Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Chesapeake

I attempted to have lunch here. After a 15 minute wait (disappointing considering the empty tables, but acceptable) we were taken to a table that had already been sat. Then we had to stand awkwardly nearby waiting for our new table to be cleared off, and then the hostess disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes to find a towel to wipe the table (Still disappointing, but acceptable).

After being sat, it took a while for our waitress to walk past. As she was hurrying back past us, we attempted to clarify that we were provided a dinner menu instead of a lunch menu. She informed us that they didn't offer a lunch menu on holidays (Presidents Day?). Extremely disappointing, considering that raises the entree prices $5-10 and limits the options for a quick meal.

Then, when out waitress returned, she took the table that had been sat before us, and then came to our table. We attempted to place our order for drinks and food since we has been waiting long enough to decide and were limited on time. This is where attempted things went downhill. She told us (with attitude) that even though we were ready to order, she was only taking our drink orders and would come back for our order because the other table had been sat before us.

Getting double-sat as wait staff is unfortunate (and sucks!), but is also a hostess/manager problem not mine, especially not when we're now 20-25 minutes into a lunch break. After convincing her to take our order (Soup salad and bread sticks, because of the limited menu) she informed us (with an extra serving of attitude) that there would be a long wait for soup because everyone was ordering soup salad and bread sticks (That should be a clue as to not having the lunch menu on holidays). Suffice to say, that was the final straw, so now we're next door enjoying Smokey Bones, which did not have a wait, greeted us warmly, and has already refilled our beverages without making us feel like an inconvenience. The quality of this location has declined significantly in the past few years, and getting good service seems to be an every 3-4 visit experience.

Positives: It's Olive Garden

Negatives: Rude wait staff, limited menu, no...

Dec. 18th 2023 evening 738pm. Party of 3. Good witness. Food ordered.lets address the issues first. My soup came out with dried food attached to the spoon with a hair attached to the old food. Our witness apologized. Brought me out more soup. It was cold. When my daughters meal arrived it looked good. Then she yelled Mom I am bleeding. I looked over to see a dot of blood on her finger getting bigger. Her folk had jagged place on it and was like a thin nail. We got the witness asked for a band-aid and to speck to the Mangager. Shortly a lady walked up to the table said as she layer down the band-aid said here's your band-aid, and walked away. My daughter was afford to eat her meal, worried metal may be in it off the folk. The waitress had her meal recooked. We decided we had ,had enough! And asked for a to go box. I asked the waitress where the Mangager was and was she coming to speak to us. She said she was aware of what happened. My bill came, nothing was taken off. The waitress did care. But not the Mangager. OH AND THE TABLE THEY SAT US AT WAS NOT EVEN CLEAN. CHEESE ALL OVER IT IN SPOTS ! Our evening was ruined it really upset my daughter and Granddaughter. The next day, I pulled out my receipt and called and asked for the Mangager. I asked was she the Mangager on duty when I was there.she said yes. I informed her of the issues asked if she was aware of them.she replied yes. I told her I never saw her as requested. She said, she was the the one that laid the band-aid on our table. Omg ! That's not caring at all. I tried to speak to her concerning the issue and she cut my OFF while I was speaking. Very non caring, she said she wasn't aware she needed to come speak to me. A hair on my spoon. And my daughter cut from a folk, but she didn't find it important to come and talk to me. In the phone she was cut and dry. Should NO CONCERN OR CARE AT ALL. I will NOT RECOMMEND THIS LOCATION TO ANYBODY. I WOULD LOVE TO SPEAK TO THEIR...

Update; Why does one go to a sit-down restaurant? For me, as with most people I expect it is the ambiance and the service, as we all can make spaghetti at home. Usually it is about the waitstaff... Let me preface this by saying my mother raised us on a waitresses income (I still remember helping her count out all the change from her tips on the dinner table). My mother taught me that if you had poor service, you were to leave the waitress one penny as to let her know you did not forget her. (As tempted as I have been, I have never done that. But there are places I have never returned to because of the poor service). I still remain dumbfounded how anyone in retail expects to get 20% of a sale handed over to them just because they are there. I don't know of any other retail business that pays that high of commission or compensation on gross revenue, do you? The restaurant itself doesn't clear that much. (Google retail business margins, better yet, Google restaurant margins.) However IF they do their job properly, I gladly pay it every time thinking of mom, and if they go above and beyond I have more than once paid a tip larger than the bill. ... However today is not about the waitstaff. Today is about the restaurant itself, like I said SERVICE is everything. I have forgiven bad food and have returned to the same restaurant, I cannot say that about bad service, and I will not return when the bad service is initiated by the restaurant itself. I was told that the waitress could not take my payment, unless it was Cash. I was told I had to use the tablet on top of the table and pay the bill myself if I wanted to use anything other than cash. Are you kidding me? Is this the death knell of the wait staff? Or the sit-down restaurant all together? What next? Do you want me to go and pick up my food in the kitchen? Get my own drinks? I may as well have gone to a buffet or a fast food restaurant. Unless this policy changes, I will not...