Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in East Lampeter Township

Let me start off this review by starting with the positive.

The staff are very sweet and friendly. From the host and hostess that greets you, to the server, food runner, and bussers.

Ok. That's where the positivity ends.

I've been going to Olive Garden for over 20 years now, and have dined at 6 different locations.

I have my special spots for authentic Italian food, but at times, Olive Garden will do it.

However, on this occasion, this Olive Garden, was the absolute worst dining experience of the last 2 decades.

The minestrone soup was decent, the chicken and gnocchi was slightly better.

The salad was fine, but the breadsticks were extremely salty.

And this would be a normal occurrence.

The Chicken Marsala Fettuccine was tasty, but extremely salty.

The Shrimp Scampi was decent, but too oily and salty.

The Spaghetti with the homemade sauce was the only non-salty dish, if anything, a little bland.

The Seafood Alfredo was good, probably the best entree of the evening.

Now. For over 20 years, my go to has always been, the Tour of Italy. However, as you can tell by the photo, the portions were outrageously small. I've never seen a smaller Tour of Italy. It more like "Walking a Block in Italy"

The chicken parmigiana was dry and hard. The alfredo was overcooked and hard, and the lasagna was lifeless.

Overall, it seems the cooks took Gordon Ramsay's words "there's not an ounce of seasoning" a little too close to heart.

If it wasn't for the saltiness of the food, I would say the dining experience wouldn't have been so bad.

And on top of this, the server, unfortunately, forgot my wife's order. So by the time it came out, the rest of the group was already finished with their meals. So after one bite, she packed it up and just took it home.

For the amount of money, including tip that I forked over, I was extremely dissatisfied with our experience.

Should have gone to Burger King like...

A few weeks ago my husband and I decided to go out to eat and we chose Olive Garden on Lincoln Highway East Lancaster PA. We had a nice time conversing while we were eating our breadsticks and salad. After a while I made a comment to my husband that it seemed like our meal was taking a long time. We were not in a hurry so it didn't bother us much but the waitress came over and said she was going to go into the kitchen and refuse to leave until they gave her our meals. Once received she appologized again. Our meals were very good. As we were finishing up, the manager came over and asked how things were and we said good. He responded with, it was not O.K., you should not have had to wait that long for your meal, we are not going to charge you this evening and then proceeded to talk my husband into getting a dessert. We were surprised and overwhelmed by his kindness. Just a week before that we ate at an Applebees, the service was horrible. We didn't complain, but were definitely not happy at all. It took forever to be served, we didn't get enough plates and one of the plates was dirty and had food on it. The waitress never even appologized, she just tried to figure out what kind of food was on the plate, uggh! Thank you Olive Garden for going over and above to make your customers happy. We will definitely eat at your restaurant again. In fact right before we left the waitress said that she hopes we give them another chance! You were so kind, thank you for the great meal! You have a great manager, one who is concerned...

Generally the service at the Rockvale, Lancaster PA location is okay. This visit was horrible. The weather was very wet and cold. I was traveling with a 1yr old and a 4 yr old. Upon arrival, The service desk attendant had an inappropriate tone by my stating I had just called and was told there is no wait. The attendant seeing us to our seat was not Customer friendly- did not provide the HighChair I specifically requested. The waiter was intentionally slow to arrive -pacing near our table and intentionally leaving without introducing himself per a crying one year old who was not happy having to sit in a booster seat since I was refused a high chair after I specifically ask for one when placing my name on the list. The children’s food was delayed beyond a reasonable time and appeared double heated- not just freshly made. The 4yr old’s food went straight through him and had to use the restroom which was NOT Sanitary- commodes with visible dirt- sinks with visible dirt. The 1 yr old’s food went straight through her as well- a runny green mess! I also felt the affects of the food! Upon leaving I ask for a Managers name or card and in a Patronizing manner, the service desk attendant performed a Vanna White gesture over the display of Manager Business Cards. Which those around her found amusing. I am a local resident attempting to enjoy quality time with my grandkids. Instead, I am extremely disappointed with the service and leadership I experienced at the Rockvale Square Olive...