Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Hayward

This is a complaint... I was trying to order on the internet for a curbside pickup. After entering all the items I wanted and ready to pay, the screen flashed "session expired". I closed the internet browser and started a second attempt at placing my order and then the message ""session expired" popped up again. Requiring to satisfy the cravings, I used my phone, installed the olive garden APP, placed the order and got an estimated ready time (55 minutes from order time). Arriving 5 minutes before estimated ready time, they had ONE person going car to car, there were 3 other cars in the curbside pickup area. I figured that my turn will come soon, and didn't call the posted number. Ten minutes later he came over, verified my name and order. This person said "your order will be coming out soon". So I waited. Twenty minutes later, I checked the APP and it is showing "already picked up". I immediately called the posted number, gave them my info, and told them that the order status stated "picked up". I informed them that I have been waiting in the parking lot and I don't have the food. They stated that they received the money already and I responded "you have my money and I don't have my food". They asked where was I located and responded that I was right outside the service door 1st space. I was told to wait for a few minutes while they check the order status. 10 minutes later, the person attending the curbside area came and told me that it'll be a few more minutes. 15 minutes later, I finally got the food. Out of frustration, I went straight home finding that all the items weren't there (condiments and other stuff that were detailed during the order process). No fault to the workers. The blame is on the management. I'm boycotting this location and informing all my aquaintances to do the same. There are other locations that we can patronize. Received a response on 11/10/20 I'll call it a cooky cutter response since I reviewed some other customer's communication and the restaurant's response was word for word of what I received. It was also tagged as "owner". I really believe that their management doesn't care about a small percentage of unhappy former customers as long as positive reviews pile up outweighing the negatives. Corporate headquarters only care about performance of the total chain and keeping their investors/stockholders happy. I don't care for additional communications from this Hayward location. There are plenty of other Italian restaurants in the area that I eat at. Let's patronize these smaller businesses. They certainly are more in...

If you will read just one review about Olive Garden - read this one!

Spoiler Alert: After 30 years of dining around the world...our Jan 2024 Olive Garden experience is in our Top 3 Best Ever Hidden Jewels.

The AMAZING…A+ and 5-stars (off the charts): **Culinary Consultant (Amanda, is worlds beyond just great wait staff) **Food Quality (everything is house made but close your eyes and behold the taste of Italy) **Presentation (every course and dish artfully plated with detail) **Craft Cocktails (uniquely their own versions and amazing) **Management (Devin choregraphed careful attention from initial hostess engagement, through assisting with some table-side plating and a heartfelt sendoff) **Ambiance (never felt ‘noisy’).

The GOOD, BAD and UGLY…Our experience was amazing, special and memorable. But keeping the review ‘real’ the dining chairs were really much too soft. I know, this is seriously getting picky, but all we could find of any fault.

The EXPERIENCE… Amanda, our Culinary Consultant (our moniker for her), was super enthusiastic and engaging answering menu questions and providing personal recommendations. We decided that she was the best person to choose our order, so we decided to go ‘omakase’ and asked her to order for our table of two. She was surprised, blushed a bit, then said “certainly, it would be my honor” then asked about food allergies and any personal preferences. She discreetly asked my budget and disappeared. Within minutes we had wonderful breadsticks and amazing craft adult cocktails on the table. Then our Culinary Consultant stood proudly to announce that she and her manager, Devin, had crafted a memorable dinner menu that we’d not forget (see below).

She was right…I am writing this TOO LONG review because it was just that memorable!!!

We highly recommend Olive Garden for special occasions or even an amazing date night/proposal spot. We plan on making it a monthly outing, if even for a sharable main and dessert.

Custom Menu for two by our Culinary Consultant (shared family style) First Course (the only pic we took since we were focused on the food) Minestrone ( spectacular, impeccable, hearty yet light.) Second Course( unbelievably delicious and buttery breadstick) Third course (*remarkable gnocchi and chicken, just like Nona used to make) Fourth course: (The most incredible, mouth watering, and frankly beautiful Zuppa Toscana I have ever had)

*Dessert (small chocolates in fancy edible foil)

Frankly, my partner and I are considering moving to South Bay to be closer to this culinary experience better known as...

I am very surprised to see such low reviews for this restaurant. Every time that we come here, I am satisfied. Granted the parking situation is not the best, but its because this place is always busy...especially on the weekends.

My husband and I ate dinner here last Saturday. I ordered their salmon and my husband the chicken parm. Now, I know that no restaurant can go without a hiccup here and there so we gotta live with issues arising sometimes. Come on people, I know you have made mistakes before! But what surprised me about Saturday night was the level of service I encountered. My husband's chicken parm came out alone.. and as it was being served by Guadalupe, her manager Mr. Phat Tran came up to me and had advised me why he held it back. I guess they over cooked my salmon originally, so the manager Phat Tran held it back. He had advised me that he was controlling the quality because no one would enjoy the food dry. He told me he has remedied the situation by placing a new filet on the grill. He did not want to wait to serve the chicken parm because it would get cold and my husband would then not enjoy his meal. He understands that we wanted to eat our meal together, which is why he apologized and even offered to comp my fish. I only waited 5 minutes for my food, but it was definitely worth the wait. It takes a lot to impress me with customer service because I have worked customer service for a long time. But my experience last Saturday was amazing. Like I said, mistakes happen, but it is the way the manager handled it that made a huge difference in my night. The server, Guadalupe was great...but her manager, Mr. Tran definitely made it even better. I mean, I only waited 5 minutes...but they took time to make sure that I was addressed!

I have been coming to this location for years. I try to avoid it because we hate to wait...but the food has always been great and now I understand why. The managers take the time to look at the quality of food that is coming out of their kitchen. And instead of having the server deliver the message, the manager takes responsibility. I would give this location more than 5 stars, but currently that is not possible. I can't wait to come back to this...