Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Toledo

I had one of the worst restaurant experiences I’ve ever had at this Olive Garden on Saturday night.

To start, I called four times in a row to place a takeout order before picking up my son and his friends. Each time, someone picked up with “Olive Garden, please hold” and then hung up immediately. When I walked inside, the two young hosts at the front desk actually admitted and laughed about doing it. They smirked, pointed at each other, and thought it was funny. Meanwhile, I was just trying to get dinner for myself and my son after a long day. Completely unprofessional.

While I was waiting in line to place my order, those same hosts stood a few feet away openly laughing and mocking me loud enough for me to hear. It was humiliating and infuriating.

When I finally got to order, the woman who helped me was extremely rude as well. While I was trying to place my order, the phone rang. She picked it up, muttered “they can hold, I’m not dealing with that, especially now that I know they work here,” and tossed the phone down. That’s not something a paying customer should ever have to witness. On top of that, she added a tip on her end without ever showing me the screen, and I never received a receipt.

I told her I’d be sitting with my son and his friends while waiting for the food, and she agreed they’d come find me when it was ready. Nearly an hour later, no one had brought it out. During that wait, another staff member came over and talked at our table for 10–15 minutes. While he was polite, it became uncomfortable because it dragged on too long, and no manager stepped in to redirect him. Again, this reflects poor supervision and training.

Finally, another server (who was actually very kind and professional) tracked down my order and brought it to me. By then, the food was stone cold, old, and completely inedible. The lasagna, Alfredo, and chicken parm — usually my favorites — were disgusting. Both my son and I ended up throwing almost everything away after a couple bites. For a $45+ order plus tip, that is unacceptable.

From start to finish, this experience was awful: staff who hang up on customers, laugh at and mock them in person, openly complain about doing their jobs, fail to deliver food on time, and food that was borderline inedible. Olive Garden is supposed to be a family-friendly, welcoming restaurant, but this location clearly doesn’t meet...

Had a Sunday afternoon lunch at this Olive Garden my wife and her aunt. The experience was only so-so.

When we walked in the door, there were three young ladies at the greeting stand engaged in a discussion about clothing. Their conversation continued for about a minute or so while we stood and waited. Finally, one the ladies broke away from the conversation to address us. But her demeanor betrayed the fact that she viewed us as an unwelcome interruption.

The server was friendly and fairly attentive. All in all, she did a good job.

The food was good, though not great. I ordered the pick your own pasta option. I selected fettuccine with mushroom sauce and Italian sausage. There was so little sauce on the fettuccine that most of it was just dry. I didn't eat most of it.

Just not a great experience.

UPDATE: Sept, 2024: Decided to give this Olive Garden another chance. It didn't turn out well.

We needed to arrange for a luncheon for 10 people following a memorial Mass for a recently deceased relative. The luncheon would occur on a Saturday around noon. Olive Garden was a consensus choice. This location was closest to the church. So we called.

The first lady we spoke with was very friendly. She said that, though they didn't take reservations, this sort of event for such a small group would be no problem to arrange. However, she said she needed to check with the manager.

When the lady returned from checking with the manager, her tone completely changed. She said they don't take reservations. So we would just have to call when we were on our way to the restaurant and they would try to fit us in. But there was no guarantee we would be seated together. She seemed a bit embarassed by her manager's refusal to offer even the slightest hint of customer service.

So, since this Olive Garden clearly didn't want our business, we made a reservation at another local restaurant.

I sent an email about this situation to Olive Garden's customer service. I received - without comment or any sort of apology - a $25 Olive Garden gift card.

I sent it back. I told them they could keep it.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." We will not give this Olive Garden a third opportunity to demonstrate just how little it...

Every customer that walks into a restaurant has a story and in that story is the history that each customer has taken with their steps putting one foot in front of the other and the rest of us do not know what that history is and what they bring to the table. But in the hospitality industry I do not expect rudeness and contempt for a guest to be brought to the table. I am tired of it. I am so unbelievably angry. I am sitting in the parking lot where I just walked out after telling the waitress to cancel my order because of the treatment from the management. You guys may rest on your laurels and think you are the hottest property in all of Northwest Toledo but this judgment thing you've got going needs to stop. I will not be back. And if you really knew who this was you will be delighted. I don't know where the shift went as prior to recent circumstances I usually felt welcome. I did complain recently and this is a retribution I get. And my complaint was valid. 2 months ago I had a server who attempted to charge me for an item in which I have never been charged before. I had a host come to the door after I requested from another employee if a host would suit me and he approached me with his soft drink in his hand drinking from the straw and said to me what do you want? I was told I should be more understanding because he's only 16 years old. Maybe what you need to understand is teenagers deserve more respect than what you just gave them because they know at that age how to be polite. This man in question chose not to. When I dine alone I usually set 15 minutes before anybody even approaches a table because let's face it a table of four and a table of six is going to get priority. And I am tired from the rude snarls from the head chef. I was a great guest who had fabulous experiences and then had a couple that were not so great and this is the price I pay. But I will not be paying the price for your food and the beverages any longer. That...