Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Peoria

I’ve been to Olive Garden 1000 times in my life, but I’ve never had an experience quit like our most recent trip. When we first got there, we were a party of four for a birthday. I’ve been to Olive Garden 1000 times in my life, but I’ve never had an experience quit like our most recent trip. When we first got there, we were a party of four for a birthday party. We waited a long time before anyone came to offer us drinks. We asked for a picture of the watermelon sangria. Because the manager I think it was, the manager came over and asked if we would like drinks and she basically was like oh I don’t know if I can do that. The servers going to have to put it in. We’re like OK so then the server comes over and we tell her we ordered a picture of sangria but we’re not sure what’s going on.

She puts it in finally. We get it and it looks like water down crystal light and it tasted like it. I’m 99% sure there was zero alcohol in that sangria. Now mind you I’m not picky, but this just seemed really weird. The whole situation was just weird. It was like nobody wanted to wait on us. They seemed extremely stressed out but yet it really wasn’t that busy in there.

When we got our food, one of the orders wasn’t right, they did comp that which I completely understand but the rest of the orders honestly did not have that much flavor which again, normally at Olive Garden. The fettuccine has a lot of flavor. It’s good. The sauce is very creamy. It was like almost kind of dry And no garlic. No pepper seasoning. It was just not good.

All of us would say the food was OK. Not great. Not good, but just OK. Drinks were not great. Water down flavor basically.

Service, even though they were extremely nice, it was not good. Nobody would really respond in a timely manner. Like I said, everybody just seemed extremely stressed out and it wasn’t even...

I've been wanting to stop by this place for like 7 months. I finally went in this past Wednesday, July 9th,2025. The host this day wasn't the most approachable, it was awkward, not a friendly smile, just a wide eyed stare. She first offered to sit me at a table where there is this window overhead and there is clearly a white light shining through, this is Arizona, I don't want to be sweating while I eat. I asked if I could sit at a different table because I don't want the sun or whatever this bright white light on me, I'll get hot and my skin is sensitive to the sun. She wanted to ask the manager if the overhead window was real. I'm like,"No it's ok, you don't have to ask the manager for that, could I just be moved to a different table?" Managers aren't needed for that kind of request. Just a simple, "sure, lets see what we could find." Would do. She got me to a better table. The server was nice and friendly. I ordered from the Lunch specials. A Spaghetti,meatball dish. I was surprised to get only 3 meatballs. I had added broccoli and mushrooms, there was plenty of that. And it was covered in too much marinara sauce. The sauce was good, it was just too much. I should of said light sauce, I just didn't expect the mountain of sauce. It was still good. Just for next time I'll request it more tailored to what I'm hoping for and what could be adjusted. When I was leaving, the host didn't even say, "bye, have a nice day." Just a blank stare. Before I walked out I said, "bye, thank you." It was a awkward experience with the hosts, everything else was good. I do like the food, so I will be back, I will just ask more questions as to how I can tailor my meal more...

I had a very disappointing and frustrating experience at this Olive Garden location. I visited in person to speak with Mr. Wear, the district or general manager, about the possibility of supporting my school’s 6th grade luncheon. I approached the conversation respectfully and made it clear that I understood if they were unable to help — I simply wanted to ask.

Unfortunately, Mr. Wear was extremely rude and dismissive during our interaction. He barely listened, showed no real interest in what I was saying, and made me feel as though I was a burden simply for asking a polite question. He told me to email him instead, which I promptly did on March 27. Despite following up exactly as he requested, I never received any reply, acknowledgment, or courtesy response. The complete lack of professionalism and basic customer respect was very disappointing, especially coming from someone in a leadership position.

After this experience, I reached out to the Olive Garden on Happy Valley Road, and the difference was like night and day. The team there was welcoming, kind, and genuinely interested in supporting the community. They went above and beyond to help, showing what true customer service and leadership should look like.

Because of the way I was treated here, I will not return to this location. I will take my business — and encourage others to do the same — to the Happy Valley Olive Garden, where people are treated with respect and kindness. Leadership matters, and unfortunately, the leadership at this location does not reflect the values of good service, professionalism, or...