Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Escondido

"What a waste of calories", the wife says. Only two stars because the food presented in the commercials is waaayyy better looking than how the actual food tastes.

Some interesting observations: There was no Cacio y Pepe on the menu. Thats OK. But, they did have a "Toasted Ravioli", straight outta St Louis. Interesting target demographic. And, despite what the commercials say, I never really felt . . . "like family".

"I don't remember the salad tasting like this, it was much better before", I said to the wife. The pepperoncini in the salad was fresh, but probably the worst tasting pepperoncini I have tasted. Perhaps use a different corporate brand going forward. I think the breadsticks were about the same, except we did experience an overwhelming food saltiness that brings all of the flavors together.

We got about two fork fulls into our main entrées after filling up on salad and breadsticks. The portions were very adequate, however the food just was not worth attemtpting to break through the wall for another bite. "Save it, maybe it'll be better as leftovers , , , possibly with an egg, or saving it for the dog", I said. The Gorgonzola Steak Fettuccini was very "gorgonzola-ie". Luckily, I asked for the parmesan cheese on the side.

After dining, the wife and I talked about doing OG service by robot. Not that the service was bad . . . just not necessary. OG could cut costs and still deliver the same quality (to be defined) of food to the table after ordering from the payment/table-game tablet. A paradigm change. I likened this visit to similar popular corporate restaurant visits of yesteryear. Places that have picked up and moved away or other brand restaurants that are soon to close. The OG excitement has been lost from this customer.

Generally and normally, large corporate restaurants would get 3 stars from me, because it is safe to eat. Not too sure on this one.

The OG signature mint chocolates were still given at the end of the meal with the check, but only one per guest nowadays. Next time we see a commercial, we'll stay home and take out a steak.

Oh, and BTW; the left-overs seemed much better the next day just without the hype of “feeling like...

Our first visit to this Olive Garden location turned out OK.

This restaurant is just off highway I-15 in Escondido. Our "Waze"-GPS got us close but had us going in circles when it didn't notify us as we went past the location. Instead, it told us to turn around and then turn left, turn right, turn left. Waze doesn't recognize the site because access to the parking lots is off the connecting street between Auto Parkway and Valley Parkway.

Turning off "Waze" while we began looking along the odd number side of the Valley Pkwy slowly turned around a small distance from the parking entrance. As we emerged from under I-15 for the second time, we looked up high on the hill at a large build right near the highway to see the Olive Garden sign.

To get into the Olive Garden's parking lot on the odd number side of the Pkwy, a road that connects the Valley Parkway with Auto Mall Pkwy hides the entrance. Turning right on that road climbs the hill and exposes the Olive Garden's parking area.

As we walked to the entrance, a lady with a small digital pad takes our name and phone number and reports we are #8 on the list, and the wait will be 15 to 20 minutes.

Eight minutes on the bench near the entrance, our cell phone rings with a message to enter. The entry area is large, and it connects to large dining areas. Two tables are blocked tables between each guest table.

Our waiter arrives quickly with menus and offers to get drinks. We take menus and ask for water. When the water returns, we are ready to order the "All You Can Eat" soup and salad option. Olive Garden's salads are my favorite because I like their dressing, and you can get salad refills.

Our meal arrives in about 8 minutes. There is a large bowl of salad with their famous dressing, two tasty soups, and four wrapped breadsticks. This meal option is easy to eat. Olive Garden's salad is always a good choice. In addition, our menu selection allows refillable soup.

This place took more time to find than we liked, but it is worth another visit now we won't need to make so many circles near...

I wanted to treat my mom to lunch, so I took her to Olive Garden just off of the 15 on W. Valley Parkway in Escondido. It was our first time at this location, and all it took was thus one experience to make us return customers.

Hospitality is everything! Before I could even reach the front door pushing my mom in her wheelchair, one of the greeters rushed to open the door wide open for easier access inside. Then we were quickly provided a table set alone, near the bar where the wheelchair could replace one of the chairs that the hostess removed for our convenience without even having to be asked. I liked that. I appreciated that a lot.

Our waiter was Ben. Now, if you go to this restaurant, I am sure that all the servers are of good customer service, but ask for Ben if you can. He was cheerful, helpful, and attentive without being overbearing. He made sure we had what we needed, his personality was inviting, and he checked on us periodically to see if we needed anything else. Being abandoned by a waiter and having to leave my seat to get anything is a total turn off. That did not happen at The Olive Garden. And I doubt it ever will. They really do treat you like family.

Now for the food! Delicious! I’ve had the Chicken Parmesan at Di Cicco’s and was not impressed. Tasted like a bad TV dinner. But at Olive Garden, I ordered the Tour of Italy and found out exactly what it is supposed to look and taste like. What a huge difference and experience. The lasagna that accompanies it with fettuccini was so good I wanted to slap somebody! Italian cuisine is a deserving title of this restaurant. I highly recommend their Spiked Strawberry Lemonade. Worth finding someone for another two slaps.

In the end, I will definitely return to this location for the excellent service, good, hospitality, and comfortable atmosphere alone. But it’s really not a package deal without excellent food I don’t mind paying for, and it is most certainly worth paying for. We received the ultimate package deal, and so will...