Olive Garden

Reviews 4

KA

Kathryn Woodward

The mark of a good restaurant is not always its food, but the quality of its staff and integrity of their service. Along that line, some of the finest dining experiences Ive had have been in popular restraint chains where training seems to be standardized. Don’t get me wrong, most of the AWESOME dining experiences have been at local scenes - small diners and dives scattered throughout the city. In this case, we’re talking about Greenwood eateries - regrettably, Olive Garden – which is no longer among the Greenwood gems. The location of the diner makes it appear promising – it’s convenient. They recently remodeled inside and out. My sister and I sat at the bar since it was a busy night, as it usually is at OG in Greenwood. So the ENTIRE visit was plagued by bickering staff coming in and out from behind the bar – we looked over that since our bartender was on the spot with our drink orders. The food – hey, pretty much the standard OG and certainly nothing to write home about. Everything looked, and tasted, as expected. I ordered salmon and broccoli and had a bit of Zuppa Toscana. Life went on until IT kicked in – the whole enchilada – the sweats, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and cramps. After I was well enough, I reached out to Oliva Garden about the issue. The person who answer explained they had a lot of calls from people who were sick and they have been “scrubbing down the place for two days”. She had me speak with a manger who took down exactly what I ate and offered to send me a gift card for the trouble. I was very appreciative, and surprised by the offer and gladly accepted. The gift card never arrived. I didn’t mind assuming they had CO MANY of them to issue. On a subsequent visit I mentioned the trouble we’d had before in a passing comment to my party about staying away from the salmon and broccoli (which is my usual do-to order at OG). The manager appeared from nowhere and was rude about the incident, stating I was the only one who reported trouble. I initially let it pass assuming he only heard part of the conversation and thought I was blasting “his restaurant” and because I was embarrassed and didn’t want to ruin the meal for my party. The next day, I called to speak with the manager about the attitude and the gift card that was promised and never arrived. He confirmed the name and address – no apology for the rude behavior – and continued further to insult me stating that whatever I was trying to get out of them, their insurance policy only allows a gift card of $40 to be issued and that I would not be receiving a refund of the bill which was much, much higher btw. I said I would expect to be compensates for only the salmon and broccoli since it was one of the two that was reported to be the trouble. Two calls and three months later still no gift card. A mere $40 “apology” that I would have never followed-up on should the manager had acted like one and been a gracious host instead of an insulting child. Save your gist card Olive Garden – my family and circle of friends will not be returning. Greenwood has too many other offerings with much more professional staff. In this case, considering the many disrespectful employees in and out of behind the bar that night, this manager is leading with his actions as well as his words. Too bad since most of the staff there are wonderful servers.

JO

Joel Fedell

Decided to come back as its been awhile since I have visited Olive Garden. Since I was here they have done a remodel inside and out. I like the new look. Clean and modern with hardwood and a calming color pallet. We were seated right away at a booth in the bar. Our server took a minute to take our drink order but was very patient when it came to our order as I had no clue what I wanted. After some time she came back and took our order. Before leaving she asked if we wanted salad and breadsticks. I feel like thats like asking if I want oxygen! Up until this point the service had been pretty decent. However, from here on out it kind of goes downhill. I feel like the bar area only had one server, and they kept sitting more and more people in that area. The salad and breadsticks came out first, after waiting several minutes. The breadsticks never meet my expectation as that only happens when they come out to the table fresh out of the oven....which like never happens. The salad wasnt bad...and by that I mean there wasnt any brown lettuce or anything. A short time later our food came out, and was delivered by a girl that had no clue what table she was delivering to. When she was pointed in the right direction she set them on the table and told us our server would be over with cheese if we wanted it. Well, our server was under the impression that was done by the not-so-friendly food runner...so we didnt get cheese until we flagged her down. The food wasnt bad. Nothing special, but nothing terrible. Just your typical Olive Garden dinner. Our server did come back a couple times to check on us, but she really struggled to give everyone the service they deserved. Id go back again, as I love Italian and the Olive Garden isnt a terrible place. BUT I may not sit in the bar again in fear of getting just mediocre service.

J

J Mllr

Went for dinner and did not have such a great experience. We ordered soup, salad and bread sticks for the two of us. No onions on the salad. Now during lunch, I can understand serving the soup and salad at the same time to help customers who have short lunch times. But at dinner, I would expect the salad to come first and then a little later the soup. Not the case with us. They brought both of them together. There were onions on the salad and they brought the same soup for both of us. I had ordered a different soup than what my wife had. The waiter asked if that would be okay for me. I replied no, that I ordered another kind. He finally brought it, but no spoon. Had to use the spoon from the second bowl of soup from his first trip. And did not offer to put cheese on the salad until I asked for it, when he brought my first bowl of soup. Then we had to ask for a refill on our drinks and a second bowl of soup for myself. Took over 10 minutes for the soup to come. All in all, the food was good, but not the service. Since there are so many other eateries around that area, we will probably take our business elsewhere.

IN

Infection Obsession

Everytime we go (once to three times a week), the staff is friendly and helpful. The greeters are the first people we see and they are always smiling. Always finds us a booth and NEVER seem irritated with my requests. The wait staff knows what to do to get my food like I want it. I am a particular and difficult customer. (My husband and I accept it so lets move on.) I like my Bellini Peach Raspberry tea brought out in seperate glasses. My salad has to be a certain way with a certain amount of dressing. My chicken is cooked in a sautee pan instead of on the grill. IF my order happens to not be perfect, it is taken back and remade with only one question "How can we make it perfect for you?" I am not always a pleasant person (Im on meds for that) but I have never had a wait staff be disrespectful or give any inkling that they notice it. Last but certainly not least, there are two veteran parking spaces at this restaurant. They are second to the handicapped spaces. I have encouraged the Avon location to do the same but they have not followed suit. Highly recommended!