Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Decatur

I visited your establishment for my sister's birthday. Here we go. First I really do appreciate the no wait for the 5 of us, thank you very much. However they needed to set the table, which I assume would have been menus and utensils. We were sat down and our waiter was Moses. He received our drink order and appetizers. My bill was separate from my sisters and her family. That was no problem and he began to type our order in the tablet that was set on our table. We finally received our salad after quite some wait. Moses asked us if we wanted cheese on our salad, which we would love. He didn't have the cheese grinder with him and had to go get it, so we waited to eat our salad. While we waited he was assisting his other table behind us, which is understandable, I know he has more than one table. But. You remember the drinks and the appetizers, well that tablet was actually for the table that was trying to pay their bill and leave. So while Moses is taking care of the mess up, he still has our cheese that was never put on the salad. We waited and finally started eating it without the cheese. Basically done he comes back with he cheese. Takes our food order. 3 entrées and 2 kids meals. The amount of time we had to wait. The table behind us was already sat down with a new couple and they were receiving their meals before us. Moses comes out and says the entrées are done but they forgot the kids meals. So ours were sitting under the heat lamp. I got shrimp scampi and my sister got something with shrimp and chicken. Let me tell you the shrimp was so chewy and like rubber. After we've eaten my sister ordered tiramisu for her birthday. She was charged and we got the bill corrected but then waited at least 10 minutes for her dessert and by that time we were already packed up and ready to go. So we got it to go. Moses never asked us if we wanted of the the take $5 entrée home. I would have liked one so I ordered it and he gave it to me because he didn't want to go back and re ring up my bill. Which was nice for me so I appreciate that but overall not a good experience especially since I was on vacation visiting my sister. I'm from Michigan and drove to Alabama for her birthday. Thank you in for taking the time to read my...

A Brief and Truthful Account of My Supper at the Olive Garden in Decatur, Alabama By Mark Twain (had he ever ambled that far South and been partial to breadsticks)

Now I’ve eaten in many places—on steamboats, in smoky saloons, at boarding houses run by suspicious widows with even more suspicious meatloaf—but I must confess, my visit to the Olive Garden in Decatur, Alabama, was a downright pleasure and not the sort that leaves you regretting it before you hit the parking lot.

Upon entering, I was met with the kind of warmth a man doesn’t often find outside his mama’s house or a well-placed patch of sunlight in late spring. The folks working there were cheerful in that unmistakably Southern way—polite, prompt, and blessedly unpretentious. No one looked down their nose at me, which I consider a mighty fine way to begin a meal.

Now, let us speak of the breadsticks. Lord Almighty. They bring them to you warm, soft, and seasoned with just enough garlic to make a man feel both satisfied and a little sinful. And the salad—why, it was served in a bowl big enough to bathe a child in, and dressed with such gusto that I nearly forgot it was lettuce I was eating. I kept saying, “No more,” and yet my hand betrayed me every time.

As for the main course, I ordered the Tour of Italy, because why settle for one delight when three will do? Lasagna, chicken parmigiana, and fettuccine Alfredo, all sharing a plate like old friends at a reunion. Each bite reminded me that, while Rome may have fallen, its flavor lives on in north Alabama.

The price was fair, the tea was sweet, and the company was kind. I left fuller than I intended and happier than I deserved. If ever you find yourself in Decatur with an empty belly and an open heart, you’d do well to make your way to that Olive Garden. It ain’t Florence, but it’s mighty fine dining just the same—and if you squint a little, those breadsticks start to look an awful lot like golden scepters...

We waited way too long for salad that we could have been eating while waiting for main course. When the server came she she brought the the food. We asked for dressing on the side and it was not brought because the waitress said there was not room on the tray and said she'd be right back with it. That was not true. There was room on the tray because she and another server brought 2 trays together for 2 tables with salad and breadsticks. The dressing was in a small cylinder type pitcher and no way there was not room on one of the trays. She continued to pass our table with no dressing to wait on a new table that just got there. They got drinks & salad before we got salad dressing. Terrible server. She asked a couple of times if we needed anything and had to tell her what we needed. She was not engaged. she is the type that just wants to wait on you, give food and be done. the only time she recognized what we needed was when I obviously put my empty water glass on the edge of the table. Ding, ding, ding..... it was not hard to figure that out but I guess everything else was. Other servers here have been on top of it and brought you refills or offered you refills, at lest, without asking. We got a to-go dinner and salad to go. She did not bring a bag to pack it all nor offer to-go dressings nor brought us the little after dinner mints. Servers need to be consistent. we won't be back for a while or go the another Olive Garden. we do not live in Decatur, so no problem to...