Address: | 303 Clifton Park Center Rd, Clifton Park, NY 12065, USA |
Phone: | +1 518-383-2391 |
Site: | olivegarden.com |
Rating: | 3.7 |
Working: | 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–10PM |
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Hannah E.
We love Olive Garden and normally have good experiences there. This is the first time we went to the Clifton Park location and it will be our last. There were 5 of us. We had a wait on a Saturday at 3:50pm...kind of strange but understandable because of the holidays. As we were waiting two employees that appeared to be chefs walked in and one of them was cursing up a storm. When they realized there were customers sitting right there, instead of apologizing they just said "oops" then hit my husband with the door when there was a whole second door they could have walked through with no one standing near it. Then when we were seated, our waitress, Sandra, opened by welcoming us and saying "I dont know my serving partners name so Ill just skip that part." Kind of strange but how hard is it to remember one name of the person youre working with? Next, I ordered a strawberry lemonade and she brought me a raspberry. Maybe if she used that magic notepad that servers get to keep track of orders, she could have brought me the right thing. She then refilled my drink...twice...with more raspberry. Next, we all ordered our entrees and an appetizer. She offered cheese for the salad, skimped on it, then didnt bother to ask my husband if he wanted cheese on his soup. He had to ask for it. She brought us some overcooked crispy breadsticks that werent very good. We had to ask to refill those when she could clearly see the basket was empty. In general, she was a slow server and we didnt see her much. My husband had to ask for more soup after 15 minutes of his empty bowl sitting there, and then she brought it out pre-cheesed - maybe a teaspoon of cheese in there - instead of offering fresh. When our food came, all of us had pasta dishes except my husband, and we had to ask for cheese for that too. She never offered. My husband ordered a steak medium-rare and it came out cold and more like medium-well. After that whole experience was over, we ordered dessert to go. We ordered some italian donuts with a chocolate dipping sauce. Weve ordered these to go a million times and the sauce always comes in its own container with a lid. It looks like she never bothered to put this as a to-go order (again, if she wrote it down she would have remembered, its not like we ordered a ton of stuff) and instead threw it all together last-minute in a to-go box and put the ceramic sauce containers with the sauce in there. Consequently, they spilled all over the donuts as we were driving home and made a soggy mess. As we were checking out, she kept eyeing-us uncomfortably like she wanted us to leave, and she never even brought us any mints. The food was delicious, but the service is the worst Ive ever had at an Olive Garden. Im calling Sandras manager tomorrow to complain. We wont be coming back here. Go to the one on Wolf Road in Albany or the one in Queensbury instead.
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Megan S
Stay away, take the 15 minute drive to Wolf Rd, its much busier but theres a reason why, it will be well worth it. I came here shortly after the opening and the food was bland. I figured it was new chefs and brand new "unseasoned" pans. I went back today and my seafood fettuccine alfredo was old and gritty. The "seafood" was tiny bay shrimp and bay scallops. My husband ordered the tour of Italy, same nasty pasta. The chicken parm was hard as a rock. When he flipped his crusty lasagna over, it had grill marks on the bottom and the inside was browned. Our dishes were obviously old and reheated. We went at 3:30 and it was dead, yet we waited and waited for our server to come back and take our order. We did not see the server again after meal was delivered. The manager said the alfredo sauce did not melt correctly, but looked as if it was microwaved. The portions were horrible, our daughters cheap kids meal contained more food than the $12 pasta and the $17 tour of Italy. We used to work on Wolf Rd and eat there frequently without a problem, now we will continue to drive out of our way past this one and go to Colonie.
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Jon Sears
This is the first review I have ever written on any restaurant. Went on a Sunday evening. We ordered Bruschetta for an appetizer, they claim they ran out of tomatoes! What italian place runs out of tomatoes.... So, after seeing multiple dishes continuing to come out with tomatoes I am even more appalled. We ordered 2 meals, 1 was a filet - which I wouldnt expect to be perfect at an Olive Garden and the tilapia and shrimp with a white wine sauce. The filet was way over cooked and the tilapia and shrimp was dry as a bone, if there was a sauce it was not used... I cant believe this place is still in business, the food is terrible and overpriced. You are much better going to an authentic italian restaurant where the portions are larger, and the food isnt microwaved. I only went to use a gift card... what a waste of time.
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Dennis Connelly
If you been to an Olive Garden, this review wont be super boring as I wont go over the menu and food and what not. There are a dozen of these around and you either enjoy the food or you dont - my review is of this particular location - which I gotta say is very nice! Its a newer building and they did a great job inside - it looks spectacular and I enjoyed myself the few times Ive been in the past few months. What I liked most were the staff.. I mean they did a great job, super attentive and very likable friendly people. I do enjoy that this location holds a good number of people, so I dont find myself with crazy wait times although you will see some if you try to go on any of the popular "out-to-eat-nights" (as usual) If you enjoy Olive Garden, give this location and try - definitely one of the better ones Id say.
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Robbie McDermott
Have been to many Olive Garden locations, this was the first time at this location in Ballston Lake... waiter seem to disappear and we ended up asking another waiter passing by for more bread/water. The waiter offered marinara sauce to the side(for dipping our bread) a nice complimentary suggestion so I thought... ended up being $3.49 for a bowl of sauce... and I did not find this out until checkout... we were also charged $1.99 for "games"... nether my girlfriend or I ever touched or used theyre iPad they put on the tables, in fact ours was completely turned off. Although the manager fixed the charges after three attempts I am extremely disappointed and feel as though this location is dishonest and sneaks small charges into your bill, beware and carefully look over your check before paying!
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Steve Bennett
Just wanted to let you know of our experience today. We walked in there were a lot of seating available but was told we had a 10 minute wait which was confusing. Well after 30 minutes of waiting and watching at least 20 to 25 people walk out after they were told there was a 30 minute wait we finally got called. We were told that the waiters could only do 3 tables each so that was the hold up. We have been to this Olive Garden many times and have never had to wait. So not sure whos idea it was to let them only wait 3 tables as that greatly must cut down on their wages. I can not believe the having that many people walk out from your business would be okay. Better rethink that rule. Never saw a manager walk around and always did in our other visits.