Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Terrell

I have been eating at Olive Garden for over 30 years. I can remember when the Tour of Italy was $13.99 slice of heaven and a plate full of food. Today I went to the Olive Garden in Terrell Tx and it was the worst experience I have ever had at any Olive Garden. We were seated quickly and sat there unattended for 15 to 20 minutes. The restaurant was not terribly busy but it was almost full. The manager and a waitress stopped by our table and had a discussion about who was going to wait on us. Me and my daughters friend overheard them. The waitress did not seem overjoyed to being told it was her table. Another 5 minutes went by and she passed by saying she would be with us momentarily. We ordered our drinks, an appetizer and our entrees all at the same time. After all we had been there for twenty to twenty five minutes already. She brought our drinks in about 5 minutes. We never got the appetizer. We did get our salads and soups quickly. We did not get breadsticks? Our entrees came out pretty quickly. I ordered the Tour of Italy so I could share the Alfredo with my daughter who ordered Chicken Parmigiana. I have included a picture of my dish. It was not anything like any Tour of Italy I had ever been served. The Chicken Parmigiana was a lonely piece of way overdone chicken with no spaghetti and very little sauce, the Alfredo was literally 3 small bites and the Lasagna Classico was roughly the same, it looked like it was the left overs from another plate. My daughters friend ordered the Chicken Alfredo and he said it was lukewarm to clod. My daughter had the Chicken Parmigiana and half of it was wonderful and the other half was so overdone it was inedible. Our drinks remained unfilled for the duration of our meal and after telling us she would be right back, remained empty till after the meal was over. We had to ask for breadsticks or those too would have been missing with the appetizer. In fairness, this was our third visit. The first was when they opened and was satisfactory but not as good as most visits to other Olive Gardens. The second was a little better and the service was pleasant and attentive, we enjoyed our meal. This last visit will leave a lingering bad taste in my mouth. I do not believe I will go back. The Tour of Italy is now $20.79 ad as you can see in the picture and read in the description, a very disappointing visit to Italy indeed.

Guest Relations reached out and gave us a generous coupon for our experience. I am very happy to say that I took my daughter to the Olive Garden in Mesquite, our usual location and our experience there was literally the best we have had in years. The service was great. Our waiter, well she was wonderful. The food was hot and tasty. Our appetizer came quickly. The Tour of Italy filled the plate, the Chicken Parmigiana was perfect and the soup was steaming. Thank you Guest Relations, it was great to...

1st Review - I am making a total of 2 reviews to make sure credit is given where credit is due! My husband, and I along with our son went to Olive Garden after a long day of ranch work. We we still dressed in our work clothes and cowboy hats, but we were presentable. We were not covered in dirt, grim or smell of cow manure, but you could tell we had been working. There were 3 people at the front desk when we walked in 1 young man and 2 young ladies. The young man and one of the young ladies were very nice and inviting, however the other young lady looked at us with a look of disgust. I think my son noticed it as well since he stated, "if it weren't for people like us there would be no beef on tables". My son is 10 years old and has more courtesy than our hostess Paige. In my opinion Miss. Paige needs to have some additional training in Customer Service and could benefit from EI (Emotional Intelligence) training as well. Yes, it could be that this beautiful young lady was upset that she was working on a Saturday evening or maybe here ponytail was a little too tight, but don't take that out and individuals that you single out.

Additionally, while we waiting inside I picked up a advertisement, there was a pile of them on a barrel, and noticed you get 1/2 off drinks while you wait for your table. So I ordered some drinks for myself and my husband while I confirmed the special as I didnt see an expiration date and the advertisements were displayed in plain sight. The young man was unaware of the special and seems like everyone else was too. When it was brought up to the manager, Maria (I think was her name), she looked like she was upset that she had to approve the special. I was at the bar to pay the tap since were were called to our table. Maria had to make some adjustments and stood right in front of me and I got no good evening, no how are you, no my apologies from her. She actually never looked up at me, but she did have an intense look on her face. I can not tell if it was irritation, hate, disapproval, but it was something.

In my own personal opinion if OG wants its staff like Paige and others to be friendly and inviting it starts with management. Also, if you have a special going on make sure your staff is aware of it. At least the ones that are directly involved like management and the greeters as well.

2nd Review - I was thinking i could post this separately, but the system was not letting me. My 5 star review was going to Anna our waitress and the cooks in the back! Anna was an amazing waitress, she was very friendly, warn, inviting and attentive. She was always available and constantly checking on us. She was to say the least nothing short of AMAZING! Paige and Maria could learn a thing or two from this young lady! Now, the food..... from the salad to the dressing and the breadstick to my stuff tortellini, mmmmmmm EVERYTHING WAS DELICIOUNS! Awesome job...

The food was good, my lasagna was a little burnt, but that’s okay. My issue tonight was I guess communication?

Our food was already taking awhile to come out. My husband ordered the never ending soup and salad & I ordered a soup to start. We get the soups, I was bottle feeding my infant so I couldn’t review the menu to order anything else yet. The server never brought my husband his salad out. He was waiting to eat until he had both out. I’m not sure if he asked the manager for it or another waiter, but as he went to go get a salad our waitress comes and I order my entree (the lasagna) and my daughter some spaghetti with fries. She asks if I want a salad and as I was going to say no, my husbands salad comes out and they bring 3 salad plates and our waitress says “Oh it’s on the house”. My husband and I were confused at first, but we figured okay maybe because it took them awhile?

So since we were told it was on the house and extra plates were brought, I figured I’ll eat some since it’s taking awhile for my 2nd bowl of soup to come out and more breadsticks.

My daughters spaghetti comes out, she’s 2 and very active, so I’m just focused in feeding her and catching her too. I never noticed her fries didn’t come out until it was time to check out.

I also noticed I was charged for 2 soup & salads plus my lasagna with a salad. I asked my waitress about it and she informed me that due to me eating some of the salad, I had to be charged for that. That 1 person couldn’t order it and share between 2 people; which I understand…. BUT, I ate it AFTER we were told it was “on the house”. Why tell us that if you’re just going to charge us and not only for 1 but 2? & Why bring out 3 plates if only 1 had salad on their order?

Even if we weren’t told it was going to be on the house, my entree INCLUDED a soup OR salad (I chose a soup) and breadsticks. So it would’ve made more sense to charge us for a salad/soup separately for $8.29 instead of $11.49.

We paid and left a tip, but this experience just left us a little uncomfortable so we won’t be...