Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in South Portland

This was the worst service and food my husband and I have ever had at any Olive Garden. We arrived early around 5:30 and sat at the bar because you get your food much faster. I ordered the lasagna mia with alfredo sauce which is a cheese lasagna. I also told our waiter that I wanted two of the $5 take home spaghetti. One with marinara sauce and one with meat sauce. He brought out the garlic sticks, salad and soup. When our meals came out, I had a piece of classico lasagna with alfredo sauce. I told the waiter I ordered the lasagna mia with alfredo sauce and this was not it. He said he must have misunderstood and apologized. He took my order back to the kitchen. Since the lasagna mia is a rolled lasagna and baked in the oven I was really surprised when they brought it out no more than 5 minutes later. I tried to cut a piece to eat and I couldn't get through the bottom layer. The noodles were really hard and chewy. The cheese filling was far from good. I don't think I even ate half of it. The waiter brought out the bill and left the mints. I asked my husband, where are the two spaghetti dinners to take home. I checked the bill and saw he never even put the order in for them. By then I was so upset that we paid using the little table kiosk and left. I guess it wasn't a very good night. PLEASE READ BEYOND THIS POINT FOR AN UPDATE. This is an update to my complaint from 9/22/19. I did receive an email from Olive Garden with a $40.00 e-gift certificate to apologize for the bad service and food we had received at the South Portland restaurant. They appreciated our frankness in our complaint and wanted to be sure we give them another try. The letter said that when we went to the restaurant to show the certificate to the manager so they would be sure they were aware. We decided not to show the manager the certificate because we didn't want to feel we were treated differently or better because of a bad previous experience. We sat in the bar area as we usually do. The bartender was a very nice young man (whose name I have forgotten). He was quick to come over and take our orders. We informed him that we would be ordering two of the $5 take home meals just before we finished. The food was served hot and it was delicious. We had enough time to eat our salad/soup before our meals came out. The young man was very attentive and continued to check on us to be sure we had everything we needed. When we were just about done, he came over to ask which of the $5 take home meals we wanted. We let him know and also asked to order our desserts to take home. In addition, I asked for some extra marina sauce for my spaghetti and he said no problem. When we were completely done our meals, he came to our table with our take homes and desserts all bagged up and ready to go. He gave us our check and my husband gave him the gift certificate along with his credit card. The young man came back to let us know how much he would be putting on the charge card to be sure it was okay with us. My husband said it was fine. I have to say this was probably the best service we have ever had. We couldn't have asked for better. By not showing the certificate to the manager I felt we were taking a chance it may not be honored, but I wanted to be treated like any other regular customer. I didn't want to receive any special treatment. I am extremely happy to say we loved our meals and our server. We couldn't have asked for...

I understand that dining out during the holidays, especially on a Saturday evening, means the restaurant will be busy. However, our recent visit to Olive Garden was one of the most chaotic dining experiences I’ve had.

From the start, it was clear our waiter was overwhelmed. When our food finally arrived, it was placed at the wrong table (ours). After informing the waiter, the table next to us confirmed it was their order. Instead of remaking the food, the waiter moved it directly from our table to theirs. In the food industry, it’s standard practice to remake any food once it’s placed in front of the wrong guest. Based on his expression, it was clear the waiter knew this was a misstep.

When our correct orders came, two entrees were prepared incorrectly. We politely noted this, but the waiter insisted, “that’s how it’s made.” Respectfully, we’ve ordered these items many times, and they’ve never been served that way. After speaking with a manager, that issue was resolved. The entrees were remade, and our meals were comped, which we appreciated. However, by that point, we decided to take the food to-go as our toddler had grown impatient after the long wait.

Throughout the meal, small issues added up: Salads with barely any dressing. No silverware available when appetizers placed. Needing several reminders when asking for items like cheese for our salads/pasta and to-go boxes.

Lastly, the check was a major ordeal. Our bill was somehow merged with the table next to us, which added to the confusion from earlier. Despite the manager’s involvement, I had to address the issue multiple times—at least five—before it was finally corrected. It felt like I needed to break it down myself to get it resolved.

To top it all off, no Andes mints were offered at the end of the meal. A small detail but reflective of the overall disorganization. At that point, it just added humor to the situation.

While we tried to remain understanding given the busy holiday atmosphere, the overall experience was disappointing, especially since we were treating family to a festive evening out. Unfortunately, I’ve rarely had good service at this location, as they always seem short-staffed and overwhelmed. This visit, however,...

I don't know, I don't expect much from Olive Garden, but I expect to at least...to get food to eat?

I showed up for dinner with a party of 8. We were handed our menus, before being completely left alone for about 20 minutes before they came back to check if we were ready to order.

We placed out orders, and the server kind of gave me a hard time about a request I had (my partner and I wanted to share a dinner plate due to not being too hungry and a long drive home, but we would opt out of the unlimited soup and salad). Eventually the server put the order through without adding a surcharge. I'd never had anyone at an Olive Garden give me problems about this before.

As everyone else's food came out, my one dish was still delayed. When they finally brought it out, it was the completely wrong dish. We ordered a scallop and shrimp fettuccine, and they brought out a chicken with broccoli. (???). The server then insisted that it was what we ordered. They eventually offered to remake it, but somehow my food just never came. At the end of everyone's meal, they finally bought my dish out - at which point we opted to take it to go. Our drive home was about 2 hours, so the dish had gone cold.

I don't know that I can begin to express my shock to be disappointed by an Olive Garden lol. The bar was never set...