Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Flint Charter Township

Had the most bizarre, rude, and unbelievable experience here. I can’t even describe the service as “bad”; it’s beyond that like borderline racist or psychotic. I came with my extended family- we were a party of 14, which included folks ranging from their 80s to late 20s. We had 2 teenagers in our group (my nieces) but it was obvious the rest of us were adults. One of my cousins (F27) tried to order a margarita but the waiter refused to serve her since she did not bring a physical ID. She asked if she could show a picture of her ID on her phone but the waitress rudely denied. The rest of us were able to order our drinks no problem so my uncle asked to order 2 drinks with the intention that he would share one of them with my cousin since she was denied. I guess the waitress did not card my uncle because he is a man and looks clearly like the father of 2 teenage girls soooo I guess it is not the restaurant policy to card everyone???

The waitress then asked “who are these 2 drinks for?” Which is kinda insane because other than my 2 nieces it was obvious that we were a table full of adults having a family gathering and not a bunch of barely legal teenagers trying to get loaded at the local Olive Garden. In shock, my uncle said one was for himself and the other was for his wife. When the drink arrived, my uncle placed it in the middle of the table and both he, my cousin, and my aunt had a sip of it. We were talking and having a good time but not being loud, rowdy, or disruptive. All of a sudden a different lady (who I think is either the bartender or the manager) came to our table, did not introduce herself and pretty much scolded us for sharing drinks…

She said she would need to take the margarita away because she knows that my cousin who was denied service (for no good reason) had taken a sip of the drink??? We asked her how did she know this? Were people spying on us? Like were our waiters legit watching us eat and drink to make sure my cousin didnt try the margarita? Insane behavior. The lady was adamant that we had broken some rule and that this could lead her to lose her liquor license? Which I know is false because no one was drinking underage- and last time I checked, it was not a crime to share drinks with other adults?

But either ways, she took our drink away and said she wouldn’t charge us for it but did nothing further to explain or apologize for the situation. Unbelievable. I guess one of our waitresses saw my cousin take a sip of the marg and felt the need to report her.

We all felt demeaned, unwelcome, and harassed by this highly unusual and uncomfortable situation. None of our waitresses confronted us or explained why some random staff member claimed “she knew my cousin was drinking when she wasn’t supposed to.” We felt like the staff purposely put us under surveillance because (1) we were a large party of south Asians with several members speaking in Telagu (2) we had just come from the temple so we were dressed in sarees and clearly stood out and (3) it was obvious we were unwelcome from the start because our waitresses acted like it was a pain in their asses to accommodate such a large party…

All in all this experience made all of us feel incredibly disrespected and humiliated. I have never heard of an establishment taking away a customer’s drink who is clearly not intoxicated, over served, or being disruptive. Don’t ever come here, especially if you are a POC trying to just exist and pay for the food and drink you...

We were just there on Sunday. When we walked in the host was on her phone and ignored us. Took our name then a gentleman came in she asked for his name after he shared it. He walked outside and the workers were making fun of his name and the way he talked. He was Mexican trying to take his wife on a date. I didn't say anything on the simple fact I didn't want to ruin my date night. Once we sit and order, get our drinks and food. I asked for a salad refill then had to wait for drink refills. At the end of our meal I asked for boxes for the bowl of sald and my dinner. The younger guy stared at me brought boxes finally and as soon as he brought the boxes he says where's my tip I don't see it on the table. We didn't have time to do anything didn't even have the bill yet. He proceeded to take all my leftovers I didn't even have a chance to box up. I laid the tip on the table and he came over and once again "is that my tip" he took it and didn't see him again. He wasn't rude in the beginning but very pushy and apparently doesn't like you to take leftovers since he took ours right off the table. I was still stunned he had the nerve to ask where his tip was I wasn't paying attention. So we are left at an empty table with 2 boxes. For the record I always tip very well. Our bill was $49 I tipped $18. I don't think I will be going back after this. Younger guy ears pierced and wavy hair I believe glasses. I sat in the back where you walk up the ramp behind the bar in a booth. Food is good but all it takes is a bad...

We found 3 hairs in our food (different items) . The manager was super nice about it. So even though the food was sub par this time and cold, we we're happy. We were spending gift cards we got for Christmas so we weren't very frustrated as if spending money we worked hard for. But then it came time to pay , I decided to leave a full tip anyway, but when paying the kiosk didn't work. So I handed over the gift cards and my debit card (which was only going to carry over about $3 due to the overage after the tip) she came back with 5 receipts. The one charged to my card was $15 I inquired about it and she got immediately defensive. She gave us her reasoning, and since we were sitting less than a foot from the register I wonder why she couldn't literally turn around and ask us a question to clarify. So she said she could reverse the transaction (emphasizing how much it would inconvenience her.) Not wanting to be there anymore , I signed the receipt and called it a night. Her final salutation was "if your happy, I'm happy!"

As a follow up: olive garden did reach out and actually rectified the situation which I thought was generous. They are looking into coaching to ensure the situation doesn't happen happen again . I appreciate the effort and realize mistakes to happen . It was nice...