Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Kansas City

My family went to this Olive Garden last night for dinner. Antonio was our waiter. We had a reservation, so we didn't wait too long to be seated (thank goodness we did, the line was LONG). Immediately, Antonio lurked at our table, not saying anything...which we all thought was odd. When it came time to order food, I ordered just shrimp with no seasoning (fun diet), asking him how many came on it, he said plenty. I asked what kinds of no fat dressings they had, he said okay. Thinking he just didn't hear me, I asked again. He looked annoyed and said just one. Okay... The rest of my family ordered and he again stopped and stared at us without saying anything before he left. Several times he just walked over to us and listened to our conversation, telling us how bad his day was. Strange... After our food was delivered, my order was not on the tray, but he didn't say anything. Twice he came back (we had to ask for more drinks and more salad), but when I finally got his attention he told me they messed up my order so they had to remake it. I sat and watched my entire family eat and when he finally brought my shrimp, there were 5 tiny shrimp in a small bowl. I told him I wanted this as an entree and he only ordered me a side of shrimp. After I expressed my frustration, he just stared at me some more. My family ordered me another one...so again I wait. After he put the order in, he decided to come "hang out" with us...telling us how awkward this was and how this night is going to be awful if this is how it starts. Okay, seriously guy...I'm angry you messed up and you are complaining to me about your night? He wouldn't stop staring at me as I just try to not look at him because it was making me so uncomfortable. About 10 minutes later, he brings us the bill (no shrimp yet), and asks me if I still want the shrimp...every single one of us answers yes and he shakes his head and walks away. I finally get my shrimp and it's smaller than the first bowl. Needless to say, I left hungry because I dare not wait another 20 minutes for another bowl of a few shrimp. I am from KC and I hate leaving a bad review on a business in the area, but this was the worst experience I've ever had at a restaurant. Nothing was offered for the mess up, not even a sorry. How Antonio has a job as a server is beyond me. I am very disappointed and wish we would've went somewhere, ANYWHERE else but our local...

I have been a loyal customer at Olive Garden since 2007. This Kansas City location has always been a special place for my family — I used to come here with my cousin when she was eight, and now I bring my own son, who is eight years old. Sadly, my most recent visit was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had.

From the very beginning, our server was cold and unwelcoming — no smile, no warmth, no basic courtesy. When I asked for an extra plate for the salad that came with my entrée (not soup), she refused and said, “It only comes with one plate.” I wasn’t asking for extra food, just a plate so I wouldn’t have to eat out of a huge bowl of salad by myself. The one she gave me was extremely hot, fresh out of the dishwasher, when usually Olive Garden serves salads on chilled plates so you can enjoy them properly.

When I asked for a manager, he was polite, gave us extra breadsticks, and switched our server. The new server was excellent, and we enjoyed talking with him. But the damage had already been done — the tone of my experience had started off poorly.

Then the check came, and I noticed we had been charged an extra $6 for another salad I never ordered. When I asked why, another manager explained that their “trained waitress” noticed more than one person eating from the salad bowl, so they added a charge. I was stunned. The salad bowl was still full and sitting on the table. Just because I asked for another plate, and my son had taken a single tomato or a crouton from my salad, I was charged $6.

What hurt most was that even the managers and assistant managers seemed more focused on justifying the charge than showing empathy. Instead of listening and recognizing how unfair it was, they gave me reasons to defend their staff. I felt judged not just by the waitress, but also by the management.

The entire experience left me feeling that we were treated differently because of our skin color and the way we looked. My mom was wearing a traditional Indian outfit, and I wasn’t dressed fancy. For the first time in nearly two decades of dining at Olive Garden, I felt unwelcome, out of place, and disrespected.

I have been coming to Olive Garden since 2007 and always considered it a place to create good memories with family. This time, I left embarrassed, upset, and convinced. This is not the Olive Garden I’ve known and loved for so many years, and it was deeply...

Sunday 09/13/2020 at 5.30pm, Olive Garden at The Legends complex.

Check-in's being completed outside the front door. Lady came out to check us in. Asked me how many. "6 in total, 4 adults, a 3 year old and newborn". She wrote down my last name, phone number and 6 on her sheet of paper, then asked me if that was correct. I said technically yes, but only 4 adults, a 3 year old (so we'd need a child seat) and a newborn in a baby car seat (so we'd need a sling). She told me it would be about 35 minutes. We had to wait outside in the heat, not ideal with a 3 year old and a newborn, but not Olive Garden's fault in fairness.

5.50pm lady comes out again, this time with an iPad instead of just a pen and piece of paper. She asked me again how many; I told her still 6, but only 4 adults, and that we'd checked in 20 minutes previously. She took my name and phone number again, and party of 6, this time keyed it into the iPad. I asked her if our previous check-in was now void, were we basically starting over? No response.

Then we sat and waited, still outside in the heat, until 6.10pm. In that time, numerous (albeit smaller) parties, came and were seated. At 6.15pm when the lady came out again I told her we'd been waiting 45 minutes, and asked for a time estimate. She basically completely ignored me. Someone else in my party, probably thinking she hadn't heard me, looked directly at her and asked the same thing, could we get an estimate of how long? Again, silence.

We waited another 5 minutes. Lady came out again, asked her the same question, any estimate on how much longer? She again ignored us, and started talking to a couple who had just arrived. It was at that point we gave up and left.

Ironically, about 20 minutes later, I got a text from an unknown number: "r u joinin us?". It could have been Olive Garden, or it could have been from a 10 year old with literacy issues. I responded "Is this Olive Garden at Legends?". There was no response.

We went and had a lovely meal at Granite City instead; where the staff were much politer, and the 20 minute wait time we'd been given ended up being 15 minutes. Oh, and we could sit inside their lobby to wait, instead of in the 90+ degree heat, which was appreciated with a 3 year...