Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Piscataway Township

Wow !!!

So this is my second visit at this Olive Garden on centennial ave in Piscataway and I have yet to be disappointed.. I find it ironic that they are literally next-door sharing the same parking lot and everything with TGI Fridays and yet, the drastic differences in the food and customer service are astounding. I ordered a chicken Alfredo, chicken gnocchi soup and a shrimp and chicken tortellini which would pit a lot of other establishments to shame. The food was amazing and very reasonably priced for the high quality and portions we received. I find it amazing despite having a packed house that the staff was able to navigate car side service, seating dine in patrons , and also servicing those of us that were paying for 2 go orders , all without allowing there entrance be to congested with foot traffic and waiting patrons….. the Customer service I received here gave me confidence that I did not have to double check my order before leaving. Even with the consistent flow of diners; Olive Garden’s car side service also moved very quickly and smoothly. I waited maybe 15 minutes for my Order and in that time I had four vehicles come and go in the parking space beside me , that were receiving there food which kept the flow of traffic into the lot nowhere near crowded for the amount of customers they had. I am still amazed and will definitely be back.

**To the management team in charge of the waitstaff at this location, well done !!! ….

Your team deserves to be...

Our waitress’s name was Virginia, but I didn’t think much of it until we left. It felt very odd how everything unfolded. We told her we wanted to-go plates, but we were still having drinks. She then prepared our tab on the electronic iPad as if she was rushing us.

She packed our food for us and set the tip to a certain amount while holding the iPad, rather than letting us fill it out ourselves. She showed us the screen, asking, “Is this okay?” but still wouldn’t hand us the iPad. We changed the amount, but even then, she continued holding it. She also took the card from us and processed the payment herself, as if I weren’t grown enough to do it.

What made this even stranger was that we didn’t see her treat any of her other tables this way. I don’t want to make this a race thing, but we are African American, and it felt especially rude how we were rushed just for asking for to-go containers. Tips are earned—we always tip based on the service—but no one should go out of their way to preset a tip and try to force it. It’s frustrating that we weren’t even allowed to complete the payment on our own, which is the whole point of the electronic iPad.

Since she never let go of the iPad, we couldn’t do the survey on it either.

After all that, I almost wanted to leave nothing, but we were still...

I've always loved the food at the Olive Garden. This was our first time here, and the place is beautiful as always. For some reason, I felt rushed. The waiter was nice, but I felt there was that nicer way they greeted you way back before Covid. To start off, I ordered a drink, and it was delicious. I think it was a new drink on the menu. My glass was kind of sticky and wet once it landed on the table. We then proceeded to order salad, soup, and the delicious bread sticks. I was so looking forward to the breadsticks with my salad, and unfortunately, the breadsticks were not fresh. I bit one, and they felt stale or maybe reheated. Well, I wasn't pleased and didn't eat the bread. Our salad 🥗 did not get the cheese grated on top, but thank God the salad was delicious. Our food came on time and hot. No complaints about our food. We also had dessert these kinds of beignets and those were so good with 2 different kinds of sauces. We did not eat all the food, so in the end we just decided to take our food home and enjoy it watching a movie. I will definitely go back to try this restaurant again. I know that the staff and kitchen crew work extremely hard to get everyone's orders ready in such a big place. It's definitely not an easy job. So for that Kudos...