Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Saint George

Saturday, August 31, 2024. After a nice day at the museum with my family, we decided to stop in at this Olive Garden location for a late lunch. This was the best experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was very pleasant but what really made it a great experience for me was the employees. Everyone I saw had such a great attitude and genuinely seemed happy to be there. Upon arriving we received a warm friendly greeting from the hostess (Kinly). She asked if we would need any kids menus and crayons and I requested one for my daughter as well as one for myself. She happily got out menus and crayons and showed us to our table. There was no wait time at all. Once we were seated she asked my daughter and I to take a look at our crayons and let her know if we needed any extra colors. I teach my daughter “You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.” but we all know the frustration of realizing you don’t have the color you need for your restaurant menu masterpiece so for me it meant a lot that she even thought to ask. It was a small gesture but she went above the call of duty and it really helped make our experience great. A short while after, a server (Emma) came to our table with a big beautiful smile on her face. Her energy was amazing, I felt myself get happier and more energetic just being near her. She was also great with my daughter, very kind and accommodating to her and her requests. My daughter is normally a very well behaved girl but I’m always still a little nervous in restaurants with kids especially since it’s not something we do often. Having Emma as our server really put those anxieties at ease for me. I’ve heard people say “happy to help” but this server seemed like she actually was happy to help. Towards the end of our visit, Emma thanked us for our patience. I gave an autopilot response, something like “of course” but then immediately thought “Wait, what patience?”. We were seated as soon as we walked in, she was at our table almost immediately after, we never once had an empty glass or had to wait for a refill, our food came out in a very timely manner and we weren’t stuck waiting on the check. If that experience was us being patient I can only imagine how fast she is on a good day when we don’t have to be patient. In a day and age where it seems all customer service has gone to absolute sh**, it’s nice to see that these people still know how it’s done. Even the other employees around the restaurant that I did not interact with directly, all seemed to be working hard and had a positive attitude.

TLDR- Go to this Olive Garden if you want a great customer...

Update 16 March 2022:

Our service was still great, but 2 of the 4 meals were Lukewarm & it was their Chicken Alfredo (my Mom had broccoli on hers as well). The noodles were chewy & slightly hard, the alfredo sauce was congealed, the Chicken wasn't juicy & a little tough. Plate was barely warm on the bottom, edges were room temp. Whatever happened to a Hot Plate? My Mom's broccoli... most of it wasn't even cooked, it looked like it was dipped in water, but still hard???

They replaced both of our meals & my Mom asked if we could get extra sauce, server said no problem. The second plates, we both got a massive amount of broccoli, the plates were still not hot, food was a little warmer, but there was no alfredo under the massive amount of broccoli, it was barely around the sides & the plates are now $18 ($20 with broccoli)??? The alfredo sauce was runny for a few minutes then congealed again.

If the plates were hot, the food was actually hot & fully cooked (noodles & broccoli) it would have been much better, but this place has gone DOWNHILL Big time.

We also got takeout last year & it was worse than this experience.

Our service was top notch tonight, especially with 12 people in our party. They asked if we were celebrating anything & we said my sisters celebrating a Birthday & my wife and I celebrating our 14 year Anniversary & Veterans Day for my service. Without skipping a beat they said my sister gets to choose a desert on the house & that we did as well. They were very generous with the bread sticks, salads, keep our glasses full, as well as offered to get us extra soup. The meals came out hot & delicious, beyond expectations with Amazing flavor. Both servers were down to earth with great personalities. The Desert was Amazing as well.

Thanks for a Great night this...

Recently took my daughter on a daddy daughter date. This was the first time she has been to olive garden. We were sat down at a table and for more than 10 minutes no server. After 10 minutes of servers walking by me I tried there app at the place hoping to order food (only to find out that you could only order drinks appetizer and kids foods not meals on the table app they had at the table). Realizing this I pressed the server help button to see if someone would help. Not one server stopped at the table. I saw four servers walk by and look at my table with the red flashing light but not one person came over. I had no idea who my server was so I decided to ask the first person that walked near the table. My 5 year old even tried calling the server on the table next to us which she was ignored by the guy. I finally stopped the first server that walked by where she said this is not my table but I will help out. She then started taking my order. I am not sure where the disconnect was and am disappointed as I have always loved going to olive garden. I wanted my daughter to try the food. But I feel like no one wanted to help us because it was just me and my daughter and the servers did not want to waste there time on us. It was not even a busy night. The manager came over and apologized which was nice of her but just the cold shoulders received especially with the light flashing for a good 5-10 mins puts a bad taste in my mouth. I hope they figure out the disconnect and fix it for other customers. The server was great after she was put on my table. I still do not know who my original server was supposed to be. It is going to be a while before I go back if I ever do go back to the st George...