Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Burnsville

I hadn't been to Olive Garden in years until yesterday. I have been to them around the country and always had pleasant and memorable experiences. But this time I was very disappointed. There was no problem when getting to the table, but then that's when I noticed the quality went down. This might be an overall change to cut corners in the business, but I noticed the menu is just a piece of paper now, instead of the former laminated menu with several pages with the metal corners and fabric edges that makes the experience feel luxurious along with the interior decorations. This is similar to how I experienced the children's coloring book became a tiny piece of plain paper with a print out on it, years ago, instead of the colorfully illustrated full-size booklet that teaches some Italian (which we got at Olive Gardens when I was growing up in the early 2000s-2010s). So I felt like I was at a lower quality restaurant than expected, already.

Either way, then the server we got immediately was confusing because it sounded like she was speaking a foreign language quickly to us from the start. We were polite about it, but it was an issue. There were mostly empty tables around us at that hour, but she still managed to not be attentive when asked for no ice in a drink or no cheese on a dish. Also, Olive Gardens used to always have servers who were so well trained and kind, asking if we enjoyed the meal and if we needed anything, a couple times, despite an always busy restaurant. Instead, this time, I was left wondering when and if the waitress would ever return. And, I repeat, it was the most empty I have seen an Olive Garden be!

One of my family members was given a dirty dish with their soup in it, so somehow the waitress and kitchen staff didn't notice - or perhaps didn't care. But we were too polite to want to complain to staff, so it was kept amongst ourselves.

When we got our breadsticks, which are usually heavenly and soft and so well-flavored and fresh and I was so looking forward to - ohhhh no. Our breadsticks weren't hot, they didn't have much of the signature garlic salt flavor on them, and the texture was tough and almost dry like they were old. (Actually, the texture was exactly how the breadsticks were when we used to order and pick-up from Olive Garden in another state, and had to drive over 1hr to get home, and then had to reheat them in the bag provided.) Not good at all, and certainly not what I ever thought I'd experience in the actual restaurant! And, one of the breadsticks was torn in half when we got it. 🤦🏽‍♀️ Why? And also, we never were asked if we wanted more - which was always the best part, to me, to have endless breadsticks that were steaming hot and whetting the appetite.

When I got my soup, I had never seen it served in such a way before. The bowl was too shallow, so it looked like the broth was poured in separately, and then the shells and beans and vegetables were plopped on top in a pile in the middle, higher than the broth. It looked unappetizing visually, albeit I have Asperger's so I am very picky about such things. Just as well, the vegetables were cut too big to fit in the mouth/on the soup spoon. I never had this problem with the minestrone before, and I would think that chefs would consider that detail. The flavor wasn't bad, but I couldn't enjoy it. At least everything in the soup was cooked through.

I had the breaded eggplant dish, and, although I had to remove the cheese from it, for trying it the first time it was super delicious. The pasta I got seemed a bit overcooked, however, and even though the sauce had very yummy flavor I got so little of it. Most of the pasta was 'naked'. So that was a minor issue. When a different server took my dishes away, he said something that made me feel bad because I clearly had not been able to finish the dish. ("The soup was so good, wasn't it?" he said, although I didn't understand it 3/4 times he repeated of his own volition.) I felt he was going to dump the food on my head when he took my dishes, out of spite. I won't return to...

Date of Visit: 10/6/2018 approx. 6:00PM - After our experience on 9/26, I received a phone call from John, the General Manager. He apologized and offered me a gift certificate to try the location again, so I did. This time was so much better. We arrived to go to dinner and they quoted us a 1.5 hour wait. We didn't want to wait that long, but we thought we would give it a try anyway. We were seated after approximately 25-30 minutes, but they sat us at a booth. A fair warning to large people - YOU WILL NOT FIT IN THE BOOTHS. We sat down, the table was gouging in on all of our stomachs, so my mother-in-law went and found a hostess and asked to be moved. We were moved within 15 minutes. Our waitress, Erin, was pleasant, vibrant, attentive, and apologetic (if she forgot something or if she took more than her estimated '2 minutes'). She is the main reason why I'm changing my Olive Garden rating from a 2/5 stars to a 4/5 stars. The food was delicious, including the four desserts we took 'To Go' and ate the next day. I do also want to give props to Jeff, a waiter in the same area where I was sitting, who took an order for 18 high school students, with no pen/paper, and then recited it back to them accurately - how someone can remember that much, I do not know! Clearly I'm not set out to be a waitress.

