Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Novi

I want to start this off by saying that based upon my previous Olive Garden experiences at other locations, I was expecting a very lackluster experience filled with a smorgasbord of bastardized Italian food created by an American corporation. It had been about 4 years (give or take) since I stepped foot into any Olive Garden, and I wasn't looking forward to going back but we all do things for our children that we otherwise would not do for ourselves. It was my son's birthday, and he wanted Olive Garden, so that is what he got.

What I found at this location, was nothing of the sort. The exterior of this location looks how I remember, but the inside looks like it had some sort of a facelift at some point. Out with the cheesy Italian décor, and in with something that looks much more like a place you'd go for fine dining. Personally, I dig it because eating at Olive Garden before kind of felt like you were at some food faux Italian eatery in Epcot at Disney World. I am very glad they've put that look to bed.

Perhaps what used to be even more disappointing than the décor, was the food, followed very closely by the service (or lack thereof). But not anymore folks...not..any...more. Changes of plenty have happened, and for once, it was for the better. A lot better.

We'll start with the service. It was very much on par with many other restaurants you might find yourself in, or keep going back to because you for once (as a customer) feel like you matter. Our server was attentive, informative, and efficient. Couple that with being friendly, yet professional, and you really can't go wrong. Honestly, I was pretty shocked because I was still basing everything off of past Olive Garden experiences (some of which show up as nightmares as I am sleeping).

The food. Ahhhhh the food. Let us talk about the food. I am relatively certain that every authentic Italian restaurant out there uses Olive Garden as an example of everything they want to stay as far away from as humanly possible. I will admit, I had a bit of sticker shock when looking at the menu and quickly realizing most of the entrees here were $20 a pop or more. I'm no penny pincher but in my mind I was going to be paying a premium for something that was certainly edible, but basically just a notch above those frozen pasta skillet meals you find at the grocery store. Luckily I don't think I could have been more wrong than I was. For the first time in quite a while I actually felt that I was getting my monies worth when it came to what I was eating versus what it was costing me. I normally don't delve into what I order at places, but it is very relevant here, I promise. I ordered the Seafood (Shrimp & Scallops) Alfredo, and the seafood to noodle ratio was incredible. There were a ton of Shrimp and scallops to go along with the noodles and surprisingly delicious Alfredo sauce. I literally have zero complaints about the dish, and my wife was shocked when I started to praise it as I was simultaneously inhaling it as if I hadn't eaten in a few weeks (she'd be even more shocked if she found this review of me praising Olive Garden). As far as I am aware, everyone else enjoyed their meals as well (probably not as much as I did though).

It was worth every penny, and paired so well with what I think has become my favorite drink to order while dining out anywhere and that is the Bellini Peach-Raspberry Iced Tea. It's so good, while being pretty bad for you, but that's okay. I purposely didn't eat all day so I could consume a copious amount of calories at this dinner, and that is exactly what I did.

When all was said and done, I am almost kind of glad that my son chose this Olive Garden location for dinner if for nothing else but to prove me wrong. I am glad I was wrong, and glad we ended up here, which is something I never thought I would be saying about Olive Garden again.

It's not good for you, but man it is...

Very disappointing the last few times we've been to this restaurant. I was there about 2 weeks ago and had a very nice and attentive server. We were originally seated at a very dirty table with food and silverware under our feet. We asked to be moved over so we didn't have to be stepping on the food that was on the floor. It seemed like we were really putting them out. After we moved to the table next to us and ordered. We were notified that the breadsticks were going to be coming out a little later because they ran out. They had already brought us our soup and salad. While waiting for the breadsticks a waiter and waitress decided to switch trays loaded with food and one of them dropped one of the trays with lots of soup and salads on the trays. The food went flying as it hit the floor and the dishes broke and soup and salad ended up all over my son and I. Many people scrambled around to clean up everything on the floor and no one paid any attention to us trying to wipe off all of the soup from our clothes and our faces and our arms and legs. Our table was covered as well and there was food that had landed in our soups and salads. It was a huge mess and again, no one said a word to us as we wiped ourselves off. We had to ask them for some napkins and once again they seemed very put off by it. We had to ask again to be moved so that they can move the table and clean up all the mess including the broken dishes. Once again, they seemed to put off and had to go get the manager in order to get permission to move us. The manager walk Ed out eventually and asked us why we wanted to move. We had to actually point out to this person why we didn't want to sit in a spot that was covered with broken dishes and food particles and soup. We mentioned that we were still cleaning ourselves up and could use some more napkins. The whole thing was ridiculous. I can't believe that they didn't apologize or make any kind of accommodations to us for all of the trouble they put us through and all the cleanup that we had to do. We went home with spots all over our clothes. Wet and disgusting. I've never experienced anything like that. It wasn't so much that the mistake was made by dropping the tray. I understand that and things like that happen from time to time, but the neglect and the way that they ignore the fact that we got covered with this mess with absolutely no acknowledgement was crazy to me and my family. We all kind of laughed about it and talked about how we would never even consider hiring any of these people for our business. Especially the management. I would have thought that they would have offered us a comped meal or at least a discount or a dessert or something. Horrible training and horrible attitudes at that place. They need a lot of work to fix it. I won't be trying that place for a long time even though I like their food. We've had too many bad experiences. Last time we went it took over 2 hoursto get our food once we were sat down in the bar area. I think that if they can't find enough employees then they should just close the doors instead of giving people such horrible service. This place also claims to let you have never-ending soup or salad or breadsticks. But the waitress didn't come back after the first delivery of soup and salad and when she brought the breadsticks, she brought one for each of us long after the soup and salads were delivered. Then never returned until the meal came. If they say it's never ending then they should give you the opportunity to have more than just a small amount and then not come back. You shouldn't have to wait and then beg to get more. I just really feel like this place has...

We dined on January 25th as this is the restaurant my daughter chose for her birthday lunch because of the breadsticks. This was our first visit since the pandemic and she’d been CRAVING them.

• We arrived about 5 minutes after opening and were told it would be a 10-15 minute wait. The restaurant was EMPTY and there were 3 other groups already waiting.

• We were seated at a table in a completely empty section and were quickly joined by a couple next to us and 2 women with a child across. Leaving our very friendly waiter with 3 tables simultaneously ordering. He was the only good aspect of the entire experience.

• He quickly took our drink order and brought 2 baskets of bread as I stated that was our reason for coming. However, it was quite obvious that we got last night’s bread because it was so stale it was more like crouton sticks than breadsticks and lacked any flavor.

• My oldest ordered fettuccine Alfredo with broccoli. The noodles were overcooked, the sauce tasteless and the broccoli cold.

• My youngest ordered pizza and French fries which she described as “gross.” I have never seen this child decline pizza or fries. She chose to eat the rock hard breadsticks instead.

• I ordered the 3 cheese manicotti and got 4 meat. This was an honest mistake made by the waiter as we’d been joking around about it and he admitted to the oops. I didn’t mind because I just scraped off the meat toppings…after trying it and wanting to spit it out. Cut up pepperoni should never be on pasta - it tasted like something out of a can. The manicotti wasn’t great, but it was warm and I was freezing.

• It was RIDICULOUSLY COLD and I had to use my napkin as well as my daughter’s to cover her legs. I generally don’t eat with my jacket on but there was no way I’d take it off.

• The gentleman next to us ordered soup and salad. He was told they were out of soup. Not an hour into opening and they didn’t have Minestrone soup???

I’ve never been a fan of Olive Garden because it’s the furthest from authentic Italian cuisine. But you know those breadsticks were addicting. Needless to say we now have no desire to return…something as simple as fresh bread could’ve made all...