Olive Garden Italian Restaurant

Overall the experience wasn’t bad. I get pretty much the same thing every time i come so I know what to expect. The zuppa was amazing as always. Along with the breadsticks. The salad had to much dressing on it. We got the spicy calamari, the jalapeños were good but there was no flavor to the calamari. Also one of the kids got the wrong sauce on their pasta. We asked for meat sauce and she got alfredo. The server was nice however his English wasn’t the greatest so it was difficult to understand him.

We’ve been to this Olive Garden several times with our son, a student at UW Madison. We went again last evening after taking him back to school for the fall. Food was typical OG but, good and consistent for what you pay for. Service was below average. All five dinners did not arrive on time, the 5^th plate came out about 5min’s after the 1^st 4. Server was pleasant but, brought the check while two of us were still finishing our entrees. Then what has to be worst idea I’ve ever seen in any restaurant, the «Ziosk» checkout. A wireless tablet at all the tables including ours. So Darden congratulations you’ve found a way to make your customers do the work of paying their own bill! Unbelievable. You slide your card at your table and then their system comes up and recommends a 20% tip, which you can change but it is a strong suggestion. The only thing they got right here is you can fill out a survey & make comments. This is just an awful system and ruined a typical average but, decent OG experience. Get rid of the Ziosk.

I used to love this place as a child, when I didn’t realize that this wasn’t true Italian food! Many, many calories, and very heavy servings.
The flavors are fine, but I would not choose to pay for a huge plate of grease and fat.

We have been coming to Olive Garden for years in many cities and states. My wife loves thier food. Usually thier food is consistently good. We went there last night for a dinner and was very disappointed. Thier lasagna and sausage filled rigatoni left much to be desired. Smaller portions… My lasagna noodles were hard on all the edges. The pictures of the sausage rigatoni on the menu made them look like the size of a taco or a egg roll. However they were the size of a little dumpling. Sausage was dry with no flavor. The whole meal was blah. My wife had the stuffed Chicken Marsala. The chicken was dry overcooked. I would have been dissapointed as the chef to put that food out. As if they microwaved a frozen chix breast. For an appetizer we have the the risotto nuggets with marinara. Definitely frozen nuggets not fresh or good. Risotto had no flavor. They might as well just add cheese curds to thier menu.
I love writing great reviews when they are deserved. I feel bad being so negative. Read the first line of my review one more time. My salad and Shocktop Belgian white beer on tap was the best thing we had all night. The service was ⁴⁄₅ stars by a young man named Tyler. Good job kid.
We will not visit this Olive Garden again. With Bonefish Grille next door, Old Chicago, Granite City… Too many great places around to eat at than to waste my money or time on crappy food.

We’ve been dipping into the Olive Garden well for many years now. They are reliably consistent with their experience — food, service and atmosphere. It’s our go-​to italian place. Are they the most authentic Italian food in town. No. Is it the «best ever»? Nah. But it’s tasty and consistent without fail. I keep their number in my phone so I can order carry-​out when the need arises.
I do enjoy the appetizers — Rizotto Bites, Lasagna Fritta and Fried Ravioli (not sure they have that anymore) are among my favorites.
For dinners, the family likes the old standby of Fettuccine Alfredo. I like to try various things and, so far, nothing has disappointed. If I’ve done something special that deserves rewarding, I’ll get the Tour of Italy. :)
Of course, it wouldn’t be the same without the breadsticks (we get Alfredo to dip them in). The soups are great, but I do enjoy the salad as well.
When you’re ready for a dinner out, and you need to ensure it will be a great experience without taking a big risk, Olive Garden is a great choice. They’re a safe bet, and never disappoint.

I love this place– sometimes I crave their house salad and zuppa soup so we go for date night. The wait can be long on a weekend night but here’s a tip– eat at the bar! Usually there’s room and no wait. If it’s just you or two people, eating at the bar beats waiting in line for 20 minutes, especially when you are hungry. The space is huge– I’ve seen them fit 10 – 15 people groups in to a semi-​private space. Really good prices and they always have specials going on. I usually bring home leftovers.

Just had Sunday family dinner here. Very clean place, brand new carpets on the floor. Unlimited salad, soup and breadsticks!!!

I had to wait close to 20 mins. Even when they had empty tables! Not just one empty table but many!

