Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Sacramento

We've been to this Olive Garden three or so times now and have always ended up having to wait way longer then any other Olive garden we have been to. The last time we went was on a Tuesday not a weekend, so it was reasonably busy but not overly packed. We waited a while to be seated which was fine since they told us in advance. And since we've waited for a long time the past two times that we've been to this location we decided to time how long it took once we were seated. It ended up taking 20+ minutes for anyone to notice us or even ask if we wanted water after we had been seated, and then weeven watched tables around us who had been seated after us not only get drinks, but their appetizer soups and salads well before we even met our waiter. Honestly had we waited another minute we would have just left but as we were preparing to leave our waiter showed up.

Since we waited so long we just ordered everything at once, it took a while to get the drinks and bread sticks, we almost thought we had been forgotten about again but eventually they showed up. By this time the table beside us that had been seated after us was already boxing their food and getting ready to leave.

The food was decent and on par with what you would expect from an Olive garden, and our waiter legitimately seemed to be trying. As someone who also works in food service it seems clear to me that the problem here is the management and communication between staff members overall.

The one good thing that surprised us this time was that as we were leaving the store we actually managed to get the second basket of bread sticks that we had asked for at the begining of the night! The first two times we came we got one basket with exactly one breadstick per person. And when you are waiting at least an hour if not more (including the time waiting for a table) honestly you would think that 'unlimited breadsticks' would mean at least two baskets when each person is only getting one breadstick each time?

Anyway on our way out after paying the waiter ran up to us and handed us them in a Togo bag, which is a pretty nice gesture considering it seems standard this place only lets you have one basket.

We keep saying we won't come back but still do, probably won't though once the Olive Garden in Elk...

If I was to base my experience based on the first server alone, I'd put 1 star across the board. I've bumped the stars to 4 because Travis (the Olive Garden Area manager) and Stephanie (a fairly new server) have excellent customer service and turned my birthday dinner around for the win!

Stephanie replaced the "rude" server we started off with. Stephanie was amazing! She came and corrected some stuff that was messed up, gave my group of 10 and I to go containers & bags, and even sang happy birthday to me. This might not seem like much but for the birthday concluding dinner, it was everything for me. Nothing went unnoticed Stephanie and I wish you the best of luck in your daily life. Based on what I saw last night, you're definitely going places! Thank you (and Travis) for everything you did for my group and I.

(For me personally), Elizabeth was a rude server. I asked her if she was new as I would have given her a pass (as she ignored me on multiple occasions for a variety of things (water, to go box, & most importantly, NO LEMON in my tea nor on my plate as I HAVE A CITRUS ALLERGY). She mentioned taking the lemon out to where I stated my allergy is more severe than she's aware of & I would need a whole new cup and drink. She stated she's been here awhile so I took it as there's no reason for her to be so rude to my group of 10. Our table was overcrowded as she kept bringing dishes without removing the empty ones. She would reach over people to give us food and drinks. Thats one thing I don't play about. I find it rude and disrespectful. I felt like half of the table was being ignored as 3 of us had the same issues with her. I later found out a big group before us had given her a difficult time and I'm sorry to hear that but it's kinda part of the waitress/ server game. I'm sorry you were so overwhelmed from work last night and extend an apology for "snapping" at you the way I did. As a teacher, I have a lot of patience and some reason ran out after being ignored a third time. As today is a brand new day, hopefully your next shift will be better.

Overall, 4/5 ⭐ thanks to Travis (the Olive Garden Arden manager) and Stephanie (a fairly new server) ‼️ Keep up the great work you two! It's because of you, I wanna spend my hard earned money at...

I’m always amazed at poor customer service, but when that experience also comes from the top (GM-Tonya) I am just floored. Our entrees were inordinarily delayed. When Tamiya came to the table after this delay she said she would see what was going on. A short while later she came back and said her manager was personally expediting our dishes. Our dishes came out at some point and they were neither fresh or appealing. Immediately we had to send it back. We were told another would be remade. Our dish finally came out and it was hand delivered by Tonya. No apologies, no hint of correcting the situation other than bringing my wife a long awaited dish. I had to stop her as she was exiting the table to ask if she would discount our meal for this poor service. She said “I’ll look into it.” There was nothing in her tone or body language that conveyed sympathy/empathy. Just dead vibes. From the minute she came to our table it was this same vibe and tone coming from her. I’ve worked for Darden and we both (my wife and I know this is atypical response to a mishap to this degree. This is not the first time we have had this exact issue at this exact location and it’s just weird to me that we were comped considerably less on this occasion. And the Manager the last time I could tell he really gave a damn. Olive Garden is my families go-to. We go there all the time. It’s rare we go to this location unless we’re shopping at Arden Fair mall across the street. The service we got and then the response to that service by the GM is unacceptable to me and my family. Request: Full refund to both credit cards on the check (my wife and mine) and a gift card to take my family to another location. Fool me once shame on me. Fool me twice Shame on you .

Update: Gustavo replied to my email a few short days later and took care of us for a refund and ensured a gift card is on the way. He also assured me that he will be speaking to the Cal Expo-Arden Fair team. This is what makes Olive Garden stand out against the rest and why...