Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Leominster

My friend and I had enjoyed a long day up in Maine, and on our way home had decided to stop over at the Leominster Olive Garden since it was on the way home. We had gone there a few times before and were satisfied with our visits.

This time was different.

We used their waitlist feature on their website (if you haven't before, I highly recommend it) our hostesses were pleasant and we were seated rather quickly. Our disappointment came with our waitress. We let her know we weren't interested in any wine (we were tired already, why encourage it? ) She left to tend the table behind us - a small group celebrating a birthday. Took a while for her to come back to take our order, took our order, then came back about 10 minutes later with our salad and breadsticks... now we love their salads, but this one was a disappointment - the olives tasted bad, two peppercinis, and I don't think it was mixed well because my salad was about 35% onion... my friends was about the same only with red cabbage. Our entrees arrived.... my medium rare steak was more medium well and tough. (And 3 half slices of zucchini was considered the side vegetable? )

Usually, we're very friendly with our waiters, and this evening was no exception....when she made time for us... she was more interested in getting back to the other table. We asked for to go trays because we felt like we were more in the way of her taking care of the birthday revellers.... she got us the boxes... but no bill. Or a bag for the to go boxes... handed the bill to my (male) friend (I was paying) he thanked her, her response was "yeah" as she turned and went back to the other table.

She came back a few minutes after my friend left, grabbed the book with my card in it...realized she forgot a bag...tossed it on the table - still folded - when she came back as she wakes away again. While I'm loading the boxes, I learn why she was so attentive elsewhere... one of the birthday guests had let her know he was a "triple - tipper".

Don't get me wrong, I'd like to think I'm not a "snowflake" (for one thing, I'm too damned old) but my friend and I have come to expect a certain level of professionalism while dining out... yes, even at an Olive Garden and more often than not, we aren't disappointed. This was the first time we have gone out to dinner and made to feel unwelcome, and unwanted by the attitude of the...

I had a horrible experience here with my family and on top of that, someone decided to tip themselves an extra $5 for the horrible service, I'll go ahead and share.

Myself, my wife and our 2 daughters walked in around 8PM and we were greeted warmly by the hostess on duty at the time. Then we were seated and waited about 15 minutes before we could even order drinks and had to ask for breadsticks and by that time we were ready to order our food so we did. We get the lasagna fritter appetizer and breadsticks with dipping sauce after about 15 mins (which were dried as if they were in the heat window for too long). The additional plates had a grey bug on it so we asked them to be swapped out which our server did with hostility. Next, we got our second set of breadsticks which had hair in it and we told our server. Again, attitude to a point where I did not want to ask her for anything else. When we finally receive our entrees, a heavier redhead man brought the plates to our table slamming the plates and one touched my 3 year old's forearm and could've burned her. My wife asked for the chicken gnocchi soup, and the server replied that she wouldn't be able to take it home. She had a negative exchange with my wife. Then at the end of the night she said we could take it; then brought us 3 bowls of soup that were less than half the normal serving size. I also never got a refill for my drink but at that point, it was obvious that we were not welcome and I just wanted to go. After all that, my bill came to $63.88 and I tipped $5 cash since my family was treated poorly by multiple staff. Despite the multiple discrepancies, we were never greeted or acknowledged by a manager. Today I checked my account and saw that I was charged $68.88 which means that someone decided to write in a $5 tip in on the blank tip space after I had already signed the receipt and left the restaurant which I did not authorize! That is unethical likely illegal. I attached a photo of the receipt that I brought home and any manager should be able to locate the signed copy via the information provided on the receipt. I've seen many of the other reviews of minorities being treated poorly here and maybe our ethnicity was a factor...

One star is generous only because zero stars wasn’t an option. The best part of this disaster was that we could book a reservation electronically. From there, it was a steep nosedive. My wife, our two girls, and I expected some delay given the large party seated, but with half of the restaurant empty, there was no excuse for what followed.

Our waitress, managing just a couple of tables, took an unnecessarily long time to return with drinks. When she did, the unthinkable happened—she dumped the entire tray on my 3-year-old, including an alcoholic drink that spilled into her mouth, leaving her sobbing and distressed. My wife, far more patient than me, tried to calm the situation by excusing it as a mistake, and while the waitress apologized, the damage was done. My daughter was soaking wet and scared (thankfully we had a change for her), my wife sat in damp clothes for the rest of the meal. The waitress apologized and quickly cleaned the table, but that was the extent of it. No further effort was made to assist with the situation or provide any additional support.

The delays continued—soup and salad took an unreasonably long time, and once we finished, there was yet another long wait before the main course arrived. The pasta sauces weren’t even mixed with the noodles, just sloppily thrown on top, like they couldn’t be bothered to serve it properly. And with the “never-ending pasta bowl,” the waits between each round were just absurd.

But the final straw? After all of this—the shocking mishap with the drinks, the terrible service, and the unbearable wait—NOTHING was comped or discounted. Nothing. We ended up having to pay full price for the worst dining experience we’ve ever had. I worked in customer service, and I can tell you that if I had treated a customer this poorly, something would have come off that bill.

A 3-year-old had alcohol dumped on her, some even got in her mouth, and yet this incident was treated with indifference. This was, without a doubt, the worst experience I’ve ever had at an Olive Garden, or any restaurant, for that matter. Absolutely...