Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Salinas

My wife, daughter and son had just escaped from back to school shopping at the Mall, Macy's and Target we were starving! We ate at the Olive Gardens years ago and it was to say the least Mediocre. However this time It was different, we arrived without reserverations and only waited 10 min. A pleasent young lady escorted us to a secluded table at the back of the building the tables were nicely decorated and uniformaly set.The resturaunt was clean and the scent was pleasently that of baked bread and spices. While we looked over our menu a large waiter approched the table introducing himself as 'Luis' and he was escorted by three other very pleasent clean cut assistents in training at some times it was comical, to see this larger person being followed everywhere by three smaller people.......but then I relized that hands on training is so much more valueable then a 'cold start'. unfortunately our section of the dinning room area filled and a larger family sat almost within reach of us and of course they had to have a screeching baby, the same that followed us in the mall, Macy's and Target, the four of us looked at each other in disbelief ,we complained to 'Luis' and he gave us the option to move to another table on the other side of the resturaunt and within min. the screeching stopped becuase the mother relized the baby was hungrey and after 1/2 doz. spoonfuls of baby food the baby fell into a deep sleep. The food was excellent! However they should a least carry a local Monterey Cabernet Sauvignon after all Monterey Vinards are in the top 10, wine awards world wide! Getting back to the food The appetizer; Shrimp Frescco was excellent. The Mediterranean Flat bread was excellent! The four of us walked away content, happy and talked about just how nice Luis's ' followers' were to us. Thank You for a very enjoyable dinner.We...

So I know for many people going out to eat is the norm, but that's not the case for our family, home cooked meals are the norm and going out to a restaurant is for a special occasion. Now the last time I was here was about 1 year ago, to my surprise it was so different! Not in a positive way!! Now I don't care if your the type of person that's out having dinner and your on your phone the entire time. Where I do have a problem is when you are on your phone playing videos out loud for your entire table to hear, I do have a problem with kids on their phones super loud playing games!!! Everyone here was on their phones out loud no ear buds no nothing!!! It was so awful I couldn't hear my husband from across the table from me! It was so unpleasant to experience this at olive garden!!! To be honest we avoided Dennys because we wanted a nice quiet place. Boy were we wrong!! This place is not what it used to be. We got our food and tried to ignore it all and just try to enjoy dinner but it was overwhelming We decided to take the food home instead. However our waitress was phenomenal she was very polite and on top of everything. Wait time was not bad at all food was brought to the table at a very decent time. But the type of people that come here was just rediculus!!! We just wanted to have a nice dinner and talk. Why?? Why is it that adults and kids not only can't be without their technology but do you guys really have to play it out loud so the entire room on that side of the restaurant can hear You? Come on guys!! You want to go out for dinner and ignore your family by all means go ahead!! But please throw some ear buds on one ignore your family!! So the rest of us can enjoy ours. Simple morals are being forgotten its a really...

This place is a hit or miss. I absolutely LOVE Olive garden however, sometimes they can be a bit of a ditz. I order take out before I had to travel to work. 20 minutes later I arrive and was approached by the Host. She asked me if I need a table. I told her "no, I am here to pick up my online order." She then proceeded to direct me to the bar where I will wait until my food comes out. So I sat at the bar, grabbed a glass of water from the bartender who also asked if I needed anything and I waited. And waited. AND WAITED! More than Half an hour later and I still haven't received my meal that was ready a while ago. I was a bit concerned and frustrated. I asked one of the server's who was staring the whole time but was helping other people who approached the bar if my food was ready because I need to go to work soon. She asked me to hold one moment while she checked. So I waited, patiently, while noticing her still talking, still not moving, and not the least bit interested in helping me. So I ask for a manager. It wasn't until I wanted a manager that she quickly went to the back and came back out with my meal. Checking what I ordered, I noticed the food is damn colder than Alaska; Than Monterey's winter frost. So I talked to the manager, explained the situation and he stated that he would make a nother. I told him don't bother I just want a refund so I can go to work. He denied my request and instead, 10 minutes later, brought a new dish out. This place needs to learn how to actually be of good service in he service industry. at LEAST! learn to realize that when someone who you notice has been sitting for almost an hour hasn't been...