Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Grand Prairie

I’m sending my daughter to Greece in a few days and we couldn’t find a Greek place for the send off so we went Italian. Being very familiar with Olive Garden I was struck by how common and usual it’s become. Nothing really stands out here in way of food offerings or ambiance - just a solidly expected place to eat. Is it me or have those famous Olive Garden bread sticks become blasé?

In fact, I don’t think I’ll spend much time on the food because I think it would be like talking about an old episode of Threes Company - warm, very familiar, upbeat and expected with a few smiles, no surprises and some “Oh Yeah, I remember this”.

I had a party of five and we started off with the appetizer dip sort of a cracker and spinach artichoke cheese thing that went quick. Most of us picked sampler type meals and ate off each others plate. Our youngest guest went macaroni and cheese- who would have guessed that? Hospitality wise this place is welcoming but the entry way seating area is awfully tight. They don’t take reservations but they will seat incomplete parties. For a Sunday it was pretty busy and the waitress didn’t miss a step. The bar is awfully “closed in” but doesn’t seem to account for all the busy noise coming from the front door. I like bars that are spacey and have a light tone of friendly conversation instead of the “in and out” front door vibe. I understand that the bar being a “sensitive” part of the establishment and prone to disagreements - you want it in a centralized location where the “going ons” are plainly visible but this place was loud. One of those places where you have to look at the bartenders mouth to hear him. Oh I should explain, I usually mention the bar in the middle of the review - because my practice is, mid way through lunch I excuse myself to go to the restroom and I visit the bar along the way. I try to get “two shots of something…anything, I’m married” and make my way back to the table without anyone suspecting a thing. Like most restaurants this place leaves an electronic tablet on the table which I think is obnoxious because it serves many “in house purposes” - namely you can play games on it, see advertisements and of course post the bill. Now is it me or has “Bill Payments” become very pretentious lately? I am debt free, I’m old school and still pay with cash but the modern world doesn’t want cash. Modern sensibilities want an electronic foot print with little math involved and almost no greenbacks dirtying up the exchange. I think it’s interesting that the electronic tip option starts at 20% nowadays. I recall 15% being the norm and if prompt service impressed you then you upped the tip. Our lady waitress got everything right and was prompt even though it was a busy after church crowd, so she got 22%. I’m going to close with one option my wife and I like to do here infrequently, we order on-line, I come inside, pick up the food and take it home. It’s a nice option if you get along well with your better half and every time we did this the order was correct. The parking lot location of this restaurant is a little forced and by that I mean there are only two cardinal compass directions to approach it from - North or South. Highway 161 acts as a major “fire break” when it comes to proximity but what are ya gonna do? Try this place out, that’s what your gonna do. It’s Olive Garden! No surprises, a stable plate at acceptable prices, good service and hopefully...

Worst Olive Garden experience ever! We were immediately seated since they didn't seem to be too busy, which was nice, but it all went downhill from there. We waited about 10 minutes for our waiter to come take our drink order, and he only came after my boyfriend hit the 'call server' button on the little computer thing at the table. Our waiter was young and at first just seemed to be new and inexperienced, which I completely understand and will take into account...but as our time there progressed, it seemed like there was another issue going on with our server.

When he finally came to take our drink order, we went ahead and ordered our food as well. I ordered soup and lasagna, my boyfriend ordered salad and seafood alfredo, and added an order of spinach artichoke dip as an appetizer. A few minutes later, my soup and both our entrees came out together (which is one of my pet peeves - don't bring everything out all at once unless you're asked to!), but the waiter said they were restocking the salad bar and the salad would be out shortly. Completely understandable, no problem. Only we never received the salad at all. After the waiter gave us our entrees, he asked if we needed anything else. My boyfriend asked for Tabasco sauce and red chili flakes and the waiter said he would go get them. When he came back to the table, he had our appetizer but no Tabasco or chili flakes. My boyfriend asked for them again, and the waiter left our table to go take another table's order. When he walked by our table again before going to the kitchen, he muttered something about them still restocking the salad bar and the salad would be out soon. He came back to the table with the Tabasco and chili flakes and said something again about the salad bar being restocked. My boyfriend then asked for another drink, which he never received. Once we were done with our entrees, we were just ready to leave. We never received my boyfriend's salad, which is actually the whole reason we went to Olive Garden in the first place, for the salad. He also wanted to order dessert, but after the whole experience, he was just ready to get out of there.

Right before we left, my boyfriend went to the restroom. He said he figured out the reason why there seemed to be something off with our waiter - my boyfriend saw him smoking in the restroom, and said it wasn't just regular cigarettes either. So it seems our waiter wasn't just incompetent, he may have...

Olive Garden Italian Restaurant is located in the Epic shopping center off the 161 in Grand Prairie, serving Italian favorites such as pastas, salad, and breadsticks.

We came through on a weekday right before dinner time, where there wasn't a crowd, and unfortunately, we weren't greeted at all but yet were stared down face to face by a staff member. It was an akward moment, and I felt lost and was hoping for another staff member to rescue us. A couple of minutes later, another staff member greeted us and sat us down at our table. I figured either the staff member creating that awkward moment was a new member in training or just wasn't a hostess but instead hanging out at the podium.

As we took our seats, we waited for our server to appear but instead just sat more, and he finally arrived with menus and took our drink orders. We went ahead and got the Tour of Italy and a kids Alfredo with tomato sauce on spaghetti noodles. Our salad and breadsticks arrived shortly after, and the salad was topped off with freshly grated parmesan. The salad had tomatoes, black olives, croutons, and pepperoncini peppers. Shortly after, our dishes were presented to us and looked great. The Tour of Italy had chicken parmesan, Alfredo with fettuccine, and a meat lasagna. The chicken parmesan was fried golden brown and very crispy that had a layer of marinara sauce with melted mozzarella cheese. The Alfredo with fettuccine was presented nicely with the noodles cooked al dente, and the ratio of sauce to pasta was good. The meat lasagna was layered nicely and well put together. After our meal, I was looking forward to taking home some additional pastas to go, but sadly, our waiter wasn't attentive since he was stacked with other guests and all I wanted to do therfore was to pay and exit.

Overall, I expected maybe to much from this restaurant and set my expectations higher than what the restaurant is worth. I honestly believe customer service is a must, and I feel I didn't get this experience while dining here. The ambiance of this restaurant feels outdated in this modern world we are living in. This location needs more service training and to be evenly staffed to provide exceptional top-notch service in which I didn't receive from the moment I stepped foot inside. A simple greeting with a warm smile while entering a fine establishment can...