Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Grand Rapids

Where do I even begin… So my brother passed away in 2003 in the Pararescue Jumpers, a special unit of the Air Force, one day after my mom’s birthday on March 23rd. So after my girlfriend FINALLY had a night off of working third shift as a respiratory therapist literally running the breathing machines in the ER that keep people alive on top of being in the NICU where babies are helped, and tending to other multiple floors on 12 hour shifts, she finally had the night off on March 21st. We wanted to celebrate my brothers life AND us finally getting an evening to spend together. We decided to go to a restaurant that my brother who passed, really loved, one of which was Olive Garden.

We arrive, and are told there will be a 5 minute wait and we’d get seated as soon as possible. 10-15 minutes go by, not a big deal, and we finally get sat, then we are told a server will be with us shortly. 15-20 minutes go by as we just sit there! Nobody asked us if we wanted water. Not a single soul spoke with us or even looked our way. Two tables across from us got helped though. So we decide to try to use the tablet to order SOME sort of drink right? Put that order in and the light on top of it just blinks red and keeps blinking saying again “a server will be with you shortly” or something like that. Finally after about 20 minutes of just sitting there a server comes over and asks what we want to drink so my gf gets an alcoholic drink and I get a lemonade because I don’t drink alcohol, then she says she has to physically take her ID to go scan it which is odd. Didn’t ask if we wanted any water. Which I of course did because it’s kind of common knowledge. Another 8 minutes go by, and in that time we were starving. So we ordered appetizer on the tablet. Another random lady asks if we have been helped and we said no we just want to order apps and our food so she helps get the appetizer in which was the breadsticks with the sauces (the 3 different flavors, Parmesan was one, and then a five cheese and regular that day FRESHLY PREPARED) so the server finally comes back with the drinks and we put our main course order in which I ordered my fav chicken carbonara, and can’t remember what my gf ordered. Then some other random person brings out our flavored sauce for THE BREADSTICKS WE DIDN’T EVEN RECEIVE YET…. So that sauce sits there for another 4-5 minutes on our table and we finally get the breadsticks that are barely warm, and of course the sauce was sitting there so is now cold. So I politely ask for a new one of the unlimited flavor ones from the appetizer, and they oblige, and she says I’m sorry I can get you another one if you want. They bring it out another 5 minutes later so now the breadsticks are cold and this NEW SAUCE IS ROOM TEMPERATURE TOO.

Nowwww my patience is wearing thin and we are literally starving our butts off. So we push it aside and wait for the main course. That was the only pleasant thing about the entire evening. Chicken carb was cooked amazing. So we ask politely not to be charged for the cold appetizer we didn’t even eat and for the check because now I just want to get the hell out of there. We get the check and they CHARGED us for BOTH of the sauces with the breadsticks and I had zero energy now to even deal with it so we left a 20% tip for the SERVER GIRL WHO DID LITERALLY NOTHING/THE BARE MINIMUM HORRIBLE SERVICE, and left.

Now here is the kick, my mother was even MORE UPSET than we were and immediately called the restaurant to speak with the manager because she used to run blythefield country club by herself basically. After describing what happened, the manager was so shocked and said SHE WANTED TO MAKE IT RIGHT AND GIVE ME A CALL TO MAKE UP FOR IT, so my mother gave her my cell number. The lady said she would call me within a couple days and NEVER DID AT ALL……. STAY FAR FAR AWAY FROM THIS OLIVE GARDEN LOCATION. WORST SERVICE I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE… If I could give zero stars I would. Thanks for ruining my night of celebrating my brothers life he gave for your freedom.. I’d give 0...

I came into this Olive Garden location today to celebrate my 21st birthday with a peach bellini. After what happened there today, I doubt that any of the three people at my table will never be back. This review is in regards solely to the waitress named Alexis. The very first issue was when she took our drink orders. Two people at the table (including me) got an alcoholic beverage. When I pulled out my ID, Alexis looked at me like I was stupid. With an attitude, she said “that’s non alcoholic. that’s a lemonade” (i’m aware of the peach bellini lemonade). I said “oh okay i’m sorry” and went to look for an alcoholic drink, but when I looked down, the peach bellini was right there in the alcoholic section. I pointed that out and she seemed embarrassed but explained she’s only been working for about a week. Every single person at our table works in the service industry, so we get it. we laughed it off and moved on. When she brought our drinks, she only brought the alcohol and didn’t bring my friends drink at all (as well as my order of water). when she comes back with salad, i ask for the water and she brings it. At this point, she’s made several comments to the booth next to us (that was a father and his less than ten year old son) about how “SPITEFUL” everyone in her section is. Everyone at my table is uncomfortable and barely talking at this point because it felt like she was talking about us when we had not said one thing at that point. we were disappointed in her attitude, but that was that. she then came over to the table and asked if everything was good. we said yes, and that we would like more breadsticks and that i was ready for a second drink. i pointed out the drink on the menu, and then she walked away and immediately came back to ask what the drink was a second time which i happily obliged, and she took the menu ONLY at that point. she left, and was gone 15-20 minutes. she came back and said “which drink was it again?” and at this moment i did get very frustrated, but all i said was “i don’t remember now, and you took my menu”. Alexis STORMED off without saying a word. a manager came to our table to give me a menu and explained that Alexis had “left abruptly” which was silly. As the manager is apologizing for any inconvenience, Alexis herself walks past the manager and starts cleaning a booth while giving me the dirtiest look i may have ever received. i absolutely reciprocated many dirty looks back to her and to the manager. I’m not sure what was told to the staff by Alexis, but this is the absolute full truth.

alexis has no business doing customer service, it’s obviously too much for her. and as a server myself, i’m shocked that the manager wouldn’t care more about this. thank you for ruining...

Ive been a loyal customer to this Olive Garden for years, and I’ve never had a bad experience until now I came in with my very elderly mother and we were sat with Anastatia. I only know her name because of her name tag because she did not introduce herself and went straight into asking what we wanted to drink. We waited for 10 mins just for our drinks and only had a single refill the entire time, which we had to request. While we waited, we were sat amongst multiple dirty tables with piles of dishes and trash. After what felt like forever she finally asked for our order. My mother, who requires a gluten free diet, asked Anastatia which items are gluten free. She responded by showing us the GF menu on the tables tablet, however, my mother requested for a physical menu. Anastasia proceeded to look annoyed and walked off without a word and returned with a crumpled up GF menu that had been clearly used. After what felt like forever, we finally received our two entrees, which looked like it had been sitting and dried out. We requested extra sauce, to which she responded by saying the pasta already had the correct serving size of sauce and walked off. We had to call over another waitress to grab us some sauce. She never came to check up on us after dropping off the food, and after finshing we wanted to cash out but Anastatia was no where in sight. I finally got up after about half an hour of waiting and saw her sitting in the lobby up front just chatting with the hosts. It was a slow afternoon and there weren’t many tables in the restaurant, so I’m having a difficult time understanding how her service was so slow.

I’ve come to this location many times over the years and have never had a bad experience like this. If this is the service you are providing to customers then good luck to...