Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Onalaska

This could possibly be the worst Italian dinner I've ever had.  I will first start out by saying I have never been to an olive garden, so this review might represent this location or all of them.  I know its not fine dining, but I would also expect a lot more from such a large company with so many locations.  The first thing that shocked me was the their clientele.  Every table had at least one guy wearing tennis shoes, denim shorts, t-shirts and a baseball cap.  I was taught at six years old to take your hat off inside a restaurant.  One man was actually.  wearing a red tank top.  No one wants to look at your arm pits while they eat.  This of course is not the restaurant's fault, but still will keep me from going to another one.  Also, this is nothing to do with snobbery, but just a total lack of manners in the average American these days.  Most of the women were dressed appropriately, so good job ladies, you need to dress your men.

The wait staff was very friendly and professional.  Though they did not know the menu very well.  They were not very helpful with wines and couldnt answer questions about what was in certain items.  Their great attitude and service did compensate for their lack of knowledge so I still tipped well.

The food was horrible.  Who cares about included salad and breadsticks if they don't taste good.  I would rather pay for these items if it helped improve the flavor.  The salad was a little better than an average iceburg lettuce salad but still boring.  A spring mix would work much better and have more flavor.  The breadsticks were hard and salty.  They tasted like any other store bought bread that was stuck in an oven.  I think bread should be made onsite and served that day only.  They tasted frozen and weeks old.  Just lazy for a restaurant.

I ordered the eggplant parmesan.  It looked like it had been sitting in the window for ten minutes.  The cheese was barely melted on the eggplant.  The dish had water that had seperated from the pasta or sauce that completely softened the breading on the eggplant.  When you cut into fried food you want that crisp sound, anything else is disappointing.  The pasta was bloated and soft.  Perfect for senior citizens, but horrible for anyone who actually likes Italian food.

The reason I have never gone to an olive garden was confirmed by actually going to one (or being forced to by the person I was with).  Its boring and bland.  I've been fortunate to live in cities that always had at least ten great local restaurants.  Places that had chefs instead of cooks.  Having just moved to La Crosse I will be on the hunt for Italian food...

We had an absolutely horrendous experience on Mother's Day. We ordered online for the carside to go drive up. The app claimed our $140 order would be ready in 30 minutes, so we arrived accordingly.

Upon arriving, they said it would be another 30 minute wait... OK, annoying, but manageable. Called home to Mom to tell her it will be an extra 30 minute wait.

30 mintues go by and then the manager comes out and says it's going to be ANOTHER additional 30 minutes... We asked why the to go orders are taking longer than the inside dining orders and the manager just said "I have to turn tables, they have priority." THIS IS RIDICULOUS! WHY WOULD TURNING OVER TABLES DELAY BOUGHT AND PAID FOR CARRYOUT ORDERS?!?! WE AREN'T ASKING FOR TABLES, GIVE US THE FOOD THAT WE ALREADY BOUGHT AND PAID FOR!

Common sense tells you the kitchen would prepare order in the chronological order they were received. A busy holiday can slow the kitchen of course, but when 5 to go carryout customers are standing there waiting on orders submitted 1.5 hours ago, it's infuriating when a dine in customer shows up, eats, and leaves while you're still waiting for your order!!!

When the order did finally come out, it was all messed up. Half of what we ordered was missing and we had incorrect items instead. The family left hungry at home, just ended up eating elsewhere.

The manager at this location must be brain dead with no common sense. Learn some professionalism and treat the customer better! Capitalism will dictate that customers will not return when treated like garbage with no rational process.

You've lost a whole family of customers since you've ruined mother's day due to...

First let me preface by saying - Our family has been coming to Olive Garden for over 15 years, it has become the "birthday" destination for dinner for our kids. 8/22 we visit again and had the most wonderful server we ever have had. Mick - you were awesome. So awesome that my oldest daughter commented and doubled the tip we left for you. Keep loving what you do and continue your excellent service. Hopefully we get to see you again! Next- Olive Garden you changed the chicken. Not for the better. Several of our guests had chicken in their meal and they all said the same thing. Something was different. It wasn't bad- just not as good as it has been before. Fix it. Also, I'm sure its poular but this is the 2nd time we have had one of our guests craving your lasagna and you had run out. Disappointing, not a deal killer, but still needing mention. We also had a guest who loves your chicken/gnocchi soup and for some reason hers had zero Gnocchi it in. Maybe the supply for the evening was low but again, when you have visited so many times - things get noticed and we want you to be the best at what you do. Hence the 4 stars in that category. Lastly, the atmosphere was as wonderful as always, the wait for our larger party size was very very short, and again - Mick made it all the better. Her cheerful, witty self made our evening and birthday dinner all that much more enjoyable. HR department: give Mick a raise because folks who love what they do and let it show are very hard to come by. We had to "send it" to get home so our departure comments to Mick were short but it was not because we were unhappy. Thank you...