Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Rock Hill

This particular Olive Garden holds a special place in my heart because I actually used to work there when I was in collage. So this may be somewhat of a biased review, but it's nice to see that over 15 years later they have managed to maintain the level of quality that you'd expect. Some people like to rag on the OG because they say it's not "authentic" Italian. That's fair. Authentic or not though it's still delicious, and the service and food at this OG are top notch!

We arrived at 5:30pm on a Saturday night and only had to wait about 5 min to be seated which was unexpected but a nice surprise, especially considering they were observing social distancing and only seating every other table. Our waitress, Sara, was an absolute delight. She was prompt, attentive, and looked like she was genuinely happy to be there.

We ordered calamari for an appetizer. It came out quickly and wasn't overly greasy as some fried food typically is. In fact it tasted almost like it had been baked and was well seasoned. The spicy ranch sauce for dipping complimented it well.

Before the appetizer was even halfway finished our soup and salad arrived. The hearty Toscana soup was just as excellent as its always been throughout the years. The breadsticks were warm and soft. Our entrees arrived probably not even 5 minutes after the soup and salad. While some people might applaud them for their speed, everything came out so quickly that I almost felt they were rushing us out the door. We were still eating our appetizer and we already had soup, salad, and entrees.

We ordered the shrimp Alfredo and shrimp scampi. Both were delicious and cooked to perfection. The Alfredo was rich and creamy, the shrimp were pretty decent sized. I have no complaints about the food whatsoever.

In summary, my only dissatisfaction with the entire evening was that it felt a little rushed. I think a lot of these chain restaurants have become so accustomed to just getting people in and out as quickly as possible, not to mention one of the most common complaints of restaurants is that the food always takes too long, that they've lost sight of what makes a great dining experience. Pacing of the meal is critical. Not everyone is in a rush. My wife and I were celebrating our anniversary and due to theaters and stores closing early due to COVID, we really had no other plans and were just looking to have a nice, casual dinner and enjoy each other's conversation. To be fair, I'm sure if I had informed our server that we weren't in a rush she would have accommodated us, but as a customer, and as a former server myself, I don't feel it's something I should have to say.

All-in-all, I would definitely recommend this OG. If it weren't for the minor pacing issues I probably would have given it 5 stars. Just make sure to let your server know that you're not in a hurry and don't let them put your order in until after you're mostly finished with appetizers and salad. On the other hand, if you're looking to get in and out quickly, this might be the perfect...

Honestly we use to love eating at Olive Garden when it felt a little more up scale. The last time I went I picked up my order and my salads were missing and they had given us extra soup. The food still taste good. But the top quality of staffing has changed some. The hostess was a little rude. I came in to order food and wanted to have a glass of wine at the bar while I waited on my togo order. However, I was unable to be accommodated unless I was going to eat my meal at the bar. I explained I just wanted a glass of wine while I waited for the 60.00 of togofood that I had already ordered. They did offer to sit me in the dining area and let me order more food. The hostess was not understanding what I was trying to communicate. I understand about the COVID pandemic . However if someone wants a glass of wine while they wait on their order they should be able to do that. Instead I ended up telling them I would just go out in the parking lot and sit in my car. When I was told to move my car to a numbered parking space where I proceeded to wait 45 minutes on my food. Once I had move my car into the pick up spaces I had called inside and told them what space I was in so when my food got ready they could bring it out. I ended having to call them again to get them to bring out my food because of miss communication. After that it was when I got home I realized that there were items missing from my order and our food was cold. I had ordered extra alfredo sauce, and a side of chicken for my daughter I told them I wanted like a bowl of alfredo sauce. My children like to dip their bread sticks in it and we always get that when we fine in. When I got home and looked at my receipt I was charged for the sauce and it was missing too. I ended up calling and speaking to a manager on the phone. I had to take my order back to Olive Garden for them to fix it. Needless to say we didn't eat dinner till 9:30. Next time I would rather cook my own food then go through all that. Got my second order home and still no alfredo sauce. So legit go move-in. And that's where that ended. It will be a while before I go back. They don't have there system down yet and their hostess was a bit rude. Next review. I was so disappointed. Also, I have noticed that the bathrooms are not kept that as clean as they use to be. The last few times have dined in, I have complained or let them know about their bathrooms. They need to do...

We were traveling and starving, my nephew wanted Italian so we looked up Olive Garden. This particular spot would not pull up on our Rte. GPS kept wanting us to go back the opposite direction. Now I know why.... We sat, the server got our drink order and soup and salad order, my nephew ordered a sweat... tea keep in mind.. we waited 18 min then another server brought our drinks out and a instead of a sweat tea we got a sprite. Then alittle over 20 more min another server comes out with our salad bowl to share and no soups.. Never got the soup and never seen our server again for another 15 to 20 mins. Alcohol drinks empty at this point.. a table sat behind us.. Their drink and apps order takin promptly and served very quick. Their dinner order was taken at this point and we still have not seen our server. She finally arrives and has the excuse that she gave was handling one guest money and did not want to screw it up. We gave her our order and told her my grandson wanted a coke and my nephew ordered a tea not a sprite. She then takes our order. When she leaves, the table behind us gets their dinner. She brings my grandson a sprite!!!!! And just walks away.. we sit and sit and sit. The table behind us gets to go boxes and desert!!! Finally our food comes.. I tell the lady we wanted a coke for my grandson and asked where our soups were.. her reply was, "oh, they didn't bring them to you!!!???" REALLY!!!!! you are our server!!!!! At this point I ask for a manger... he comes over half way thru and with out asking any questions he has a whole line up of excuses!!!! The whole experience sucked!! The food was cold and the chicken was as dry as the service. There was no concern from anyone!!! This establishment and management really does not care if they see someone back again. We travel this path alot alot alot!! Big diners!!!! And really big tippers!!!!!!! You will not see...