Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Maryland

A Disheartening Birthday Experience at Olive Garden

I have always enjoyed dining at Olive Garden, but my recent experience at [location] left me deeply hurt and disappointed. My husband and our two children took me out for what was supposed to be a wonderful birthday dinner, but instead, we encountered an experience that no family should have to endure.

Unbeknownst to me, my husband had planned a small surprise—he asked the staff if they could bring out a cake and sing Happy Birthday to me at the end of our meal. Instead of a simple acknowledgment, he was immediately told that the cake was not free, even though he never asked for it to be. He was then informed that the restaurant no longer sings Happy Birthday to guests. Though disappointed, he chose not to make a fuss.

However, as we continued our meal, we witnessed another family—who was not Black—receive the very service my husband was denied. The entire staff came out, singing joyfully as they presented them with a cake. My husband was confused but held onto the hope that maybe they would still do the same for me. Instead, after the celebration for the other family had ended, when we were done with our dinner a staff member simply placed a slice of cake in front of me, wished me “Happy Birthday,” and walked away.

This moment was painful, but my husband and I chose not to say anything in front of our children—we didn’t want to dim their joy or burden them with the sadness we felt. No family should ever be made to feel like they are less deserving of kindness and hospitality because of the color of their skin.

Olive Garden prides itself on being a welcoming place, but what happened to us was the opposite. I hope management takes this matter seriously and ensures that all guests, regardless of race, receive the same level of respect and service. No one should leave a restaurant feeling unwelcome or like they were treated unfairly. To the young lady who told my husband you don't do birthdays anymore when you clearly do, we forgive you. We hope you learn to treat everyone with...

This location has long been an extraordinarily successful restaurant. It's rare their parking lot isn't packed, which is truly an incredible feat considering the longevity. It speaks of consistent standards of quality that are likely a sign of strong stable management. I've seen that the same general manager has been there from the very beginning and thus should get a great deal of credit, overall.

Regarding the visit. It was good. The server was exceptionally focused on ensuring each part of the meal moved along at a seamless pace. She coated the entire area she was responsible for fluidly and efficiently. The food was good and overall executed as should be expected. I do think OG has an inherently simple model to execute and it certainly works in their favor (pasta and sauces can be batch cooked and hot held, no real sides makes it uncomplicated too). Nonetheless they got every thing out one after another without us feeling rushed or waiting.

Here are the points we fell short:

Dirty silverware. I personally had to send two pieces back at different stages. A knife and later a soup spoon. Really shows a lack of refined processes somewhere for that to happen. The other thing, and please don't say it's nit picking, but, when we arrived as a party of 6 we were told about "twenty minutes". Well I doubted it as hosts are notorious for over quoting. We were called back withing TWO MINUTES. While I'm glad, it also shows a sheer lack if real processes under the hood. I'm well aware of how table management software, server rotation, and all the other details to figure out a quote work and this was just blatantly a hosting team not doing their jobs properly.

Once again, overall it was GOOD. Just not great. Thanks. Oh, also, $180 was about twice what I expected we'd be paying but I'll let that be blamed on inflation and our own personal...

Horrible experience... We stopped in on Monday, 12/30/19 about 7:30 because my son wanted spaghetti for his birthday dinner after going to Monkey Joe's. We went in, they weren't that busy and were seated immediately. Ordered our drinks and appetizers right away and that went fine, our waitress was really nice. The appetizer didn't come out and after a while some of our entree's came out. I asked why we didn't get the appetizer already and was told they thought we already got it. The waitress went back and brought out an appetizer that wasn't ours. I told her that we didn't order that and to take it back and I didn't want an appetizer after our meals arrived. Then the rest of the entrees came out and my daughters food had a big hair in it. Needless to say she wasn't hungry after that. They took her food back and replaced it after the rest of us were pretty much done eating. They did remove the appetizer, but we didn't see the manager or hear anything beside a quick apology for the hair from the waitress. My kids and wife are big fan's of Olive Garden, but not sure we will ever go back after this one... If the manager would have came out and apologized or even took part of the price off of my daughter's food since she wouldn't eat it after the hair it would have been OK, but nothing. I definitely DO NOT recommend going here.

1/6/2020 - Adding an edit to my review since i cannot respond below. I emailed the information requested to the email by Olive Garden in the response on 1/2 and have not received a response to date.

1/10/2020 - I was contacted back about my experience and changed my review from 1 star to 3 stars. I will edit again after I go back...