This location usually has great service, and the food is your standard Olive Garden fare. I’ve eaten here hundreds of times, and whether it is for a birthday, weekend lunch with friends, or quick lunch in the bar area on a weekday, I usually come away satisfied. Today, as I sit here typing, is a different story. I have yet to be greeted at the table — wait just got noticed and placed an order at the 50 minute mark. I was just curious how long I could take up space and not turn a table over. They beat the worst example of that — 1:15 wait for a server at Pedro’s East a few years ago with the entire section turned over at least once before I was greeted. Let’s see if the rest of the service can partially redeem the visit.
Update:
The manager ran my credit card and then asked me how my visit was. I gave her an honest reply, and she offered me a $ 15 gift card, which was a few dollars more than my bill for the meal. So all in all, some of my time was wasted but I was fairly compensated for the disappointing service. The food was good as usual.

Been to this particular Olive Garden three times over the past year, and it has honestly been very good every time. Two out of the three times the manager came around to ask how we were enjoying our meal. Service was always prompt and friendly. It’s always packed, so the wait can be anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, but they serve free appetizers while you’re waiting.
When you go to Olive Garden, you know what you’re going to get in terms of food. Yes, it’s a bit heavy and salty, but we have always enjoyed the dishes there. Last time we had minestrone soup, house salad, chicken parmigiana, and lasagna primavera with grilled chicken. The time before we had the braised beef tips with tortelloni and lasagna classico. All the dishes tasted great and were exactly what we expected. The lasagna primavera was particularly tasty.
The tables/​chairs/​dishes etc looked clean. Carpet is a little worn but it’s a high volume restaurant. It’s rather noisy, which would be my only complaint. Luckily the restaurant is divided into a lot of smaller rooms, which helps the noise. Prices are standard.
Have yet to have a negative experience at this particular franchise and will definitely be going back.

Friendly staff, fast service. Always seemsto be busy, but they get you seated quickly. Always have a good time. Definitely will go back.

I remember growing up, Olive Garden was the «fancy» place for a family dinner. It was the place my parents took me and my sister to celebrate a good report card, a local competition win, or a special birthday. This is also where I took my date for our first high school homecoming dinner.
Fast forward 15 years, my well traveled older self have come to realize that this is far from the authentic Italian food that has established itself amongst world cuisine with its fresh, rustic ingredients and detailed workmanship in the kitchen. But there are a few things here that still have me coming back after all those years of cultural growth:
(In no particular order)
–Great drink selections
–Endless soup with any entrée
–Zuppa Toscana
–Dolcini (guilt-​free cup sized mini deserts)
–All day lunch portions served at reduced prices
–Prompt service and friendly staff
–Consistent quality
So next time you’re in town and not sure where to go, there is something for everyone at the Olive Garden.

2.5 stars really
Pros:
+Food is decent and you’re pretty much guaranteed the same flavor/​quality/​choice as always.
+Tiramisu is really delicious
Cons:
–Waitstaff and bartenders are pretty bothered by customers, even during non-​busy periods (like mid-​afteroon, 3pm, on a weekday)
–One of the managers has no class, lecturing an employee less than 7 feet from out table (and at levels easily within ear-​shot). That should never happen.
–Just hits the bare minimums for average, but doesn’t really feel like it should get 3 stars.
Try somewhere else, unless you’re really particular to their food, in which case, being the large chain it is, you won’t be disappointed by.

Olive Garden, you have always been average, but the last two visits have even subpar.
The always have soup, salad, and breadsticks. I just really like their soup, and it’s generally a decent deal.
They have taken it off the menu! But, alas, it is still available. I wish, though, that they would use a higher quality lettuce and go easy on the salad dressing, or put it on the side.
In regards to service, the server was not at all on top d his game. He was nice enough, probably in high school or his freshman year in college, but he was bad.
The manager, a dark haired gentleman, probably late 20s and spiky hair, asked the other 3 tables surrounding us how their dining experience was, but not us. I guess he didn’t care how our experience was.
Well, Olive Garden, thank you for confirming, again, why I shouldn’t deposit my money at your average food/​subpar service center.

