Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Rocky Mount

Welp, I’m breaking up with Olive Garden in Rocky Mount, NC. I’ve been eating at olive gardens since the late 90’s, all over the U.S. . This is the very first time I’ve had a ridiculous, annoying, unpleasant situation. First off, our host wasn’t very inviting. Something about this town and customer service people, is absolutely absurd and nonexistent. We were seated and ordered straight away, we knew what we wanted. We both ordered the soup and salad meals. Our server was a little… for a lack of a better term, ‘Read the Room, bud’. He kept going on and on making sure he hit every rehearsed bullet point, he possibly could. I mean that isn’t the worst attribute but, we had already given him our order and wanted to continue our personal conversation. So we get to the end of our meal, and like I explained earlier, we ordered the soup and salad. Our server asked if he could grab us anything else. Here’s where the beginning of the end starts…. I asked if I could get 2 to go soups. The server, again, had some very pressing bullet points he felt he really needed to say. He proceeds to tell me/us that he can’t get us a to go soup, per company policy, but he would be happy to bring us another bowl, come back to check on us and give us a to go container if we needed one. Can everyone please roll their eyes together!!? At that point I looked at him and said: every other time we’ve been here or any other Olive Garden, they are happy to just bring us a to go soup, they even offer to box one up for the road. The server was hell bent on “following policy”. After leaving our table he goes and tells the manager that we were unhappy about the soup to go policy. Our server comes back with a fresh bowl of soup and leaves it at the table. We immediately asked for a to go container. This is obvious in my book that this is now annoying. The manager comes to our table and says she was made aware that we were unhappy about the to go policy. Then she asked if we were in fact unhappy. More annoying to say the least. Of course i said yes, we are annoyed by the behavior and now the ordeal. The manager proceeds to tell us the company policies on to go soups and that maybe some servers don’t follow the rules but, she is there to make sure her staff are rule followers. Another eye roll, please. This was the end… my tolerance level for annoying Olive Garden staff members was reaching its peak. So yes, assertively, I told the manager that, first off, I didn’t ask for the history on OG policies, and that I was asked a question, which I answered, so basically the conversation is over. I’m no longer interested in giving that establishment my money. She promptly left. Here’s the kicker! Our server brought out a to go container and we still took home the soup. The kicker is, why behave that way? Why act as if your axe to grind is far more worth it than just giving us a to go soup and having happy returning customers? Why treat your customers like children who need to learn a lesson? Our server could have gotten us soups to go and while dropping them off, explain that they aren’t really supposed to do that, for whatever the reasons are. Instead, they make unnecessary drama and enemies out of their patrons! Why??? Rocky Mount, NC. Olive Garden, you need a lesson in tact, customer service and how to read a room. Me and my family will not be visiting you ever again! You’ve lost life...

Hello everyone I just want to say I only leave reviews if I was really impacted in a negative or positive way... Only because I feel no 1 is perfect but GOD and JESUS CHRIST!!! And dealing with the public can be hetic & ppl make mistakes. Now Oct 18th was my bday me my papa & daughter came here for a small bday celebration we ordered drinks 1st my watermelon margarita was extremely salty no watermelon flavor or sweetness pure salt I took 1 sip & I said mom you have to tested this she did & immediately gagged the waitress was standing there the entire time then she says I will ask the bartender???? Ask the bartender what?? She returns & says sometimes that happens would I like another made I replied no thank u I don't wish to have anymore margarita's I'm fine with water because I had to flush the salt out. We continued to order & after we were done I said multiple times it's my bday she said you get a cake on the house I said great & we continue to eat threw out dinner our waitress was beyond slow bringing things we asked for we asked for napkins bread & refills she catered to a group of 4 women behind us, multiple times we were trying to flag dw to help because she took forever to assist us it was times that we were just sitting waiting to get her attention with a "finger" or "excuse me"....finally she comes my mom asked for a to go box. Well she took another 17 mins for the box when she arrived I asked about my cake she said yes pick which one you like, I choose & she said I'll be bk sitting waiting thinking anytime they will come sing happy bday but after 18 mins we had to get her attention again & say we're still waiting she said the cheesecake wasn't ready & she's working on it I'm thinking ok she's trying to get some ppl together to sing for me but after another 11 mins we flagged her dw again & asked for more boxes & the check because at this point we're just ready to go, now we have her full attention when it was time to pay my daughter is paying on the machine & the waitress says I'm still waiting on your cake my mom said that's ok we're leaving ....I'm so disappointed that I didn't want to leave a tip. So while leaving out I asked for a manager explain to her that I really wanted my bday song & cake but I asked was it frozen or simply not in stock she said no we have cheesecake she assisted me with a cake candle olive & smile in 3 mins she was a sweetheart thanks Amy when we got home I was charge the cake that was free & that salty margarita because my waitress was so focus on another table she overcharge me smh me & my family never fuss or was rude I just took my complaint to management & I had a super tips because I was in such a good mood but after poor service & over charge $22.43 I decided to leave my tips here marisa s I can only assume you focus on the table of 4 ladies foe a certain reason & I hope I'm wrong about that reason & sweetie it's 2024 I expect more out of you as a service worker I know how ppl can be rude & not tips accordingly but they was far from our minds & if you have a system on how you pick & treat your tables maybe u need a better system because sis to sis you misjudged & missed a great tip. Tip: treat everyone the same you never know who your speaking too or how your personality can change your circumstance or how ppl preceive you!!! Have a good day & thanks again...

UPDATE: 01/31/23 Picked up lunch to go today, and everything was as wonderful as ever!! I was greeted upon entry and a pleasant young gentleman took my order and made great recommendations for me since I wanted to try something new, he recommended the Lasagna, which was delicious, also ordered a Shrimp Scampi Lunch Meal (the portions were huge guys) and two delicious desserts, the Black Mousse Cake and the Chocolate Brownie Lasagna and both were incredible! We also got Salad and Chicken Gnocchi Soup with our meals, that's 6 dishes for less than $40.00!! This has to be the friendliest Olive Garden I've ever been too, they even delivered curbside (in the rain) of course I gave my server a tip, I just can't say enough about this establishment, they will continue to get our business!!

Hands down... this is THE BEST Olive Garden I've EVER been too in any city/state!! It's not located in my hometown, but is WELL worth the drive! I generally give good/great reviews of places i enjoy, but to be honest I rarely give Excellent 5 star reviews, because you have to achieve every single little detail on my "personal" list, but this place, yeah y'all..... they hit them all, not gonna lie... From our entrance into the establishment, we were greeted and promptly seated, our WONDERFUL server, Destiny, was at our table within about 2 minutes to greet us, and tell us about the specials with a wonderful smile, personality and attitude. The establishment was clean, there were several options on the menu to fit any palate, she explained the menu items I had questions about and made her personal reccomendations which we agreed with and ordered. The salad and soup came out promptly, and just a short wait after our entrees arrived. All of our food was fresh, hot (salad cold/fresh) and delicious! I ordered the Chicken Gnocchi Soup, and my guest ordered the house salad, they ordered the Shrimp Scampi and I ordered the New Chicken Marsala dish (as reccomended) and we were both extremely pleased with our meals! The breadsticks are always such a treat. We had no room for dessert, but they had excellent offerings. The bathrooms were clean and well maintained. They get 5 stars from me because they were friendly, affordable, accommodating and the food was exceptional! We will be happy to make the drive to this establishment again in the future! If you find yourself in this area, check them out, and do yourself a favor, and ask of Destiny is working, and request her as your server! Awesome...