4 hours for any sort of culinary experience especially not “Italian” cuisine. He said it was all he could do. I promptly hung up on him.

Long story short I will never NEVER dine at this location again. In my opinion managers have 2 jobs. The first is to ensure the restaurant runs smoothly. The second is to ensure ALL customers are satisfied. Not only am I dissatisfied, but so are the hundreds of customers that were left high and dry on Mother’s Day. Aside from us Olive Garden let down the employees that were left to manage the entire fiasco on their own. In the 4 hours my husband was waiting he didn’t see a manager a single time.

Whoever owns this particular location should be ashamed or at least remove whoever was overseeing last nights operations. Oh and give the blond haired hostess a raise. My husband said she was the most patient, calm and collected waitress in the face of some of the most irate customers he...