I hadn’t been to Olive Garden in years and was very excited to take my kids this past weekend as a treat for their great report cards.
What a disappointment!
I will start with the positive — we were seated within 5 min, despite the busy time for them. Our server was very kind.
Now, the not-​so-​positive…
We were given a menu with a menu within. I wondered why 2, as it seemed the smaller menu had similar items, except for they were priced in half. Then I realized the smaller menu was their lunch menu and since it was 12:30 pm, I set the bigger (dinner) menu aside.
It seemed like it took a really long time for our food to arrive, but again, they were pretty busy so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. The problem is that it is hard not to fill up on salad and bread sticks. I found Iceberg lettuce to be a rather cheap choice.
My meal was ok but nothing impressive. Such was the opinion of the other 3 people at the table.
One of my daughters ordered chicken Alfredo (or so I thought) but got Alfredo noodles with no chicken. I thought perhaps she did not speak clearly enough when she ordered and since she had already filled up on breadsticks and salad, I decided to not say anything.
The really sad part began after we got the bill.
I usually don’t pay attention to the details on my restaurant bills and I don’t know what prompted me to do it this time. First thing I noticed was a charge of $ 2.50 for chicken with the kid’s Alfredo noodles. I told our server that the meal actually did not have chicken.
After apologizing, he said he will have his manager remove the extra charge as well as remove the 2 sundae charges for us as a courtesy. I thought that was very nice of him.
A few minutes later, he came back embarrassed, to say that his manager removed the chicken charge but not the desserts. I did not find this to be a problem since my kids consumed the desserts anyway.
After he brought the credit card slip to sign, I took a closer look at the bill and realized both adult meals were at twice the listed price. Then I remembered the 2 menus.
On our way out, I asked the hostess what the difference between the two menus was and after she told me the smaller menu was for lunch, I asked what was needed to order lunch items next time. She replied: «We serve lunch until 4pm».
Then I looked at the clock (close to 2 pm) and asked why we were charged dinner prices. Her reply was: «let me get my manager».
More than 5 min later, when no one came, I asked her if I should continue to wait. She said: «let me check» and ran back inside. After a few more minutes the manager came.
I shook his hand and introduced myself. His reply was: «Hi, how can I help you»?
I had to ask him for his name. After he introduced himself, I shared with him my confusion about their «lunch and dinner menus/​prices» and that since we had come in at noon, we thought we were getting the lunch option but were charged for dinner”.
He replied that on weekends, they «expect people to eat more”(!!!), therefore, hand out dinner menus (not true!). He also stated that lunch can be ordered at any time of the day, «even at 10 pm» (which contradicted the waitress), but you had to specifically tell yours server you wanted the lunch item. Then, before I even had the chance to respond, he said: «Hold on, I’ll be back». He ran in the back and after some time came back and handed me a gift card, saying: «Sorry about the confusion, this should help with your next visit».
I thanked him and walked out where my boyfriend and kids who were getting pretty impatient, as they had been waiting for more than 10 min.
Once we got in the car and I looked at the gift card, I just about screamed — a $ 5 gift card. I found that to be extremely insulting and pathetic and promised NEVER to go back there again!
There are plenty of local businesses striving for service that is truly oriented towards serving quality real food and customer satisfaction.

I haven’t been to an olive garden in more than 10 years so when a group of friends decided to go for lunch (lunch before the wedding day) I was kind of excited about the salad, soup and breadsticks.
I’m not sure what experience the negative reviewers had but ours was awesome. Our servers were extremely attentive and friendly. And the food was pretty good.
I LOVE the Zuppa Toscano. OMG. that was lovely.

I never my first time having Olive Garden. You see growing up my parents always made my brother and I get Fazolis. There really is nothing wrong with Fazoli’s however Olive Garden had given me high expectations with it’s commercials over the years. I always wanted to go there, finally I did go there and I like it. (The east side on to be exact).
Then I moved to Middleton and started dining at this Olive Garden. I’ve never been super impressed by the food to be honest. However the service has always been pretty good. They’ve been good about coming back and checking beverages in a timely manner which I appreciate greatly.
I’d say go to Biaggi’s instead, a little more pricier, but the food seems to have more taste.

