Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Concord

Ok, but not outstanding. I went with someone 4 their birthday. We were seated right away. The hostess was nice enough 2 ask "booth or table?". We chose booth. We were seated in a corner wall booth, which I liked, 4 the slightly more privacy factor. The waitress was very over eager 2 point out things on the menu, b4 we could peruse it ourselves. She asked if we wanted a wine sample, when I was with an 18 yr old, which annoyed & shocked me. At any rate, I ordered the unlimited, soup, salad & bread sticks. I ordered the salad, without onions, olives or tomatoes, which I don't like. They even omitted the pepperocini peppers too, even though I didn't mention them. I didn't want them either, so that was fine. IF YOU DON'T WANT A SOGGY SALAD, ORDER THE DRESSING ON THE SIDE. They only have ONE dressing choice, their "signature" Italian. I don't like Italian dressing, so I brought my own, some vegan Ranch dressing, that I had made, & vegan croutons, so, I was able to enjoy it anyway. The "unlimited" salad, only amounted to 3 sparse servings, or 2 moderate servings, per initial bowl. Also, I asked 4 fresh broccoli (the only other vegetable, that they offer) 2 put in my salad since I omitted so many other vegetables from the salad. They charged me $2.99 for the broccoli, which annoyed me. I also asked 4 some carrots, 2 put in the salad. 1st she insisted it wasn't possible, but then she came with a small plate of some. She nearly contaminated the salad, by zealously exclaiming "would you like some cheese?" (from a grater) I rushed 2 cover the salad, & said "no" as she continued 2 offer the cheese 2 my friend, who also said "No". I also smuggled in my own vegan butter, 4 the bread sticks. The 1st order of "unlimited" bread sticks, contained 3 bread sticks. The 2nd round of "unlimited"' bread sticks, contained only TWO bread sticks. I feel a little jilted because there weren't 3 bread sticks, like in the 1st round. I had looked up online, about what sides they offered, & found recipes, 4 roasted potatoes, Risotto, Creamy Polenta, Green Beans with Tomato & Garlic, Marinated Peppers, Roasted Corn & Tomato Salad, White Bean Salad with tomatoes & Crispy Pancetta, & Garlic Mashed Potatoes. When we looked at the menus, we could find NO SIDE DISHES LISTED ANYWHERE! I asked about the potatoes, & she said they no longer have any roasted potatoes, but she thought they still might serve the Garlic Mashed Potatoes. When she confirmed this, I ordered some for $2.99. I got a big scoop of them, about the size of a baseball. They were so good, especially with some of the vegan butter I brought. They were probably not vegan though. So, if you're vegan, Olive GARDEN offers very little 4 vegans 2 eat. Oh, I got the "unlimited" Minestrone soup, which IS vegan, & was good, with many vegetables. But, 4 "unlimited", I could only consume 2 bowls. My friend, a vegetarian, had more options, as virtually every dish has cheese in it, or on it. I was so engrossed in my salad, that thank goodness I didn't notice the Frank Sinatra "music" that was playing, that my friend told me about later. That's not exactly Italian atmospheric music. So, I never really felt comfortable there. Why is it so hard 4 eateries 2 come up with naturally vegan options that everyone can eat, & then have cheese, or non vegan dressings, or whatever, as add ons? There are 1,000s of edible plants, & millions of ways 2 combine them, but eateries, can't seem 2 come up with anything, except, pasta Marinara, bread, potatoes (some mashed potatoes, aren't even vegan), & "garden" salads. SO, we've "been there, done that", but probably won't do it again. More options, give more people a reason 2 go back, 4 something DIFFERENT. There's no point in going again, 2 always have the same exact thing because there r no other options. The $10.99 pasta plate was HUGE, probably about 5 cups of pasta, enough 2 feed 5 people conservatively. They DO allow "boxing" of what u can't finish, &...

My husband and I attended a political event and visited the Olive Garden in Concord. I feared we would receive poor service because we were wearing shirts with our party candidate’s name but we were both hungry and had not eaten since breakfast. We received the bare minimum of service. Our waiter didn’t bring our drinks until my husband reminded him. He saw our empty table and asked, “ I didn’t bring them?” He never brought our breadsticks. Everyone around us received attentive service. A waitress took one look at me and said “ Oh G-d! One of those! and asked another waitress to trade with her. We never got a bag to take our leftovers out but I watched our waiter bring bags, pack the leftover boxes and teach another patron how to use the kiosk. My husband gave a decent tip because he believes in treating others how he wants to be treated. I honestly feel anger and want to cry at how poorly we were treated.

Edit for additional info: I already wrote a complaint to corporate but I will NEVER eat at another Olive Garden again. The Director of Operations did follow up with me and was very apologetic. She even sent $150 gift card. I thanked her and deleted it because I will never step foot in another Olive Garden or Darden restaurant again. Their service people are poorly trained individuals that should be fired but won’t be. There are “authentic” Italian restaurants and family run businesses who appreciate ALL customers and treat ALL customers with respect! That is the rudest anyone has ever...

Well, where do I begin. You guys are usually pretty good and pleasant. I came this past Friday, Feb. 18th and had a large group of 15 people. I asked in the beginning if they wanted to know who was together for the checks. They said no we will get that at the end. Things seemed to be fine we were seated right away and everything went well until the end. We are a pretty quiet group mind you. Pretty much right after we got out dinner we were getting our checkout receipts. People were not even done eating, no one was asked if they wanted another drink or desert and to top if off each person got a separate receipt so couples were made to get on the table top check thing and pay twice when it should have been combined and we felt like we were being kicked out. A few people did get dessert to they had to reprint receipts. To top it off the morning after my son and a few other kids(that ate the same thing) were horribly sick and throwing up everything. I took my son to the doctors and they said he had food poisoning. He had the kids Mac and cheese with spaghetti and fries. This is such a big disappointment not only for me the for the group I was with. We should not have been rushed out of there and they should have handled the receipts a lot better. My son will never return now because he is afraid of getting sick again. From a heart...