Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Franklin

I first thought to write a review when I noticed that there were several 1-3 star reviews for this place before it was even opened, all commenting that they went without being aware that it hadn't yet. (That irked me as google clearly listed the opening date in multiple places, I would personally check to see if somewhere was officially opened for the first time before going there). I have been twice and will continue to update my review as I go more in the future. The 1st time was at 11AM on their opening day March 18th. My first impression was that the place looked better than any other Olive Garden I have been to and that they completely changed the layout from the remodel since the building was a Macaroni Grill. There was noticeably less total seating that the others I've been to, I am curious on how they do for space at peak times. There were a few people there but it was not busy. The server did not know the menu and got confused about the order twice, leaving then coming back both times, eventually the manager clarified things. My drink was not refilled for over 20 minutes after being empty, nor was my soup, salad, or bread sticks. After a refill by someone other than my server, there was a slightly longer wait for a third bowl of soup etc (don't judge me I get my monies worth!). My meal eventually came and I took it to go. The Chicken Parm Breadstick Sandwich was okay, the other half did not heat up well at all. There were several indications that the few servers I observed had no previous experience and had not done practice serving for the menu or had any type of soft opening to work out the kinks. The 2nd time I went was on July 1st at 11AM, this time I was sat at the bar. I noticed that the heating vents above the bar were blasting me quite strongly, this was a very poor positioning by the architect, maybe he did not account for the strength of the unit or the type of vent that was to be installed. Moving 1-3 seats to my left or right did not help. There may be a safe zone in the very center of the bar where neither of the 2 vents reach as strongly, or maybe it gets it from both, I will have to check next time I am there. My soup was missing the spoon, which is more of a conversation starter than a mistake, easy fix. Another server brought me another bowl of soup, the bar can be more taxing than normal serving, but there were fewer people in today. I was brought the Eggplant Parmesan by another server instead of the Eggplant Parmesan Breadstick Sandwich which I noted, when my original server eventually returned I mentioned it, they had put the order in incorrectly (I had asked about the meal in comparison to my previous visit's meal so it was quite clear) and I said that we shouldn't waste the food and make another meal. It was good. The bill was rung up for the Eggplant Parm, being about twice the cost of what I had ordered, I was curious to see whether they would take any consideration for the mistake and charge me for what I had ordered, or at least apologize, but neither seemed to be the case, not to complain the meal was good even if not as great a deal as the create your own lunch items. The server had trouble with a few things that I observed, the order placement and incorrectly using the beverage gun. They do not seem to have any serving experience. The other half of the Eggplant Parm heated up really well the next day. They will hopefully settle in and improve on the service, I expect it to get better and I will improve my rating when there is consistency. They mentioned that they were slammed on Saturday and Sunday, be advised that weekend traffic might delay dining. I glanced at the new rating for the location, 4.7, and saw several glowing reviews that directly contradicted my observations, maybe they had a different dining experience than I did, but given what I have seen I suspect that like all review listings this has been heavily...

I haven’t been here for years. it was my dad’s favorite place. We were in the neighborhood and it was hot outside. in the high 80s and full sun all day. I typed in my gps to go to cheddars but for some reason it lead me to Olive garden so I decided to stay and go with it. we went in. on my side there was one other table. the other side 2 single customers. I originally asked to speak with the manager before we left but the hostess decided not to get the manager. She tells me this after I’m already annoyed. Since she didn’t let me talk to the manager i will gladly post here. My server which I use to be a server so I try to be fair. food came out. (the food was ok it wasn’t like it use to be with quality but not terrible) Keep in mind this place serves wine and it’s expensive for average pasta. you’re paying for the brand and atmosphere That’s expected. so in return I expect everything to live up to the brand. got my appetizer great. finished. I placed that dirty dish to the side. meal comes out for us. awesome. pasta was ok the noodles not great. I ate it. my glass was sitting empty keep in mind it’s been hot outside all day. I can’t drink anything but water for a while. I waited politely for my server. she’s talking talking very engaged with the hostess. for a long time. doesn’t check on us. finally the new girl with long brown hair very kind. she told her table she was new. she made eye contact with us. I asked her politely if she could fill our drinks I apologized because I knew she wasn’t our server she said it was ok and smiled and I tipped her because I was so grateful she came over. our server seemed she had table experience for sure! oh not to mention before we were sat down to our table our table was still dirty and not wiped all the way. I had to ask for our server to wipe it down. still eating. the other dish isn’t taken away no big deal fine. our server finally checks on us after the new girl filled our drinks. she kept saying if you need anything let me know but she’s never facing us am i supposed to holler at you? then while waiting for our check. i check out the device on the table. i see my check. and i get charged for 1 game that I didn’t play. i call our server she takes it off. at this point i’m ready to go and I wanted to pay cash. I let her know. I then asked to speak with the manager to tell them how awesome the new was and she was doing a great job even though she wasn’t our server. but when the hostess never got the manager and it took a while for our server to come back. she came back and said do you need change back and I said absolutely. and left. if you’re not going to have a clean table for us, not fill our drinks on a hot day, have someone else do the work for you of course I’m reluctant to tip you which is why i gave something to the new girl instead of you. I would have given her more if she was serving us. not worth coming back here not at all. should have gone to cheddars...

On Sunday October 29, my family and I dined at the Olive Garden at 1712 Galleria Blvd, in Franklin, Tennessee, a location that we often visit following Sunday Church Service for afternoon brunch. Our waitress Andrea M. Walked passed our table and tossed several straws on our table with no greeting, there were only 4 of us, however she just tossed about 10 straws on our table as she rapidly passed by to wait another table. Moments later she returned with bread and plopped the basket on the table, yet there was still no greeting. So we felt un-welcomed from the beginning of our visit. She then returned about 5 minutes later and simply stated “drinks?” With a very ingenuous smile. She hurried and took our drink orders which was wrong! She then returned to take our orders and we placed our orders, my sister asked for salad with her entree, no one else was asked if we wanted soup or salad, Andrea assumed. my wife stated that she wanted soup. And as she was walking away she blurted out “chicken gnocchi!” Which is not the soup she wanted so my wife had to correct her. She returned with the salad with barely any salad dressing and was very dry as if it was taken straight from the salad bag. My wife’s Arnold Palmer tasted watered down, my sister ordered a sweet tea, but on her refill it was unsweetened. My sister did not protest as it took several minutes for her to return to our table. We were never asked if we wanted more salad so we only had 1 bowl of salad. Once our food came out, Andrea M. Asked if we wanted cheese we all said yes, but she was distracted by another employee and walked away with the cheese grater, never giving us cheese. So much time passed afterwards, so we never asked for cheese, due to feeling as though our presence was an inconvenience to her. As we were waiting for our tickets to be uploaded on the payment kiosk, which by the way never happened. We noticed that she was far more receptive and friendly with the the other tables around us. For the life of me I could not possibly understand the treatment we received on today. Also, our menus were never collected after we ordered. This is the worst experience that we have experienced!!! Please fix your environment and your employees!!!

Sincerely,

Upset Customer...