Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Dr. Phillips

As someone in the service industry, my empathy for hospitality and the work that goes into it, is fairly limitless.

I had the absolute worst service I have ever received in my entire life, at the bar on February 2nd, 2024 A.D. from approximately 7:12 pm to 8:20 pm.

I unacknowledged for at least 30 minutes at the bar. No greeting, no eye contact, flat out ignored as if I didn’t exist.

The bartender made a point to acknowledge every patron, but me during the entirety of my experience. It was personal, and disrespectful doesn’t fully encapsulate what it felt like. It was rude, unprofessional, and incompetent.

Here’s an abridged play by play:

I never received silverware, didn’t get an opportunity to place a food or beverage order, which were done at the graciousness of other employees, never checked in when the food came out, and never got an opportunity to close out my check.

When I was finished, I left my card to close out, in plain sight for an extended period of time to willfully hand over my money, even after a wonderful experience.

Eventually I got up to pay at the to go station, because it must’ve been a sick joke to the bartender wanted to keep me there longer, considering it was clear that I wasn’t welcome in the first place.

We made eye contact for the first time, across the dining room when the to go specialist gave her my card. Amazing to say the least, that the only sort of interaction occurred when I was signing my check, across the restaurant.

It wasn’t worth getting a manager involved, as perhaps I was too generous and forgiving to believe that she could turn it around on her own terms, even self-efficacy seems to be a foreign concept too.

But little did I know that capacity to acknowledge another human being was not entirely in her wheelhouse.

The Shrimp Alfredo, was delicious though. Can’t...

Olive Garden Review: 4/5 Stars

Olive Garden provided a pleasant dining experience overall, but a few missteps in food quality and service left room for improvement. Here's a breakdown of my experience:

The Highlights

Spaghetti Carbonara with Shrimp: While far from authentic, the dish resembled a bacon-flavored Alfredo more than a traditional carbonara. Surprisingly, it was still quite enjoyable. However, some of the shrimp tasted "fishy," a clear sign of age or spoilage. As a fisherman from Nova Scotia, I know my seafood, and this was disappointing. While the shrimp weren’t bad enough to cause concern, it’s a detail that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Stuffed Chicken Marsala: The flavor was spot-on, and the dish had great potential. Sadly, it was marred by dryness, likely due to a lack of sufficient sauce—a surprising and easily avoidable flaw.

The Atmosphere: The restaurant had a calm and inviting vibe, with clean tables and well-maintained seating. It’s clear that cleanliness is a priority, which adds to the dining experience.

Service: The service was adequate, though it lacked a sense of enthusiasm or attentiveness. While they offered refills of salad, breadsticks, and soup, it felt as though they were reluctant to do so or avoided offering unless directly asked. This small detail took away from the overall experience.

Final Thoughts: Olive Garden delivers decent food with a comfortable atmosphere, but a few culinary missteps and lackluster service prevent it from standing out. With more attention to food quality—especially seafood—and a more proactive approach to service, the experience could easily move from average to exceptional.

Still, for a casual Italian-American dining experience, it’s a safe choice with some enjoyable dishes. Just don’t expect authenticity...

Upon arrival, I was told there would be a 15 to 20 minute wait, which I had no problem with. 12 minutes later, I was escorted to my table, only to see that there were five other booths around mine that were completely empty, why I had to wait, I have no idea. furthermore when I left, all the tables that were empty around me when I arrived, were still empty, as well as some other tables in a surrounding area, and much to my surprise when I arrived at the lobby to exit, there was at least 30 people waiting for tables, why?

Onto the food. The salad which I couldn’t wait to enjoy was a disappointment. It was a huge portion, but it was actually wet, not too much dressing, just wet, even adding lot and lots of parm didn’t help. The breadsticks were pretty good, but not as good as I remembered, could have used butter. So much for all u can eat, I did not re-order either, and left a lot over.

Now the Tour of Italy does not at all live up to the hype, and certainly looks nothing like the picture on the menu. The chicken parmesan was actually pretty good, I’d recommend that as a stand-alone meal. The fettuccine Alfredo was nothing more than a mound of noodles with a ladle of overly creamy sauce dumped over it, it looked very unappealing until u started to mix it around, and even then was one big mound of slop. The lasagna was just fair, I left over half of it, I tasted more ricotta than anything else, there shouldn’t even be ricotta is actual lasagna.

It was 10 years since my last visit, and it will be 10 more before I go back, if at all. I guess it caters to a specific crowd, but it’s not for me, I get better pasta at a shopping mall food court.

That being said, the staff was very nice and the...