I saw the scathing reviews and I had to come to Olive Garden’s aid. It’s really frustrating to hear and see so much hate towards a chain which I think actually «gets it right».
First off, I’m Sicilian, I’m proud of my heritage, and I’ve ate at a large number of traditional Italian /​Sicilian restaurants, festivals, and homemade affairs. I’ve had «the real» deal before, and like any Unilocaler I’m usually one to value a unique establishment over a processed franchise.
That said, there is very little wrong with Olive Garden’s approach and the Mineral Point Road location does a great job. I want to steer the direction the other way from what I’ve been reading because I have gone to this Olive Garden probably over a hundred times in the last 15 – 20 years, and I have almost never had a bad incident or poor service.
Food: They might include a heck of a lot of butter and might have a fairly strict formula that they follow, but it’s still quite tasty in my opinion. I can make pretty good pasta at home, but that doesn’t mean the pasta isn’t enjoyable at Olive Garden. Their alfredo sauce is fantastic, and in my opinion easily rivals some of the traditional ones I’ve had. The tour of italy is a scrumptious dish, their soups are great, and most people I know who are salad fans like the plentiful and tasty house salad that is provided.
Value: I think this is really where Olive Garden shines. Some people think it’s expensive, others think it’s dingy, but honestly they give you a very large amount of food for your money. If you order a meal (usually in the $ 7 – 15 range), you get free unlimited soup or salad and unlimited breadsticks coupled with a large entrée. Seriously, what other restaurants give you that much for that price? I’ve had some certainly, but it’s not a common thing and I would never call it «too little» for what I’m paying. How can you not like the breadsticks? The Zuppa? Commman!
Selection: One of the onuses ignored by many restaurants is the ability to expand upon their existing success. Take for example a restaurant chain like Chipotle. They have a good burrito line, and a few different options, but since their opening they really haven’t added much to the menu. MAYBE a burrito or meat choice, but that’s barely doing much. Olive Garden on the other hand offered a good selection to begin with, and has a few new choices almost everytime I go. That’s smart business, they didn’t dump their old classics (for the most part), they kept the part that got them success in the first place and they gave incentive to come back and try new things. They frequently have deals (unlimited pasta bowl $ 7.95), wine tastings, etc, so I really see no way you can lose.
Service: Yes, the point about most Olive Garden workers being high school students is pretty valid. That said, in all the locations I’ve been at (Milwaukee, Chicago, Madison), I’ve only had a few occasions where ineptness or inexperience became an issue. Usually the kids are polite, and you gotta start somewhere in the work world so I’d rather be treated nice than go to McDonalds where the high schoolers there don’t give a **** about your order. People on here said the wait was long? Maybe when they’ve been super busy, but have you ever been to Fridays? You order a burger there and 2 hours later you get a glass of water. I tend to like when the waiter /​waitress is younger too because they are usually more conversational then. Sure, some of the kids are nervous and do the whole «yes sir, no sir» routine which is annoying, but I’ve had a lot of servers at Olive Garden who actually talk to you. So while I agree some aspects of the service could be better, this isn’t a crapshoot by any means.
Atmosphere: How can you hate on Frank Sinatra music, reasonable lighting, and a comfortable table /​decoration setup. It could be more original, but it’s still reasonably cosy.
For a chain, Olive Garden can have my business any day of the week. To the person who had soggy pasta and said that salt and pepper were called secret ingredients give me a break. My pasta’s been fantastic everytime and you can always request olive oil /​marinara for your breadsticks if the taste alone doesn’t do it for you. I personally have no problem with their breadsticks.

I have always loved the Olive Garden – as one of the best chain-​type restaurants. They have the best bread sticks and all you can eat salad. The salad is my favorite! It’s always so fresh & tasty!
Tonight we’re in Madison WI and decided to dine at the Olive Garden. When we arrived we were told the wait would be 10 minutes – not bad for a Friday. We were seated in less than 7 minutes! Our waiter was great & the salad and breadsticks are always awesome! I ordered the shrimp primavera. It was a large portion, tasty – but the shrimp were a bit fishy tasting. I ate what I could and boxed up the rest – about ½, leaving the rest of the shrimp there. My son had the capellini pomodoro, my husband – the chicken Parmesan. Both enjoyed their meals as well. I’ll avoid the shrimp dishes here, from now on! But – still like Olive Garden restaurants!

My dining partners really wanted Olive Garden; as much as I protested, I lost out and begrudgingly went along for lunch.
Slowest service ever. An hour plus wait for our salads and soup. No drink refills. Food was cafeteria grade (sorry to insult cafeterias) at best.
Old and dated interior; chairs are stained and disgusting. Ick, ick, ick.
And, it’s expensive and the service is attrocious. We left a miniscule tip, and in hindsight should’ve asked for our money back. There’s not a nice way to put it; Olive Garden sucks. Why do people tolerate such a horrible place?!