Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Myrtle Beach

On tonight December 31, 2019 my experience at Olive Garden on Highway 501 across from the Tanger Outlet was horrible. The manager on duty for tonight was Darren. The restaurant was very busy and the wait for a table was 45 minutes to an hour. After receiving our wait button the manager Darren made the comment to another staff member “If anyone have problem with waiting there are other restaurants down the street”. That was the first thing he done that was unprofessional. A manager should never make statements like that in front of customers. After 45 min we were seated and the server came to take our order. Placed our order, received our soups, drinks and salad. Waited for over an hour to receive our dinner and the dinner was cold. My niece explained to the server that her dinner was not right and it was cold. My nephew spoke to the manager on duty Darren about our food being cold and he (Darren) short talked my nephew and took his ticket as well as his food. Darren was unapologetic and didn’t offer to fix the problem. He never came back to our table to talk with me, my nephew or my niece. That was the second thing that was unprofessional. I paid full price for my food and l left. I called back into the restaurant to speak with the manager on duty Darren. I explained to him how hurt I was at the unapologetic and unprofessional customer service. He told me to bring my food back in the restaurant and he would take care of it. He took the tray, hand me a $18 gift card and told me we have nothing else to talk about to have a great night. I paid more for my dinner than the value of the gift card. A simple APOLOGY would have worked even better. HE IS A MANAGER WITH POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS! I am a professional woman with a professional job and was never looking a free meal or hand out, JUST A...

You can almost imagine what an Italian nonna would think walking into Olive Garden. The warm lighting, the baskets of breadsticks, the faint scent of garlic in the air—it gives a flicker of hope. Maybe this place remembers what pasta is meant to be.

Then the menu arrives. Tortellini: $23. Fettuccine Alfredo: nearly the same. It’s what you expect from Olive Garden—standard fare, consistent, filling. That’s the point, right? You go there because you know what you’re getting. But there’s a limit to what that should cost. Pasta is simple. It’s supposed to be generous, not precious.

And this? This is pasta priced like fine dining. Not because it’s hand-folded or stirred by someone’s grandmother in the back. But because someone, somewhere, forgot what Olive Garden is. It’s not a trattoria. It’s not a special occasion restaurant. It’s mass-produced food done well enough—but not special. Not soulful. Not slow-cooked with love and a wooden spoon.

The sauce doesn’t dance. The tortellini doesn’t tell a story. It’s edible, yes. Predictable, yes. But memorable? No. And when you pay $50 for two bowls of it—plus a soda—you’re not just full, you’re puzzled. Has Olive Garden lost track of its own role? Because it feels like it’s trying to wear the price tag of a premium experience while serving a perfectly average plate.

And the tip suggestions? Calculated with tax included. Subtle, but sharp. The kind of thing that would make a true nonna cluck her tongue and mutter into her apron.

You don’t leave upset. You leave resigned. Not because the food was bad—it wasn’t. But because it never even tried to be great. And at these prices,...

My boyfriend and I live close to the Olive Garden on 501 across from the Tanger Outlets. We decided to go there for lunch today. I must say...I hardly ever write reviews but felt compelled to do after visiting this Olive and receiving the service we did! We walked in and we were greeted quickly by the hostess at the hostess desk. We asked if we could be seated in the bar area at a booth. She quickly took us to a booth in the area we requested. Our server. PHILLIP immediately came to our table and greeted us. He smiled as he greeted us and made us feel very welcome. He took our drink order and we also ordered some Alfredo sauce to go with our breadsticks which we requested. Within just moments he was already back at our table with our drinks, breadsticks and the Alfredo sauce. We went ahead and placed our order and began eating. I asked for a cup of ice and he returned in less than 30 seconds with my ice. Within just a few moments our entre' arrived. On this visit, the food was fresh, hot and delicious!! Phillip, our server, was THE BEST server I have ever had the pleasure of having at Olive Garden. I have frequented this Olive Garden on many previous occasions. The food has NEVER been as good and fresh as it was today and a lot of other servers could learn a lot from Phillip when it comes to service, staying on top of everything and helping to make this dining experience a...