Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Elizabethtown

so let me start off with first saying that i visit this restaurant quite often (generally once a week or so) and the food and staff are always exceptional.now with that being said i do not have any idea what happened on 3/11/2019. I normally ask for chuck on arrival because he has always been great and i would rather tip him than anyone based on this. Well last night chuck was not there which was a little disappointing but no big deal. instead the "only person on the floor" was a waitress by the name of Danny. whom i didn't see until she served us our soup which was not the same as it normally is (zuppa tuscana) this time it was full of potato and didn't have any kale or sausage I had to ask to make sure it was what i normally order. then i ordered my normal meal which is always the same (Asiago tortellini) it took 20 minutes to get (not normal) and came out wrong (with spaghetti sauce) so i sent it back then when it was corrected and brought back to me it was like they washed off the tortellini and put different sauce on it. so all in all food was not as good as it should be at least. Now back to "Danny" normally even on other days that chuck has not been there our waiter or waitress is always friendly and happy to help but last night this was not the case as she was very abrasive. Maybe it was because i am young or maybe i dont look like i have a lot of money which is false as i generally tip a generous amount (averaging $20) for a 40 dollar bill.

So i give the restaurant 1 star for this visit...

We went in for lunch. Hostess sat us, told us servers name and said it might be a little wait, but she would be here. It was close to 10 min before the server came to get drink b order, even though I said we were ready to order food, she said I'll get the drinks and come back for that. drinks brought and a wait on food orders again. Someone else brought the bread sticks n salad. Was asked if we'd wanted salad refill. recd another salad. still waiting for soup, which at other OGs is brought out with salad. server kept asking if we wanted refills on soup n bread, we said no, and sat waiting for soup. server came by and ask if we were ready for soup, WHAT!? yes 45 min ago. We have never had to ask for our soup when ordering the lunch special soup,salad, bread sticks. so if you go to this location make sure you tell them bring it out together before you fill up on bread sticks n salad. No mention from server before hand that we had to ask for the rest of our food. Mayb this is the plan of this resturant, feed the cheap salad n bread so the "expensive " item gets eaten less. The minestrone soup was very good once we got it. I would go back to this location but would request all food at the same time. and hopefully the wait...

The food, wine & ambiance we're unbelievable not including the Bartender, Waitress -Kirsten and even the General Manager were each and every one hard at work. I saw the GM taking a break for 25 seconds, speaking with customers and his friends, when he noticed another customer was sitting at the bar for more than 15 seconds. He politely ended his conversation. Went up to the customer at the bar, identified their drink order and prepared to make it. He, the General Manager, did so not because h had to, not because the bartender was out due to Covid-19, he did so simply because he knew his bartender was in the process of of helping the waitresses with the lunch rush!

Thus, as a manager, if members of your team are willing to step up when they are not required to - why should it be beneath her or him to do the same thing!!! Yes, I witnessed, the General Manager, performing the ultimate in Superior Customer Service duties! With this being my very first visit to this Olive Garden Restaurant, a hard working GM of this Caliber, from the home of Charleston, SC has found himself another loyal local (Fort Knox)...