Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Bowie

My purse was stolen at the Bowie Olive Garden. The manager Ben, was highly unconcerned- and seemed as if he couldn’t care less. If I could give negative stars, I would!

I visited the ToGo section of Olive Garden on Saturday, April 14, 2018 with my two youngest kids. The take-out section was empty, there were some sparsely scattered customers in the building but, only staff was in the area at the time.

We entered the restaurant but our order wasn’t ready, so we sat on the bench and waited maybe 5 minutes. The two ladies at the counter were friendly. I paid for my order, and moved to the other end of the counter (for pick-up). The employee showed me the food, & packed it away, I took the bag and left. I’m very methodical with my purse- I have a specific compartment for it in my car. Since I had the bag of food on my wrist- I didn’t notice my wristlet was missing, until I got to the car. I quickly checked to make sure the purse wasn’t on the floor, between the seats or in the bag. I checked on the ground outside of the car then went back in - my purse was gone. I asked the people there if someone picked it up- asked the hostess... I looked around ...I didn’t find it. I began to think it was in my car & I just didn’t see it. I felt I could conduct a more thorough search at home. At that point it was after 9pm, I just wanted to get my kids home, fed and in bed. I arrived home and searched the car, again. I emptied the bag, looked under& beside the seats- I searched the entire car, just in case, and the purse wasn’t there. I called asking the hostess if she could give the area a quick look- she didn’t see the purse.

I decided to drive back and search on my own. I figured it was a small purse maybe they didn’t see it. With my sleeping kids in the back seat, I headed back to Olive Garden. I was becoming more angered at this point. En route, I called again & asked for the manager. I was on hold for 16 mins, which is how long it took me to get to the restaurant. I showed the first hostess my phone and told her I was holding for the manager. She paged him and he approached the hostess area rather quickly- considering how long I was on hold. One employee claimed they saw my purse & discribed it.... the hostess looked around the (hostess) stand to no avail. With sleeping kids in hand- I also searched the most probable areas and beyond- still no purse. Other than hostess taking my number- the manager was useless. I know there are cameras- but I’m certain he did not check & probably had an excuse why he couldn’t check them. I called the next morning to see if someone did the right thing, and turned it in- but no one had.

I will not be visiting that location again. If you choose to visit the Olive Garden 4101 Town Center Blvd. Bowie- be careful with your valuables- they...

Olive Garden is not the same restaurant it was the first time I went there with my grandmom in 1992, nor when I worked there in 1995. The uniform then was a starched, white, Oxford shirt and men's tie, black pants, black belt, black socks and shoes, long, half apron, name badge. Makeup was subdued. Piercings besides earrings were not allowed. Long hair had to be pulled back- ponytails, buns, braids, etc. Again, simple. Perfume was not allowed. I was lucky enough to work at the Pensacola store with a chef named Maria who was from Italy and spent two weeks a year at the test kitchens in Italy. Beautiful murals on the walls and art in the high end, multi page menus were done by Maria's very talented son. Food was prepped by hand in advance but everything was fresh and cooked to order. Server training was about 2 weeks with a high standard of excellence in food and service. Guests happily waited an hour or more for seating during the nightly dinner rush. Restaurants were fastidiously clean in all areas. Impeccably dressed managers were visible and visited tables throughout the nightly to ensure guests were happy. Fast forward to now- as soon as you walk in, you can smell the bathrooms. The decor is bland and bordering on shabby, especially the booth seats. Single page menus are printed on cheap paper, like a diner. Servers are slovenly and lackadaisical. I didn't see a single busboy or manager. Service was friendly but slow. The food was mostly edible. Gone are the hand-breaded chicken breasts and flavorful marinara sauce for the chicken parm- the chicken now resembles something you'd find in an institutional cafeteria and the sauce is more like unseasoned tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. The shrimp scampi was a bland dish with undercooked vegetables. There was a pervasive sense of mediocrity. So disappointing. We...

We are past residents from the Bowie area and use to visit their Olive Garden restaurant often. As we were on business in their location this past Wednesday 13 November, we decided to stop in for a carry-out order. It was about 2:50PM and they were not very busy so we were lucky to receive very quick and professional service service from their To-Go counter employee Karen B. We would like to give her our very special thanks because when we returned home and opened our order, it was as thorough as if we were actually dining in the restaurant. I would definitely recommend this Olive Garden dining as it shows the general manager Mr. Danny Vogelsang has done a fine job in overseeing the preparation and delivery of another most memorable meal. Respectfully.

AN OUTSTANDING UPDATE Yesterday Tuesday 8/26/2025 about 6:30 PM after an all day business trip to the Bowie area, we were hungry and decided to have a short stop family dinner again at this Olive Garden restaurant. As we were so impressed with the amazing quantity, flavors and preparation of our menu selections, I was compelled to give their cooks this very, very outstanding thank-you, well above all our other dining experiences throughout the area, and even now our greater Annapolis area. This impressive Olive Garden visit was further supported by one of manager Keith Snyder's well trained and efficient serving staff Tatianna. This most patient lady could and did answer any and all our menu receipt and recommendation questions, easily. We now agree that whenever we are in the area again and are thinking of an outstanding Italian meal, it will certainly be this Olive Garden restaurant. To any readers, I honestly say this is a MUST-TRY dining location, you will not be disappointed. ...