Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Las Vegas

I normally love going to OG. This was the exception.

To start, everything went great, we were seated promptly and out waiter got drinks right away. But that's when it started to fall off. When I went to wash my hands, the men's toilet was overflowing on the floor. I told the host on my way out about this. After the drinks and our order, we waited 20 minutes for the salad and bread sticks, which were delivered by our waiter who smelled like an ashtray now. The salad had the cores of the lettuce heads in it (normally you throw that away). Our food took forever and in the meantime the salad and bread sticks were never refilled. Our food was eventually delivered by a different waitress, and there was never a check afterwards if we were ok. After the meal, I went to wash my hands again, and what do you know, over an hour after I had said something about the overflowing toilet - it's still overflowing onto the floor!

Overall, it was a horrible experience, the food was decent but not what we'd normally get as far as quality, the obvious restroom issues (quite disgusting), the photo frame in our booth had food splatter on it, our waiter cared more about smoking than our table, the 'neverending' sauce with the bread sticks ended quickly and was never refilled, the list just goes on and on.

One would think most of this could be chalked up as a result of pandemic-related staffing shortages, but there didn't seem to be any issues with not enough people, it was not super busy, and there was tons of staff attending other tables. The hosts were up front talking with each other, definitely not rushed to do anything.

I'd been to this location before, and it was good, but never before had it been this bad. It's like the staff really didn't care much to be there,and it reflectd in the condition of the premises, the service and the food. Hopefully the next time we go there (if it happens) this will have been a...

Our server was excellent although we could tell she'd had a long day. She was difficult to find most of the time we were there.

When we arrived there was a party of about 12 or 14 that had several kids. They were just leaving so the kids were running around a bit, but they left a pretty big mess that took several people about 15 minutes to clean up.

We were seated at a table that was almost in a busy walkway so I sat where I would be bumped by people going by.

Then there was a party behind us that had two kids that were running around, fighting, screaming. The parents just let them run free. When they left there was a huge mess all over the table and floor.

I know this isn't Olive Garden's fault, but this seemed to be a trend at this location. This is why I gave 1 star for the atmosphere.

When our food came, mine was terrible. I got the Tour of Italy and everything was cold. The fettuccine was dry and brown and some was actually stuck to the plate like it had been under a heat lamp for a very long time. The lasagne and chicken were also dry.

When we found our server she apologized and replaced my meal. She said she would let the manager know, but we didn't see or hear from them.

Everything was better with the replacement meal, but when you get fettuccine Alfredo you would think they would toss the fettuccine in the sauce. Clearly the kitchen just dumps the pasta on the plate and ladles a portion of sauce on the middle. Everything was very salty as well. I couldn't eat the chicken because I was overloaded with salt.

The server said she would

So MY experience wasn't good with the food but my companions seemed to enjoy their food (one had chicken marsala, the other had soup and salad - always a winner at The Olive Garden)

Based on this experience, I would not return to...

Not exactly gourmet and definitely not worth the cost but this is the first time I've been to an Olive Garden in years and it's way better than it used to be. The simplicity of the menu means they can focus on a couple of very good things instead of pages of "Meh."

The fried lasagna was interesting and I'm glad we tried it but I won't get it again. I applaud their experiment.

The salad and dressing was spot on and I should have gone for the bottomless salad and soup it was that good. The bread sticks had great garlic flavor but were way too salty. My partner is a carb addict but could only finish one, which is shocking if you knew him.

The Alfredo was above average but the meatballs my BF had with it were squishy like they've been simmered in red gravy for too long but they were simply cooked, baked I believe, and not simmered so I have no idea how they accomplished that.

The chicken parm was the highlight with good chicken/breading ratio and the cheese on top didn't stop it from being crisp on top or bottom. The marinara was very simple but that's a good thing because it allowed the flavor of the tomatoes to shine. Best of all IT WAS NOT TOO SWEET! I've been to so many restaurants where they treat tomato sauces like they're supposed to be candy ice cream topper but I was pleasantly surprised by the savory factor of the sauce.

The staff were great and our drinks were never empty. Our food arrived quickly but we never felt rushed despite there being a wait out front. The decor is upscale and lighting makes it feel like you're out for something special even if you're just having a weeknight pasta dinner.

The area was crowded but we still found a spot out front.

Overall this was a very good experience and I never thought I'd walk away saying "We should go back to...