Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Maryland

UPDATE #2: It's been 4 years since I stepped in an Olive Garden. Came back to try it again. Place seems cleaner and doesn't smell like it used to. However the cloth napkins smelled like they sat in a washing machine for a few days. Mel was our waitress and she was good. She was very busy but she kept up pretty good. Food was good for the most part. Only complaint about food was the salad of all things. I think they put a whole bottle of dressing. The manager was not professional at all. His "checking" on each table consisted of him walking by tapping on the table saying I hope you enjoy. Didn't slow down, or actually look at us, then he did the same to all the other tables in our area. He made it clear he really didn't care. Other thing I noticed is that they didn't even ask if we wanted wine or to try wine. But maybe they changed in 4 years. Would not recommend this location if you actually like Olive Garden.

UPDATE: It has been about 6 months since I went here and I had somebody tell me it has gotten better. So I went today at lunch, not too many people there and they seated us right away. Ordered water and coffee. The coffee was lukewarm and the water tasted like salt and soap. My associate ordered a tea to replace it and I ask for hot coffee. His tea was bad and my coffee was not better. I ordered a meal and my business associate ordered soup and salad. His soup and entire bowl of salad was gone and at least 20 minutes more before my meal came. The waitress brought me another glass of water that was just as bad as the first one. Never apologized for the water, the coffee or the 30 minute wait for the food. It took us over an hour for lunch. Still got horrible service. I hope somebody reads this, because this is not what Olive Garden should be like. I actually hope this location closes

As soon as you walk in it smells moldy / musty, like dirty dishwater. Had to wait because they said they didn't have enough wait staff. Hostess acted like we were bothering her. Once we sat the waiter didn't offer us a tasting, which we always turn down because we don't drink, instead he just brought us a salad. Didn't ask, but we always get soup at Olive garden. Didn't ask if we wanted cheese on our salad. I told him we wanted soup, which he went and got. Didn't ask if we wanted cheese, so I had to call him back to request cheese, which he had to go get. Then we finally got our food and mine was lukewarm at best. Wife didn't get cheese when the food was brought out so once again I had to get our waiters attention to get cheese. But with the way things were going I ate a little of mine and just took it home. The thing that really get me is when we were finished and getting ready to leave, the menus, empty wine glasses, empty bread baskets and every dirty dish was still on our table. So we had to just keep piling things up on the table. I saw what i thought was a manager walking around in a burgundy shirt, but he seemed lost too. Yeah forget the mints after dinner.

Worst Olive Garden I have been to. And I have lived all over this country. I generally like Olive Garden. All over the country, it is always the same. Good service for slightly overpriced food. I go to a restaurant for service. I can cook at home or even order in, I expect decent service when I go to a restaurant.

Suggestion - close, hire staff train them properly then reconsider opening.

Update I went back. Truth be told Olive Garden sent me a gift card. I walked in it still smells like a dirty diaper. Was seated quick. Waited 10 minutes, never even got ask if I wanted a glass of water. Ask for the manager. Waited about 5 minutes got up to leave when he finally came out. Of course apologizing. My wife then informs him that we would not stay no matter what and his restaurant smelled like a dirty diaper. He informs us that they clean the carpet, EVERY 2 WEEKS. If the dining area smells like that I am scared to think about...

Ordering To-Go sounds easy and simplistic in theory, but not in aesthetics. First, the To-Go station is in the back of the restaurant so you have to weave past to entrance, bar, restrooms, tables, and BETWEEN the two waiter's stations (complete with trays, glassware, ordering monitors and trash bins) just to get there. Who should've gotten fired for engineering THAT building? I have worked for 5 Top Fortune 500 companies that listed in the top 100 and even our smallest service plants were organized better than this restaurant. Second, the To-Go ordering hub, is a side counter 1 foot long. No seriously, I measured it when I tried to lean on it to order. From my elbow to my wrist and I'm only 5'2". My husband is 6'2" and could only rest his hands between the stone wall and the thin menu stand. Thank goodness the menus were thin paper replicas nestled in a clear thin plastic stand. Third, there's only 3 seats jammed up against a wall at the fire exit - THE FIRE EXIT! Enough said. Fourth, you're nestled between the exit and the bathrooms. Need I say more? The saving grace was the To-Go waiter who delivered impeccable customer service and station systematics. I watched him control, direct, and deliver FLAWLESSLY! It just goes to show that at least Olive Garden hired someone to cultivate the business properly. Listen, the front staff women may have looked cute, but they didn't even direct us properly back to the small Willy Wonka factory. And they directed by pointing I might add. The staff in the back - the waiters, cooks and service staff, I watched them for 25 minutes flow together with ease. They bobbed and weaved through this poorly engineered restaurant with poise and joy. I watched them smile and work together as a team. I was impressed. And it goes without saying... the food was excellent! Why else would I have voluntarily endured the cramped mayhem? Did I mention I'm only 5'2" so I KNOW cramped?!! 😀 Give the behind the scenes employees a raise. They endure the worst, but deliver your...

So that maybe other people could take our experience and stay away, we went a table of 5 with two toddlers on a Sunday evening March 17th table 211. From the moment we stepped thru the door a 30 min wait is normal, what to be expected really. When we finally got our table our waitress was over it, by her attitude, her tone of voice, she wanted nothing to do with us. We tend to be a talkative bunch and we always talk pleasantly with our waitress; say “please, thank you, oh okay,” but this waitress as the night went on she checked the boxes. You could just tell she wanted us to hurry up and leave. We felt rushed and kicked out the entire time during our meal. We had plenty of food left and she was asking us if we needed take out boxes, 5 min had passed from when the entree came out. She came to pick up plates, I was trying to make it easier to stack and she said “just give me those” very rude and impatient; in the same instance a plate with salad that my sister was working on she asked her “you done” trying to take it. Feeling uncomfortable and unwelcome said “yes” and responded by saying “okay then give it to me” at that point we were so upset we wanted to leave right away, didn’t wait for the rest of our party to arrive. we just wanted to pay with the kiosk and of course it didn’t work so we pressed for the server. she passed us twice in 10 min and didn’t stop to help us pay. so I walked up front to the host gave our table number, he didn’t make any eye contact, didn’t make me feel like I was fully listened to when I was trying to explain we just wanted to pay. he went grabbed the waiter and she just took the card and walked away. I have no idea how we upset her but, this has put me off completely from ever taking my family there again, which is upsetting since it’s in a nice still developing shopping area. The staff here needs a lot of work or more training if your money is in customer service customer satisfaction then put in the effort.

The star review should definitely be adjusted...