Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Springfield Township

We had been happily going to this location for over 15 years, and had a bizarre experience this evening that caused us to walk out. I'm not angry (we had a lovely dinner somewhere else), and I don't want anyone to get in trouble. But I think it is a teachable moment.

We arrived at 8:30, hungry for dinner. The restaurant was over half empty, with over a dozen empty booths on both sides of the restaurant. While seating us, the hostess (who seemed to be trying her very best) stopped several times to study some notes and/or a hand-drawn map of the restaurant. She took us to a small table in an area that had a bright spotlight shining on it, in the middle of a lot of foot traffic, and had a cold draft. We asked the hostess to move us to a booth (which they always used to give us), where the lighting was more gentle and we would be out of the traffic. "Sorry, all the booths are taken." I pointed out that there were at least six perfectly clean booths visible on that side of the restaurant. "Let me talk to the manager and see what he says." She eventually came back from the manager and said we would have a long wait for a booth. What??? "We had too many wait staff go off duty, and we don't have enough for all the booths." I asked why can't you just tell our waitress to go to a booth instead of our table? While we stood there a waitress then stopped and asked if we needed something. I explained the situation, and she said she'd also go talk to the manager.

Rather than continue to stand at the table we went to the entry to await our fate. As we waited, another couple walked in and was immediately seated at a booth (#205 or something) on the other side of the restaurant. After more waiting they told us, "you can have booth 311." When they took us to booth 311, a guy was still bussing it. I suggested that we could instead sit at one of the other two perfectly clean booths right next to it. "Oh, no, those booths are closed." Back to the entry again to await our fate from the people trying to get the manager's permission.

By 8:45 we had had enough and started to leave. One of the hostesses stopped me and said, "I need to explain to you what happened. We have a ROTATION that we need to stick to." I said, why can't you tell the waitress to just go to the next booth over? And why couldn't you seat us at that booth over on the other side? "That side of the restaurant is closed." SO WHY DID YOU JUST SEAT A COUPLE THAT WALKED IN AFTER US OVER THERE??? "Someone else that did that, that wasn't me."

At this point my wife had already left and gone to the car, so I explained that the decision was already made, and I had to leave.

I think this is a perfect example of how a "system" that is too rigidly implemented can dehumanize customers and treat them as pegs the must fit into a certain hole. Some common sense and customer focus is sorely needed. I do not blame the obedient workers there. I think the manager needs some coaching, although I am also sympathetic to the demands he must face on his job. But maybe giving his subordinates a little empowerment to do something as simple as moving someone from a table to an empty booth in a half empty restaurant might make his job easier and the...

I visited this Olive Garden yesterday 10/03/2023 with my 3 kids and their father. The wait was a little long, but we did not mind that. When we got to our table, our server seemed like he could not be bothered with us. I ordered the Bellini peach raspberry tea and he brought out a peach Bellini instead. When I told him that's not what I asked for, and reiterated what i dod ask for, he huffed and puffed and said "That's not what you said." Our one appetizer took 30 mins to get to us, the large salad did not have dressing, which we had to wait an extra 10 mins for. We had to request breadsticks 3 times before actually receiving them (they endedbup coming out with our dinner) When our waiter came back he asked if we needed anything and we told him we need refills for 3 of the 5 drinks we had. He left for 10 minutes then came back and asked if we needed anything. "I said yes we need refills." He took 2 of the cups and came back 5 mins later asking if we need anything else. I told him we still need a refill. He said ok and never returned until our food arrived. The spaghetti and meat balls was cold, with hardly any sauce on them. We asked for extra sauce that we never received. The chicken fingers I ordered my 4 year old were overcooked so she was not able to eat any of them. At this point we were ready to leave and I asked for the bill. Our waiter said to me I can pay on the tablet. I told him I would like to pay in cash. He said he will be back with the check. After about 7 minutes he came back and asked if we had an issue with anything, as in "Why are ya'll still here?" I told him we are waiting for the bill and he says "You can pull it up on the tablet and leave the money on the table." I explained tgat i would like a receipt and he walked away. We did what he asked and left. I was left feeling very dissatisfied with the service I received here and not being able to get a physicalcopy of my bill. We don't really get to go out like that and yesterday was special since it was my 15 year olds birthday. Our experience here ruined the family birthday dinner we were certain would be a great one. We didn't even feel comfortable getting dessert or even letting the waiter know it was a birthday after the poor service we received. This location really let us down and I highly doubt that I will be visiting this...

Update 3/20/22: I'm updating my review to 4 stars after Olive Garden's response to my original review and my subsequent email conversations with their guest relations team. This is one of the best guest relations experience I have encountered and we will be returning to this location again in the future in hopes that our last experience was a one-time fluke. Thank you Olive Garden!

Original Review: We have dined-in here a number of times before the pandemic and also ordered "to go" several times over the last two years. The staff has always been very friendly and the food has always been above average compared to other Olive Garden locations. We have also had good to go experiences the first two times during the pandemic. However, our to go experience last week was not so great.

The parking lot was an absolute disaster. There weren't enough parking spots for customers picking up their food and while waiting, I noticed other cars circling looking for parking (though to be fair, there was plenty of parking if customers were willing to walk an extra 50 feet).

Our order was supposed to be ready for pick-up at 6:25pm and wasn't brought to my car until 6:50pm. While going through the order to make sure I had everything, the lid for three of our dishes weren't secured correctly causing me to nearly spill one whole entree. The food was also warm and not hot, like it had been sitting for a little while. As I pulled out, I noticed at least 3 other customers who arrived before me but were still waiting for their food. Two of them were visibly upset/annoyed.

My take is that they could not handle the volume of customers dining in and picking up. We certainly will not be ordering a to go meal on a weekend night again after this last experience.

I would have given a 4 or 5 star rating had it not been for last...