Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Tyngsborough

Olive Garden is definitely not my cup of tea as it has subpar food that is overly priced. If I wanted good Italian, I’d just go to a good Italian restaurant. The food was alright for what it was though. Regardless of that, my review is about the bartender that was serving my partner and me. The bar area was completely empty when we walked in, but the rest of the place was packed, so we sat at the bar. This nice young man gave us menus and we thought he was going to be the one helping us…but boy we were wrong. Instead, we got stuck with someone who’s name I believe is Jess (brown hair, short, snarl on her face, nasty personality, and over all just not nice). When I asked if they had a certain beverage, she snapped at me, saying no. A good bar tender wouldve then told me what they do have or suggest another beverage that could be a close substitute. I got nothing but an attitude though. She didn’t offer the salad and breadsticks right off the bat like they usually do. We literally had to request it to come out while we over looked the menu. When placing the order with her, she rushed you and spoke over you. While waiting for the order, we could hear her being rude and short with her coworkers which is very unprofessional especially with customers around. Then when we were getting ready to leave, she didn’t offer to get us a salad and breadsticks to go…I mean they’re endless with your meal, so if I’m taking my food to go, why wouldn’t you offer? Then we asked just for a new salad to take home and she was like “you don’t want what’s left over here?” Like no lady, we don’t want mushy lettuce thats drenched dressing and been sitting there for 30+ minutes. Sorry for the inconvenience? If I ever go back and see her at the bar, I will definitely steer clear of the bar area. I can understand why the bar was empty now…clearly she must...

We love the atmosphere here: not pretentious but relaxing and comfortable. We had Max for our waiter and he was great. Very attentive and accommodating. He reminded me of my Godson, brewed a fresh pot of coffee for us, and asked if we wanted him to grate Parmesan cheese at each course of our dinner. My Watermelon Sangria was refreshing and perfect- not too sweet, but not at all dry. Hubs would've preferred a Heineken 00 to the O'Douls, but had to settle for the latter. We both had the pre-entree salad, served family style and with well-chilled plates which is something we haven't seen beforehand, but appreciated that detail of service. And, of course, those infamous breadsticks- came out so fresh from the oven, we had to let them cool a bit to devour those buttered with a hint of garlic, savory mini baguettes. I had the shrimp scampi, which is one of a few options for the lactose intolerant folk such as myself, and I didn't want steak so late at night. The presentation of this entree is aesthetically pleasing: colorful and bright. Perfectly sautéed, pink shrimp over a delicate swirl of angel hair tossed with garlic and butter, decorated with chopped, crispy and perfectly green asparagus, diced plum red tomatoes, which, aside from the shrimp, reminded me of the Italian flag. Hubs enjoyed his lasagna, described it as delicious and yummy. Not really a "meat" lasagna but there was meat in it, plenty of cheese, and the noodles were perfectly al dente. The sauce was smooth and flavorful, and he is not sure if it was marinara, but didn't recall chunks of tomatoes in it. As a big fan of lasagna, he'll have it again. Another appreciated detail of service was the after dinner mints that Max delivered to our table after clearing our plates. All in all, a wonderful...

I have to admit; I felt bad about giving a one star rating on Google and my empathy grew when I was contacted by the chain apologizing for not meeting my standards (response below). So, it’s only fair that I try to articulate why the one star rating.

I’ll start with the positives; the service. Excellent across the board. Polite servers and hosts, perfect communication and energy with a good focus on a large group of patrons (12). We had multiple people come by and refill our drinks, ask us if we needed anything and help appease some picky children we had at our table.

The one star was really 100% focused around the food. This was my first time ever at an Olive Garden and maybe I was expecting more of a Macaroni Grill type of entrees, when I think of “Italian chain”. First the breadsticks are awful, barely resembles anything with wheat in it. They are hard, butter soaked and not appetizing. The calamari was chewy and tasted like a frozen reheated meal. The drink choices… “Italian Margarita”? Why is this even on the menu? Same goes for the Nachos. The mozzarella sticks are seasoned with parmesan. For a chain that advertises itself as an Italian restaurant, this seems like you are catering to everyone. And finally, almost all the entrees come soaked with sauces and creams. I understand I can get the meals with butter only (or bare), but I can also stay home and make my own pasta dishes.

Overall, this is a long-winded way to say I do not think the products offered at an Olive Garden appeal to what I would expect to be an a satisfying...