Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Chandler

’24 Review #TBD Olive Garden Italian Restaurant - Chandler | Multiple Visits | [Italian - American] Reviews: (Yelp // Google // TripAdvisor) [Rating: Bad; Poor; Mediocre; OK; Good; Very Good; Excellent] Ethnic Eats/Food Entry: 32 miles r/t (Cost: $50.00) 11.20.24 3430 W Chandler Blvd, Chandler, AZ 85226 480.857.0126 https://www.olivegarden.com/menu/classic-entrees

Review: We don’t frequent big box eateries often – we’re more into local or regional establishments. We haven’t been here for a while! Somethings have changed, others have not! The overall consistency of both quality and menu items, the flavorful marinara, the services rendered – they continue to be overall outstanding as experienced. The prices have changed, yet it is something we’re dealing with within the entire dining and related industries! It’s a given in our day and age. But when it comes to eating and enjoying Italian American cuisine… they hold their own, and very well I might add. Darden Restaurants have sustained their organizational quality and customer respect by continuing the standard of quality expected. The Olive Garden – Chandler is no exception. It is virtually impossible nowadays to not find conglomerates operating restaurants that can actually provide 1) amazing service: 4.0 , 2) excellent attention to detail especially in hospitality: 3.8 , 3) cleanliness, hygiene and comfort in their décor, amenities and restrooms: 4.0 , 4) an abundant and/or varied food and/or product menu: 4.5 , 5) consistently appetizing offerings: 4.0 , 6) a sincere customer service: 3.8 , 7) unique, innovative or specialized menus: 4.5 , 8) value and price of meals: 3.5 , and most of all, 9) the inert desire of one wanting to return, again and again for the experience gained: 3.5 . These are some if not most of what my basic requirements are when visiting one of these establishments each time. My wife and I, although not professional reviewers, are connoisseurs of excellent foods whether a fine upscale cuisine, middle of the road common eats, or a low-end fast-food joint. In this way, I have developed a to-the-point method for determining the personal worthiness of each establishment visited as noted in my opening. Simplified, each requisite noted for the establishment visited best scored by my highest score offered. The Olive Garden - Chandler scores 3.95, not bad, of a potential 5.0. Exceptionally high rating in my assessments of big box eateries. Pretty darn good! Assortment, variety and consistency is there. We just...

My wife and I love Olive Garden, and we almost always have a great experience. Tonight (6/17/2024), unfortunately, we did not. Usually, we order our meals and get chicken gnocchi soup. Usually, we have 2 to 3 bowls of soup and take our entries home. We this same thing tonight. I get the crispy chicken fettuccine, and my wife gets the cheese ravioli every time. Somehow the server, I am not going to name them as I do not wish to shame them or anything, put my wife's order as the ravioli carbonirro (believe I may be misspelling it) instead of her cheese ravioli. When we addressed this with the server, instead of apologizing about it, they argued and said that it is only on the lunch menu (we were eating dinner at around 6 pm, mind you). We told the sever no it is a regular entry, they did not believe it and went to supposedly talk to their manager about it. Of note is that they had a bunch of menus in their hands at the time so we could have shown them it was. Eventually, they returned and apologized, saying that the cheese ravioli did not come up their screen or something like that, which is strange since every other server we have had had no problem entering it. And we eventually got her meal and we paid and left. The manager did come over to talk about it, though they did not appoligize about it, and asked for the incorrect order back (we had had them box it up for us ahead of time this time) which we had no problem with as we did not want it in the first place and had it sitting on the side to show them and give it back to them. The manager was also nice enough to tell us that they would take the incorrect order off of our bill. We did pay for the correct one that we had ordered for my wife, which they put on the bill after taking off the incorrect one. Makes me wonder what the server told the manager about the situation. The way the manager reacted makes me think the server told the manager that we simply changed our mind and were trying to get something for free or something like that which we were not. We simply wanted what we ordered. Sorry this is long, but we have never had...

I rarely dine in anymore at most restaurants. My experience with Olive Garden was based on ordering to go over the phone.

The individual who took my order was polite while taking the order and accurate after reading it back to me. The person who cashed me out for almost $90 after the tip was also very efficient and polite. They even gave me a different drink after I explained the peach tea tasted like fake brisk tea and was no good. So I had no issue with the staff at all.

The reason for my 2 stars was my food. Yes, yes - if I want better food I should probably skip the chain and make it at home. Yet, sometimes things keep you from cooking at home so you order out. On those occasions, after you spend over $75 for 3 entrees, 2 take home specials, and 2 drinks, is it too much to ask that your food is actually edible?

Attached is a picture of a stuffed shell from my entree. Notice the discoloration on the pasta shell itself. Now our best guess is 1 of 2 things most likely transpired. Due to the stuffed shells not being a primary seller, either the shells got freezer burn or someone over microwaved them with parts exposed and caused it to become hard, flavorless, rubbery and as stated previously, inedible! I was only fortunate to have gotten the salad and there were bread sticks so that I actually still got to eat.

So, I do realize that there are staff shortages everywhere and that many of those working in restaurants are overworked and often underpaid. The only reason I gave this 2 stars was because of the staff. If this was just based on food, I would have given a no star review for an entree of cheese stuffed shells that is basically $20 after taxes and was like leather on some parts and rubber on others.

Next time I will try and convince my family to order from my favorite local spot if possible because I would rather not waste my money on a freezer/microwave burned entree that is only destined for...