Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

I hadn't been to an Olive Garden in years. I decided to go and see if it still had the same magic. I used to love it back in the days. I was a little hesitant because I went on a Saturday on the weekend where Mother's Day is Sunday. This particular location is hard to park because it sits with other stores. People cannibalize their parking lot, but are going to patronize the other stores.

I got lucky. Just as anticipated the parking lot was a headache. Completely full with people returning and leaving with shopping carts going to Costco. However, timing is everything. A lady with two bags of jumbo shrimp from Costco. Was just walking up to her truck. I asked if she was leaving and she said "yes". With the first challenge over, now it's time to tackle the long wait. Well again luck was in my favor, it was about 2:00 in the afternoon, but no wait. I was anticipating a lunch crowd. I was greeted with a smile and seated right away.

Every chain restaurant has that thing that you like. For example, Red Lobster it's the cheddar biscuits. For me, I always loved the salad that comes with meals here. It was as I remembered. And yes, I ate the jalapeno. I sat and looked over the menu for quite a while. Because I haven't been there for quite some time, everything wasn't familiar anymore. I decided to go for a build your own pasta. I've never done that I usually just go for whatever meals are presented. I decided to do rigatoni in a creamy mushroom sauce. I was very happy with it. Normally I would eat part of my meal and take part home so I'm not front loading a bunch of calories for the day. Let me tell you, not only did I eat all of that creamy deliciousness, but I took three of those signature breadsticks to scrape that plate to make sure I got every drop of that creamy Alfredo. I would definitely order it again. What's more is you can add shrimp or chicken to the top of it.

I also got an order of cheese sticks. The appetizer and the meal came at the same time because they were running behind on appetizers. It took a long time to come out so they just bought everything at once. Not my favorite way to eat. I expect an appetizer to come before the meal, however I didn't complain. The breadsticks had a lightly fried breading on top. More rectangle than the long ones that you may be used to. That a really nice cheese pull and a good flavor. I ate two of them. You are given sex with your order for $9.99. Pricey, but I don't eat out often.

One new thing since I have been there is they have a screen on your table where the advertise specials and you can play video games. One of the advertisements that came on was the option to purchase a pre-made pasta. There were three choices, or frozen and you heat it up when you're ready to eat it. I got five cheese ziti Al forno. For $6, I figured it'll be a decent meal. It didn't come with breadsticks or any sides.

Overall, the food fared well from my memory of it. They also have a lunch special. I probably would return again for lunch, or not dinner as the prices are very steep. Spending $20 per person, per plate not including your drink and if you get dessert or appetizers quickly adds up. So as a once in a while experience, I think it's fine. My family used to go for special occasions. Birthdays, graduations etc. Between this Red Lobster and Cheesecake Factory these were the go-to spots in the memory of my growing up. And now it's part...

In 2020 I reviewed this location of Olive Garden and in the ensuing years we have had many a pleasant visits. Never once did we have any issue. Our food and that of any guest we bring with us are always as happy with their visit as we are. Tonight, in July of 2025, we decided to order from the restaurant and have it delivered to our home. We are not close. We live on the boarder of Levittown and East Meadow. Not exactly around the corner. Yet the lovely girl from UBER, Janelle not only contacted me to let me know she was on her way, but responded back to my text as to where I wanted her to deliver to at our house and to drive safe. She texted back a thank you. When she got here she went right where we told her to go, she made it her in 12 min. 5 min. Off of the estimated time originally quoted. She was so pleasant and sweet and delivered our food nice and hot, packaged perfectly so all the food would stay hot. Our meals were delicious, the salad amazing as usual, everything that was a supposed to be clouded was, including , utensils, napkins, mints, and grated cheese. Our meals were plentiful and the extra cold meals we ordered for only $6 each as an add on was well worth it. Once less night of cooking. This location should be getting 5 stars from everyone who goes there. They are an awesome group of people that cook, serve, and clean up after some pretty awful messes. Their bathrooms are always clean and there is always a visible manager on site. I can not say enough good things about this location or their food.

2020 **Olive Garden has been and will continue to be one of my favorite mid range restaurants to frequent. The food is always exceptional. The soup and bread sticks fresh and plentiful. If you get the soup, anyone of them is delicious...piping hot and if paired with their delicious breadsticks a meal unto itself. I tend to get what I love which is the Lasagna. You would think why not step out of your comfort zone and get something exotic but I figure stick to what I know and love. My husband love playing around with the menu..chicken parm with ziti, chicken Marsala with mashed potatoes (I did try that a while back and it was delish!. All their pies are also very good. We have had family and friends join us and no one has ever had to voice a complaint. Due to the fact that I have limited mobility and its much easier for me to sit at a table vs a booth we usually get seated in the same area. Our waitress usually in the afternoon to evening time turns out to be Anna. She is a lovely woman, hard working and never...

We phoned ahead to get in line for a table as we started our drive to the Olive Garden. As usual, for a Sunday night the place was packed. Despite the 10 minute advance notice they still estimated a 25 minute wait for a table for 2. They gave us a beeper to let us know when our table was ready. The benches in the lobby were 100% full of other people waiting. We were able to find a seat in the bar area. Took about 12 minutes before a waiter approached us to take a drink order. Simultaneously the beeper announced our table was ready so we never did order drinks in the bar. Table was a decent size for a party of 2, but the room was surprisingly noisy. Not even acoustic tiles on the ceiling to help keep down the ambient noise level. Made conversation a bit more difficult then it should have been.

The menu is thick but the portions weren't generous. I had corkscrew pasta with meat sauce and a fried filet of skinless chicken breast on top. The food was good, served quickly and properly hot. It wmenuner" quality cooking only smaller.

The meal comes with a big bowl of salad and a small basket of garlic bread sticks. We had to twice remind our waitress to bring us the breadsticks. I think there kitchen gets behind on those.

Once upon a time a doggie bag for the unbeaten portion of your meal was almost always needed at the end of dinner at the Olive Garden. I think they shrunk the portions. Currently for $5 extra you can choose from an extremely limited selection of 3 pasta entree's to take one home to microwave for dinner tomorrow. They bring those out straight from the fridge (chilled for food safety).

The raspberry lemonade was a bit sweeter than I'd have preferred. The bar menu has various exotic sangrias but does not offer a classic red sangria at all. I found that omission disappointing.

Summary: OK but not great place for Italian food if you have plenty of...