Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Framingham

I used to be a regular here - until tonight. Never again.

Our server’s name was Naz (spelling might be off). We arrived around 8 pm, and the place wasn’t busy at all (Wednesday night). Still, it took her forever to even come by for a drink order. We had already chosen our food while waiting, yet she hadn’t shown up. By the time we finally got the salad, it was 8:35. The entree came even later.

Now, here’s the part that ruined it for me. I specifically asked for no onion in my salad. For me, raw onion is unbearable - the smell alone makes me want to gag, and it has since I was a little kid. I’m not allergic, but I can’t stand it. Raw onion is literally the most repulsive thing that I can find in my food. In fact, I’ve stopped going to BJ’s and Cheesecake Factory nearby because they repeatedly ignored this request.

When Naz finally brought my salad, I immediately smelled the onion and saw chunks of it. I asked one word: “Onion?” Instead of simply apologizing and fixing it, her response was: “You should ask me nicely, and I’ll bring you another one without onion.”

I was stunned. I wasn’t rude, I wasn’t raising my voice - just visibly disgusted (because, well, onion makes me physically sick). I even said, “I’m sorry, onion is just disgusting to me.” But she doubled down, repeating that I should “ask nicely.” Then she took the salad away, and another employee eventually brought a replacement. From that point on, Naz disappeared, and we have not seen her again till the end of the visit. No check-ins, no refills, nothing.

Look, mistakes happen - I get that. Bad days also happen. But what’s unacceptable is a server lecturing a guest on their manners. I say this as someone who works in food service management myself: attitude is the only thing I am merciless about to my team. It’s okay not knowing or making a mistake, but attitude is an instant red flag. Lecturing a guest? Seriously? Why would I be lectured for my own money? I obviously do not expect a 5* service in an Olive Garden, but my request and my behavior were absolutely nothing out of the ordinary and should have been honored.

And here’s something even bigger: what if I had been allergic? Serving allergens to a guest is a disaster waiting to happen.

Dear management, please pay attention to staff attitude. It’s just sad when you, being a sit-down restaurant, end up not being able to compete with Chipotle and CAVA nearby simply due to attitude issues.

As for me, from now on I’ll be carrying a food allergy alert card, because apparently it’s the only way to be taken seriously. I feel sorry for the kitchen, because they’ll have to treat my “no onion” request like a serious allergy moving forward, and it’s quite a lot of extra work for the cooks. But frankly, they should thank lousy servers for making that necessary.

On the positive note, the food tasted good, and the host lady...

THIS REVIEW IS WRITTEN ABOUT THE SOUTH BAY LOCATION, BUT WE WEREN'T ABLE TO POST A SECOND REVIEW FOR THAT SPOT.

Be prepared to eat the best breadsticks ever. When you walk in the door you can smell the buttery breadsticks. And the service is great. I am talking about Olive Garden. Do you know where Olive Garden is? Olive Garden is in South Bay in Boston and right next to the Red Robins and the new movies. Also if you like taking the bus, there's a bus that takes you there. It's the 16 bus and it takes you to Target. Olive Garden is right across the parking lot.

I'd do anything for some Olive Garden because of the food. The food is amazing and your mouth will get watery when looking at the menu. The food I love is the chocolate fudge brownie cake and the the salad. My favorite menu is the Kid's Menu . My favorite favorite things on the Kids Menu are the chicken fingers, mac and cheese, and the spaghetti and meatballs because the sauce tastes so good. It's brilliant! My whole family loves to eat there all day long.

Buckle your seatbelts to see the most glorious cleanest place ever. When you need to use the restroom, you will feel like you are in Heaven in there because the floor is so so clean. It looks like the floor of the JFK Library. You can be in there for Hours and don't get Bored because you can Dance to the music also they have tablets . When you are ordering your food , they will bring you free nice buttery breadsticks and salad . You will have to say ''the best day ever ''. Do you like a place where you have to wait a long time? Well Olive Garden serves you food quick, but not to quick .

When you walk in the door you will see a bar on the right and walk a bit more and you will see a bathroom and tables. \ At the back it is glorious. The lights are dim. Why else is the back so peaceful? Because it's quiet and calm and it has a cold breeze. If you want to sit in the less light spot or the spot with more lights, just ask. Do you know they have parking? Their parking is right in front of the restaurant.

Olive Garden is my favorite place because of the food. I would die for the food. I personally think that the Olive Garden in South Bay is the best because the food is so delicious and it sounds like nice conversations and food being served.

-Written by Uniya, a third grader in Ms....

We were seated promptly by the hostess, which was a good start. However, it took about 15-20 minutes before our server, Andrew, introduced himself, only after we flagged him down to ask who are waiter was. He apologized and took our drink and appetizer order (fried mozzarella), as well as our main entrées: Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo and the Tour of Italy, one with soup and the other with salad. He mentioned that fresh breadsticks were being made, which we appreciated.

About 10–15 minutes later, a different server brought out our main dishes. but there were no salads, breadsticks, or appetizer. We wouldn’t have minded waiting for the fried mozzarella at all, the appetizer is meant to come before the entrée, not after. We asked to have it removed from the bill since it hadn’t arrived, but the waiter seemed confused about why. Unfortunately, this has happened on multiple visits to this Olive Garden, with appetizers arriving after the main course.

When the soup, salad, and breadsticks finally did come, there were no salad bowls provided, only the small plates typically used for breadsticks. Our server also checked in to offer refills even though our drinks were still nearly full. Lastly, as we exited, we noticed the lobby area smelled like a toliet, unlike when we came in which was weird.

The food itself was good, but the repeated issues with service timing and attention to detail make the experience feel inconsistent. I just think maybe the waitstaff are being thrown into the deep end too quickly, they need more training before serving on their own. Having worked in an Italian restaurant myself it was painfully obvious that this was not Andrew’s fault, but rather...