Date of Visit: 09/26/2018 approx. 7:00PM - It's been at least a year since I've been to an Olive Garden, but man, have they gone downhill! We were greeted politely enough, the host showed us to the table, but when we sat down, the entire table (and menus) were sticky. Looking past that, we ordered our beverages and began looking at the menus. One member of our party ordered a watermelon margarita and a water. She was brought only a margarita. She asked two more times for a water, but it was never brought to her by our server. (It is interesting to note, however, that halfway through eating our meal, she asked for a lemonade, which she was brought immediately.) We had some questions about the never-ending pasta bowl, specifically, "Do you charge EACH BOWL for the extra $2-5 for chicken, meatballs, etc. or is that a one time fee on top of the $10 or so dollars for the special?" She informed us that we were to pay $10 for the special, and then each bowl we wanted we would be charged the $2-5 for the veggie/meat choices. It didn't seem right to us, so we had her ask another server. She came back and clarified that it was a one-time fee. (If this is a major promotion going on at the restaurant, how does the server not know what it is? Also, had she been overcharging all her other customers with a dollar value extra per bowl?) Continuing on with our meal, we placed our orders - all four of us ordered the special. We received the correct orders on our first pasta bowl, but our group ordered another three pasta bowls between the four of us and one order was correct, the other two were missing the chicken from the top. I'm sorry, but we paid for the extra add-on (chicken) and we're not getting it with our pasta bowls??? Additionally, despite the server saying "Yes, I'll get you some breadsticks," we never received any - we did, however, receive our salad (which was taken away from the table without asking us if we were done with it) and soup (plus refills). Very disappointing overall and will definitely not be back anytime in the near future due to this very selectively inattentive server (it wasn't busy - so I can't even blame...

I used to think of Olive Garden similar to Red Lobster; a place I might go on special occasions, but not somewhere I would go on regular days, due to high prices. This changed recently when my father passed away and my mother suggested we go to the location in Bloomington. She introduced me to the NeverEnding Soup & Salad. For a very reasonable price near lunchtime they would serve exactly what it says… bowl after bowl of soups. You can ask for the same soup or try different ones, your choice. In addition they bring out a large salad made up of lettuce, tomatoes, croutons, red onions, olives, peppers…with cheese if you like. We would order the salad without olives or peppers and no added cheese. Soup on the other hand I would have them add cheese. They don’t stop adding it until you tell them to stop either! I remember stories about Olive Garden trying to push wine onto customers, and customers taking advantage of the endless breadsticks. I don’t drink and I’m not that big a fan of bread, but their breadsticks are amazing.

Recently we went on a weekend, when the soup & salad is $2 more, and at a busy time of day. I joined a waitlist online and without realizing it had provided my email address and agreed to receive advertising from them. The very first email was for a free appetizer (or dessert) with an adult entree, not the soup & salad. I started to look at the menu for their other items. We had looked at the menu before and thought it was mostly pasta dishes and or seafood. which I wasn’t particularly interested in. But now I realized they offered a steak as well. My mouth began to water. I’m not one for desserts, and theirs are decadent, but a free appetizer intrigued me. I chose the Burnsville location as its closer to where I live, plus currently there’s construction on the road by the Bloomington one.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the building looked very similar if not exactly the same as the other location, on the inside. I had viewed the menu online and pre-chosen what I would order. The least decadent appetizer was meatballs, and because too much cow meat didn’t appeal to me, decided on the chicken Alfredo for my entree. I was going by myself.

I had a feeling that the dishes were large amounts of food, and I was right. I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat it all, because in addition to the entree you also got either a soup or salad, and breadsticks, but had learned I could take food home with me. I hadn’t ever done it before, but I needed to today.

The server was very pleasant and helpful with my coupon. My meal would have been $33 plus tax but with the coupon came out to only $22 including tax; not really expensive when you take in the service, amount of food and ambience. Because I was getting something free, I decided to tip more than my usual 25%. I give less if the service isn’t good, but I received excellent service.

I was surprised when the Chef (or what appeared to be the chef) came to check up on me. It may have been the manager, but he was in a chef’s outfit. This really made me feel special! I hadn’t seen anyone like this at the Bloomington location, and I’ve been there several times.

I was...