Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Denton

My autistic son insists on having his birthday here every year and it USED to be a great place to have it. Last year was better than this year but the last 2 years have been bad in a way we are going to use the rest of this year to convince him to go somewhere else! We got there at 4:45 to get them informed that we had a large party (because they won’t do reservations) we sat around for more than 30 mins to get 2 tables in the “same area” which is ok if you don’t mind splitting up we are flexible but the other table we couldn’t interact with (it was around a corner) We had one table of 6 and a table of 12 (2 of them children) we ordered the kids pizza at the time of drinks it was the last thing we got. They sat us in the hottest spot in the restaurant (waiter acknowledged it) we were all sweating the whole time. At one point my son says, can we leave I need a shower!” Around an hour after we ordered, the table of 6 food comes out and 2 plates of the table of 12. We had 3 soup and salads at the table of 12, those and the kid pizza were the last to show up 45 mins after the other food, by this time we are all full of salad and ready to go. Wouldn’t you know, someone dropped the ball on the tickets, so we go on the table top kiosk to separate it out and that doesn’t work… the server brings us one ticket of everything (and then some stuff we didn’t even order but insisted he was right….) Why did he bring one ticket? I’m not sure… he knew we needed it separated. Finally, I went to get a manager. She comes back, has us circle, each of our ticket items, because she doesn’t know how to fix the kiosk. The tickets had be done a number of times because she never got it right. We had one guest who had to leave, she gave me cash to pay her ticket they never printed (was asked 3 times for her ticket) the manager took the cash and we never knew what happened with the change from that. By the time we left we had been there sweating for over 3 hours!!! There was kinda an undertone feeling as if we were the issue… the staff all just acted flustered and put out… no organization. I heard other people complaining on the way out too. The food was good when we got it, though again, we were full of salad because we waited so long for our orders most of us had to take it home...

I was very disappointed with the waitress. I took my son there for lunch. He ordered an appetizer and we both ordered tea. I ordered lasagna and he ordered a lunch special called "never ending pasta bowl with soup and breadsticks". First off our drinks needed refilled after the appetizer. I didn't see her anywhere to let her know. She then came over to ask if all was okay. Still at this point waiting on our lunch. I told her our glasses needed refilled and if I could have mine with less ice because it was mostly ice. She said yes. Twenty more minutes went by and she came with our food. She stated that she had forgotten about our drinks. I said yes, obviously. My son had finished his bowl and I was 3/4 finished with my lasagna and still no return from her and no refilled drinks. He wanted another bowl and I wanted bread sticks as he had eaten the 3 that came with his meal. I didn't get mine. I asked earlier about the lasagna coming with bread sticks. We both sat there finished for about 15 more minutes, I was on my phone looking around for her but nothing. It didn't seem too busy for her to be unseen, so I was super puzzled. I did see her twice go to a table near us. Finally she came back and I stated that she still never brought us a refill on our drinks and that my son wanted more pasta. I picked up the card showing the never ending pasta to show her because she said it didn't require getting more, then she said, "Oh!" She then walked over to the kitchen part, talked with someone there. I thought surely she is bringing our drinks now. BUT NO!!! Another 15 minutes went by. Finally I told my son, " let's just go and I will buy you something more to eat elsewhere." I was livid. I paid through the Kiosk, and as we were up and walking, here she comes with food and drinks asking if we wanted a go box! I said no, we are going to get a drink, and I left feeling very mad. This was unbelievable to me. Food here is always great. But I certainly could have spent the 46.81 at a different Olive Garden and had my drink refilled, my 13 year old's appetite satisfied and not have to have spent an hour and a half in there waiting for just plain...

I’m beginning to see some inconsistencies in service from Olive Garden to Olive Garden. We have eaten at three different locations in the last month or so. Had an excellent experience at the location in Burleson, TX as well as the location in Fort Worth across from the Buc-ee’s. This location in Denton however was a little sub par for us yesterday. My mom had a stroke a few years back and it takes her a few minutes to make a decision on what she wants to eat, even though it is usually the same thing she ate last time. Not anything she or our family has control over. We were working on mother’s day so this Saturday in particular was our mother’s day celebration. The waitress covering our table spoke VERY fast and seemed to be rushing us thru the meal. When it came time to take our order, she seemed frustrated that it was taking my mom a little longer than the average customer to make a decision on what she wanted, and she expressed her displeasure by rolling her eyes a little, not smiling at all, and clicking her pen. Drinks went without refills for a bit. We weren’t asked if we wanted any more salad, and they were SUPER stingy on the breadsticks. Whatever you do, don’t ask for any to-go as you might as well have asked for a million dollars. I guess the old days of unlimited salad/breadsticks went the way of a lot of things in the post-COVID world we live in, including good table service at restaurants. Just makes you wonder who’s running a restaurant that’s comfortable loosing a paying customer over a breadstick or two. We paid at the kiosk at the table, so no Andes mints for us...