Olive Garden Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Walker

A very delicious and flexible all you can eat option.

Never Ending Pasta Bowl - $14: You get as many dishes of pastas in any combination you want with the sauce of your choice. I had four different dishes over the course of one sitting and only paid $14. That’s a steal!

The first plate is 10 oz and every one after is 5 oz. Most of the pastas were mainly the same taste, but different textures. They were dense, FILLING, but generally good quality and a great foundation to the experience.

If you want chicken, meatballs, or sausage on top, you have to pay $5 EACH PLATE that you add it to, so that is a bummer.

Spaghetti and Meat Sauce: Thicker pasta than I am used to with spaghetti, but generally good. The meat sauce was not as meaty as I’d like, but it was to a point where it is still within tolerance (and possibly my preference).

Fettuccine Alfredo: Standard. I’ve had fettuccine alfredo several times and felt it needed something almost every time if there wasn’t chicken or something else added. If you get it, this would be the one dish I’d highly recommend adding the chicken to. Good over all, though.

Rigatoni and Garlic Herb Sauce: New one for me. The huge tubes are a bit odd texture to me. It was actually quite practical for scooping up the sauce.

The garlic herb sauce has a powerful garlic flavor! I would not eat this on a regular basis, but if I had a strong craving for garlic, this would be my first recommendation. Just try a small bit, first.

Angel Hair and Traditional Marinara: The angel hair was thinner than I expected. The marinara was zingy and almost a little spicy. I thought it needed more, so I did add some, but a little went a long way. It was still great, though. Better than I had expected since I almost always have meat with my spaghetti otherwise.

Breadsticks: Soft inside but medium tough outer crust. One of the three was a bit dry, but they were generally moist and good. A standard breadstick that is a bit on the dense side.

Salad: This was my favorite, actually. I like ranch…I mean dressing…BAH! I like salad. You order the salad to your preference ahead of time. If you don’t like a lot of dressing, make sure you specify that because they do add a lot (which I like).

I skipped the olives. The onions were a bit more abundant which I liked. The tomatoes could have been cut in half (which I did myself) since they were larger (slices). The pepperoncini peppers they added were on the spicy side, wholesome tasting, but still they had a lot of bite. I liked it and it added a complexity that really matched everything overall and was well balanced. The lettuce was crisp and moist. They are famous for their house salad and I can see why.

My wife's meal and comments: Zuppa Toscana: The soup broth had a bit of a kick. Chicken Parmigiana: Nice and succulent. Gluten-Free Rotini with Traditional Marinara: It was okay.

Service: Our waitress was amazing. She was never away for more than a few minutes and was always looking into our needs. She was previously a cook so she knew the menu very well, which was helpful for gluten-free ordering for my wife. Her recommendations were spot on.

The only thing is that the menu is very confusing and inconsistent for gluten-free options. The website says one thing and the menu another. We ended up having to defer a lot to the waitress and even then she had to confirm a couple things. They need to go through their menu and clean that up. Also, the kiosk at our table did not take our gift card and the server had to do it manually.

Atmosphere: VERY clean and professional while maintaining an ability to bring kids and wear casual clothing. It was super quiet with a warm feeling. The artwork on the walls had a lot of historical Italian themes with some semi-modern approaches. The bathroom had a cool kids step that folds.

Conclusion: This is a great representation of Olive Garden and their niche in the market. I highly recommend it!

Visited Thursday night...

Good Lunch Deals! I took my sister here for her birthday today during lunchtime. We only had to wait about 30 seconds for a table, which the hostess chose perfectly, so that we could fit a stroller in the corner next to us for my sister's 5-month old baby. Even though there were many people out having lunch at the time we went, we didn't feel crowded where we were sitting, and we were able to talk amongst ourselves without feeling like our voices were being drowned out by all the others around us.

Our server was very nice and knowledgeable (I wish I could remember her name because I would ask for her again). The menu selection was quite large (with both regular menus and an extensive electronic menu at each table that categorized which items to order in case of food allergies). Even though we intended to just go for soup & salad, we ended up each getting an entree, too, because everything smelled great! Our order arrived in good time and everything was done to our liking. The portions were of good size; we both had enough left over to take home for later, which was boxed up for us at the table when we were finished eating. Everything tasted wonderful, including the complimentary birthday dessert for my sister, which was basically warm apple pie topped with ice cream and caramel (but it had a much fanicer name that I also do not remember).

As I stated before, at each table there was an electronic device similar to a tablet on an attached stand. We could use it to play games (for $1.99), access categorized information similar to online magazine articles (travel, sports, etc), browse menu items, page the server, and access our e-club account to check for coupons and reward points. The option to pay at the table if you are using a card is also available to customers, rather than waiting for the server to bring the bill if you are in a hurry. Such a great device and so convenient!

I do not go to Olive Garden often, but the experience was such a positive one that I wanted to wite a review. I highly recommend the Grand Rapids, MI Olive Garden location on Alpine to those looking for a relaxed atmosphere with various menu options of Italian food that cater to those with food allergies/sensitivities. If you have made it this far in my review, thank you so much for sticking around and reading. I hope this was...

Olive Garden has really gone down hill. We go for Christmas Eve dinner every year - it's been our family tradition for almost 15 years. The past few years just haven't been worth it. After our experience this year, we will not be back. My husband and I did call ahead seating for our group of 9 and the first person we got was not the right phone number (we called the one posted on Google). They said they'd transfer us up front but we continued to hear them talking for about a minute until they figured out how to push the right buttons. We got the host stand and spelled our name at least twice and told them we'd be there in 45 mins. When we arrived to the restaurant, our whole family was waiting and said they didn't have our spot for call-ahead and it was going to be an hour wait. After waiting for several groups that went past us, we found out that they somehow misspelled our name on the list. Whatever, mistakes happen.

We always order a lot of drinks and appetizers. We are there to eat and drink and spend time with each other. We aren't concerned about cost. We waited at least fifteen minutes for our bar drinks. Our appetizers were gross but we ate them anyway because we were all starving after the waitlist debacle. Literally the mushrooms were raw and the cheese on top was old and hard.

Our drinks went unfilled most of the dinner and the food, honestly, is mediocre at best. We've been trying to convince my parents that Olive Garden isn't what it used to be and we should stop wasting our money. We keep going because we had so many good years with great food before they became the Applebees of Italian cuisine. I think our argument was made for...