Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Prosper

Review for Olive Garden Italian Restaurant (1161 S Preston Rd, Prosper, TX 75078): I recently visited Olive Garden to treat myself after retiring from the Army with over 31 years of service and dealing with a frozen shoulder. The restaurant is conveniently located just about 2 miles from my home. Unfortunately, my experience wasn't as enjoyable as I had hoped. When I arrived on Thursday, July 27, 2010, around 11:30 am, it took quite a while before I was attended to and served water. I had to approach the front desk to inquire about my waiter. Eventually, I ordered my food, opting for an endless salad and planning to take the leftovers home for dinner. During my visit, I inquired about a military discount, but the waiter returned to inform me that they didn't offer one. As I was packing my leftovers, I noticed a fly in my food. I promptly removed it and took care of it using the bottom of my water glass. Concerned about this, I called for a manager to address the issue and showed them the evidence of the fly in my food. Regrettably, the manager seemed to overlook the problem with the fly and instead focused on the discount and mistakenly started clearing my table, even placing dirty dishes on top of my meal-to-go. He seemed more concerned with the fact that I asked about a military discount than he was with the fact that I had a fly in my food. I expressed my disappointment, but the manager apologized and offered a new meal. By that point, I was already quite upset, as it seemed my main concern was being disregarded. He seemed more concerned with the fact that I asked about a military discount than he was with the fact that I had a fly in my food.

As a long-term resident of Frisco, I must say this was the worst customer experience I've encountered since moving here in 2010. I don't intend to return to this restaurant, and I sincerely hope the manager learns to prioritize customer service and address issues more effectively, rather than deflecting attention to other matters. It's essential to treat all customers with respect and attentiveness, regardless of whether they qualify for a discount. As a retired veteran, that is not the only time I was told that a military discount was not allowed. Whether there was a discount or not, I always pay my bill and normally tip at least 20%. Most of my tips are more than my meal or close to the cost of my meal.

In conclusion, I'm disappointed by the way my concerns were handled at Olive Garden. I hope this review serves as a constructive critique for the management to improve their customer service and ensure a better dining experience...

Today was my first and last time coming to this OG. We called earlier today 30 minutes after they opened to try and reserve an evening table for a group to celebrate my daughter's birthday. They informed me that they didn't take reservations but would add me to a waitlist which was fine. I also asked if they could hold a cake I was bringing with me and if they would be able to add the candles and have them lit when they brought the cake out. They assured us that they could absolutely do that for us. My last question was me asking if they had any specials. They said no specials were available. I asked about never ending pasta and she said that it was a year long offer and that I could ask for it at anytime so I got excited about that. Now when we got to the restaurant it was a different story. Our server was Jeneice. When we asked her about that she quickly shut down the offer and said no that's incorrect. We tried explaining what we were told and she just responded with an attitude. Then we asked for the manager and she said you can talk to the manager but they won't do anything. Her attitude had already changed and that made everyone uncomfortable from the beginning. But she did good at refilling drinks. The food took time to get out. Appetizers were good no issues. We got our entrees. They were fine except for the chicken parm. It was overcooked and burnt around the edges. Our waitress didn't follow up with us about how the food came out. When we asked for her to bring the cake we brought in she brought it out in the box with the candles laying on top of the box in the package. I'm not sure if they did not communicate that to her or if the instructions were just not followed but they did not add the candles to the cake and that spoiled the surprise of the character cake because we ending up adding the candles in front of my daughter. The waitress did try to light the candles but was unsuccessful so we had to do that too. She referred to me as "mam" and called my husband "daddy" for whatever reason when he doesn't know her. When I got home I checked my phone recording and it was Brooklyn who we spoke with earlier who confirmed the never ending pasta would be available and also that they could help us with the cake and candles. So all in all I ended up spending over $100 for a less than great experience, unmet expectations, rude service, rising costs, burnt chicken, and no compensation. I didn't even get the chocolate mints they usually give but I guess they stopped that too. Heck no I...

Don’t eat inside here.

The waiters like to pick and choose who they help. At the first table I was sat at, I waited five minutes during tonight’s visit, only to be ignored by multiple staff. The table was a stone’s throw away next to the kitchen and from what I can tell, the atmosphere was like a frat house.

Customer service is clearly a lost art, especially in the food industry. I then got up and asked the host to reseat me. She sat me in the bar, again within clear view of the kitchen. I observed the staff and many were idle. At one point, they allowed a customer multiple times into the kitchen to fraternize with the staff.

Also, when your customers tell you thank you, it’s considered courtesy and polite to reply, “you’re welcome.” I told my server thank you several different times and he didn’t respond. And then the manager came and asked how my food was, I thanked her for asking and she never replied back.

The food on the other hand was very good.

This means that the cooks and chef in the back of the house are working very hard to live up to the values of Olive Garden while the waitstaff isn’t.

As the Bible says, a house divided against itself cannot stand. The front of this house, the waitstaff shows up to work to not give their work what they have. And their paychecks will see it.

Their leaders are complicit in enabling this behavior. But what none seem to understand is that this location store is a relationship store and if the wait staff shows up to work to not give it their all, they will burn customers and lose that very valuable, highly cherished relationship repeat business.

I do not enjoy leaving awful reviews but I feel like this location supports the community who live in the surrounding cities of prosper and go to this location because it’s the only one. By not highlighting their bad behaviors, I’m doing a disservice to the community and the people who may want to eat here.

By the way, being a community store will not matter if the staff and management continue to run this location like it’s a drunken frat party and allow their front house employees to fraternize with each other instead of focusing on the business and taking care of the customer.

Go to Texas Roadhouse. Better yet, park at Olive Garden and go eat somewhere else. The...