Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in South Carolina

Dear Olive Garden team,

I want to express, with all due respect, an experience that I recently lived in your restaurant. I have always considered Olive Garden as one of my favorite places to enjoy a good meal, and therefore, I felt motivated to share this situation with the desire that it could be taken into account to improve customer service.

The night of my visit, I showed up alone at the reception, where I was cordially received and assigned to a table with a waitress in charge of attending to me. At first, the service was friendly and correct, which I appreciate. However, as the night went on, I began to notice a series of details that made me feel uncomfortable and, honestly, belittled.

From small oversights such as not giving me a straw with the drink (something I overlooked and kindly asked afterwards), to more important situations such as not giving me utensils or napkins when they served me the salad. When requesting these items, the waitress told me that she would bring them along with the next dish, but they didn't arrive with the pasta either. I saw myself in the painful situation of having to eat with my hands, while observing how the customers around me received all the necessary elements from the beginning: cutlery, napkins, extra cheese, among other details.

Despite the situation, I tried to be understanding and thought that the waitress was perhaps overloaded with work. However, I clearly observed how she attended to other customers with a very different treatment: with more kindness, attention and efficiency. To me, on the other hand, he served me a second salad practically throwing it on the table, without asking if I needed anything else or if everything was fine. That difference in treatment was evident, and honestly, it made me feel excluded.

Throughout the night I hoped that the service towards me would improve, that there would be a gesture of empathy, but it was not like that. Despite everything, I decided to leave a tip out of respect for the staff's effort. However, I had to use the napkin that wrapped the complimentary bread to clean my hands, and before finishing my meal, I was insisted on paying the bill, which also seemed inappropriate to me.

I want to make it clear that I am not judging the person or making definitive accusations, but I cannot ignore the possibility that there was some bias in the treatment received. It was not something openly hostile, but notoriously different compared to the other customers.

I do not write this with the intention of causing conflict, but with the intention of reflecting on this type of experience. My wish is that all customers, without exception, receive the same respect and quality in the service that characterizes Olive Garden.

I attach a photograph taken at the time I was served the food, in which it can be clearly seen that my table did not have basic utensils such as fork, spoon or napkins. At that time, I had already requested the straw for my drink, which was not initially provided to me either. In addition, I was not offered cheese for my salad or other usual elements that I did observe being offered to other diners around me. During the rest of the night, this lack of attention continued, contrasting with the service provided to other customers. As I mentioned earlier, I was even asked to pay the bill before I had finished eating, which further accentuated my discomfort.

Thank you for taking the time to read...

Let me begin by stating that the food was excellent. We really enjoyed the meal, however the service provided by our waitress was severely lacking. I believe her name was Collette, but I cannot be sure.

Anyways my table consisted of my wife, my 6 year old son, and me. Our waitress brought out the bread, and offered us some wine which we declined. Our drinks came shortly afterwards along with our appetizer. We placed our orders, and this is where the problems began. My son wanted the children's pizza. I asked the waitress if the kitchen staff could cut the pizza into squares rather than the traditional triangle cut.

She simply stared at me and said, "But it's a round pizza." I acknowledged that and said, "Yes but he prefers the square cut over the normal cut." She retorted, "But it's a round pizza. It cannot be cut into squares." I replied back with, "Yes it can; I do it all the time for him at home." Then she went on to say that the request would confuse the kitchen staff. So she offers to bring the pizza out uncut so that I could cut it myself. I declined this offer, and told her to just disregard and cut the pizza however they normally do it.

She then asks if I mean for it to be cut in a cross section. I said, "Yes." And she said "Oh ok. That won't be a problem. I'm a math major, and when you said 'square', I was thinking that is impossible due to the edges." I'm not sure what that had to do with anything, but no big deal. It was just a misunderstanding, right? No.

Our soup and salad arrives, and I am close to needing a refill on my drink. Halfway through eating my soup, my glass is empty. This waitress came by our table no less than four times without once offering to refill my drink. Our main course arrives, and it is only then that I get my refill. My wife's glass, on the other hand, is now halfway empty. She gets no refill.

The pizza came uncut, and we had no good means by which to cut it so that my son could eat it. So my wife asked the kitchen staff for an actual knife so that she could fix this problem.

We finished our meal, and my wife never got her refill. I begin paying using the kiosk at the table. I decided to use the survey available to post about this experience, and I was stopped by the waitress before I could even finish typing the first sentence.

I hate to give the restaurant a bad review based on the service since the food was so good, but this waitress in particular is in serious need of a...

Today was my birthday, and I had a gift card from my late aunt for Olive Garden, tucked into my wallet that I had saved for years, like a treasured photo. Today seemed like the perfect evening to enjoy the gift from my sweet aunt. First time at this location, my husband and I had a leisurely meal in a gorgeous restaurant - the rooms went on and on - I envisioned the site for large parties and events, a truly beautiful location! Our server, Isabella, couldn't have been more accommodating! Knowledgeable about the menu, prompt with beverages and those delicious warm breadsticks, friendly and professional. She was a treasure. Hubby had the salad and I had the Zuppa Toscana soup to start, with lots of fresh grated cheese. He ordered the Lasagna Classico with a side of Italian Sausage, and I had the Stuffed Chicken Breast Marsala and a side of Meatballs ( an unconventional pairing, but so very tasty!) I had green tea and he had a diet drink. The food was hot and delicious, the restaurant impeccably clean, the staff all smiles. The evening was wonderful. Then our dessert arrived - a magnificent chocolate creation! ( we were eating it before I had a chance to take a photo, trust me. It was bigger than my picture shows :) Most of my family is in California, and we talked and videoed today, but no birthday cake. When the ladies at the restaurant came out with a candle on my cake and sang happy birthday to me, I almost cried. It touched something in my heart. The manager Steven came over to check on our meal and we shared some stories about local cuisine as well as NY and CA eateries. We felt so welcome here tonight, it was the perfect ending to the day. When Isabella came over and placed two Olive Garden tiny chocolate mints in our hands, everything fell into place. This was not only a good restaurant, these were, and are, good people. Thank you to the staff for a lovely dinner and exceptional experience. We'll...