Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Johnson City

So, I am kind of torn on how to rate. The food, service, cleanliness and all of that was spot on. Great dining facility as far as that goes, however, my family's situation and how it was handled really rubbed me the wrong way. My brother recently got back from Afghanistan and my parents, grandma, kids, and other brother were going to meet him and his wife for dinner. This is where he picked. It was Friday at about 5. We were coming from Greeneville, which is about an hour away. Once we were on the highway, headed there, I called to reserve space for us because my youngest is a baby and my other brother is autistic. The woman who answered the phone said they don't take reservations for more than 7 on weekends (including the baby and other young child, we were 9). Now, I have worked in restaurants and I get that about 50% of the time, large reservations just don't show up and you don't want to lose that space during prime time (weekends), however, I explained that we were already driving there - already on the way, and further explained that we had a baby and an autistic guest with us, and he did not handle waits well; we didn't want him to have a meltdown. No one would enjoy time there then; not us, not them, and not other guests in the restaurant. She suggested we send someone ahead to save the space for us, as it was empty. I reiterated that all of us were already on the way, but we were about 45 minutes from there; we couldn't go any faster. (I am wondering why someone can stand there in person and save seats for 45 minutes, but why my call of being on the way there can't?). So she just said she believed we would be okay since they were empty. Well... 45 later, we arrived to it being absolutely packed. And sure enough.... wait time of 20 - 25 minutes. It was quite the catch 22 at this point because without being able to call ahead somewhere else, there was sure to be a wait anywhere now. So. I waited inside with the buzzer. My family stayed in the heated car with the kids, and evidently my baby was hollering that whole time, and my brother, who had just gotten back from war was walking around in the snowing weather with my other brother, trying to prevent him from having a meltdown. They did try to get tables together quickly after that, and the food and wine were all lovely. My daughter has since asked about going back. But I am just really put off by how that was initially handled. I think a facility needs to take into account certain circumstances and be customer friendly. We had a $300 bill that night. And I can honestly say if I knew of a different restaurant that we could have gone to with no wait in that moment, that's precisely where I would have brought my business. So, in short.... good food, good kitchen staff, good wait staff.... but the customer service side of things front end, can definitely use some improvement. That experience is what keeps it from being a 5 star experience. If you have no issues waiting, I recommend this place. However, if you are dealing with anything not so common; special needs, young children, etc... you may want to consider...

Made our annual trek to Olive Garden today. The first table we were seated at had cold air blowing on it, so the very nice waiter moved us. Unfortunately, he was no longer our waiter in the new section.

I unrolled my silverware to find a fork caked with cheese. I set it at the end of the table for the server to remove. We also moved the filthy kiosk to the back of the table. The server observed that action and when my husband said it was filthy, she just said it was only fingerprints because everyone uses it to pay and they only wipe them down at the end of the evening. Of course, we were talking about all the other filth more than the fingerprints. This is actually a pet peeve of mine since everywhere they use these things, they overlook cleaning them. Anyway, I digressed. The server had to be asked to remove the nasty fork because she didn't even notice it at the end of the table.

We started to order the bogo meals but the server said, "I think that's limited to one per table." She should KNOW whether or not it is limited, and if she didn't know then she should be smart enough to ask someone who does. So we ordered one logo and one $6 add-on meal.

The service was otherwise good except that she forgot all about our takeout order. The food was excellent as always. We quit eating the breadsticks years ago but we try a taste each time we come. We were starving so we ate them today. Though the first ones were rushed as evidenced by the color and the slightly doughy texture, the next ones to come out were excellent and flavorful like we hadn't tasted at OG in over 20 years, I think.

Nothing on the table card said anything about the bogo limit, so I suspect the server was incorrect about it. Either way, there's other great Italian food in the Tri-Cities so we probably won't be back for at least another year, if at all. Our other two regular choices are both much cleaner and don't engage in deceptive advertising.

--------- Updated after Owner Response... I emailed this review to them along with their response. We'll see what they do next, especially since my name is on this review and the location is in the "Location Details" on this page. So, their response reminds me a great deal of the attention to detail lacking in the restaurant itself.

Update: needless to say, I never heard another word.

UPDATED 8/3/2025 AFTER NEW VISIT

Same great food, good service, but I'm tired of restaurants that allow a whole dining room to be disturbed by one person's child watching cartoons on a speaker phone.

Also, the light fixture over our table was filthy, but the table...

Great waiter and busser!!! Rude Hostess! Started out with 1 star but rapidly went to 5 stars because of our waiter Preston, the busser Melissa, and the food. I take customer service very seriously. I haven't been to JC Olive Garden in a while. Preston and Melissa were so polite, friendly, and provided exceptional customer service. We went here for my birthday yesterday 12/6 and were greeted by the an extremely rude hostess, Allison. She escorted us to our table that our busser was cleaning. Allison (Hostess) mumbled some hateful toned remarks towards Melissa and that is when I started fully listening. She pulled Melissa our Bussers cart away and rudely said "let me move this" acting as if Melissa was taking too long. Melissa apologized to us and My husband and I told her she was fine and to take her time. Allison then looked at Melissa and said "thats good" as if rushing her through. Keep in mind, the table beside the one Melissa was cleaning was already clean. I could tell Melissa was upset because of this treatment as anyone would be. Melissa was very thorough in cleaning and doing her job. She was so polite and friendly. The table bench seat and area around was very clean! We then took our seats and in a dry "I hate everything" tone Allison told us our waiter would be right with us, while walking away. THIS SET THE TONE FOR OUR DINNER... So I thought. We were then greeted by Preston our waiter. Super amazing guy. He was so helpful and professional but so friendly and pleasant. My husband actually bought me a wine glass thanks to Preston asking about it...so amazing! So to whomever reads this...what started out as an "If I could zero stars I would" because of Allison the hostess turned into 5 stars because of Preston and Melissa. In conclusion treating employees who work hard with disrespect vs standing at the entrance seating people with a rude attitude is not tolerable. The hostess is the first line of customer service and should be taken as that. I start my reviews of business from the moment the door is opened Thank you to all of the employees that made the day great! To Allison the Hostess... DO BETTER! No one wants that lack of respect and customer service. P.S THANK YOU FOR BRINGING STUFFED CHICKEN MARSALA BACK! LOVE THAT!!! You should keep that...