Olive Garden Italian Restaurant

My husband and I recently had dinner here before a movie and the service was absolutely amazing. Our waitress, Myrna, was a sweetheart and provided us with what we needed and answered all of our questions. Even if she was unsure of the answer, she was willing to find out for us. She definitely made our night with her personality and great customer service. Go Myrna and Olive Garden!!! Woo hoo!!!

All I wanted was salad and ravioli. All I got was a glass of water. The restaurant wasn’t too busy, but it proved too much for our server. Waited a while for water and the salad never arrived. Left dissatisfied and hungry.

My roommate, little sister and I arrived at the Olive Garden, 1261 W Southern Ave, Mesa, AZ 85 202 location, on ⁴⁄₁₀ at 7:35pm and were seated around 7:40pm. As we sat for 15min waiting for our waiter to even acknowledge us, we heard the long table in the middle of the room with maybe 4 adults and 4 – 5 children start to complain about how long they had been waiting. There were scattered drinks and breadsticks along the table to they had SOME service already. As they sat there we heard their complaints get louder and louder accompanied by a few slammed fists on the table. When the waiter arrived with their soup and salad, one of the women at the table said they didn’t even want it anymore because they had ordered 20min ago and they were «over it». They then demanded to speak to a manager. Less than 60 seconds later, a blonde manager comes to the table to address the situation. She is then pulled aside by a different lady sitting at the table wearing a very fitting pink «Birthday Diva» sash. The manager and the Birthday Diva talked tucked in a corner for around 10 – 15 min (mind you, at this point we have only just put in our appetizer and drink order and it had yet to come). When the manager and Birthday Diva arrived back at the table, the manager declared how bad she felt about the whole situation and that she would be comping the entire table’s meal. At this time the table continued to complain about anything and everything they could think of as a swarm of waiters came to clear the dirty plates and dishes from their table to make them «more comfortable». As this is happening, we hear the guests at the table continue to add things to the bill, have the food that was finally brought out boxed up to go, AND ON TOP OF THAT the staff came out and sang happy birthday! I felt terrible for the waiters and the expressions on their faces made it obvious they were feeling sorry for themselves as well. It’s about 8PM now and we have barely been served our appetizer with drinks following another 10min after and our salad/​soup/​breadsticks and dipping sauce an additional 10 min after that. During the next 15min before our food comes out, we see the middle table ordering around their crew of staff like puppet masters, getting even MORE stuff added and comped off the bill, and interrupting another birthday song sang at a table adjacent from them (who had been waiting EVEN LONGER with no complaints). The drama with the Birthday Diva completely consumed the room and every other table was exchanging looks with each other like «is this really happening» as we all sat with empty glasses with melted ice and puddles of condensation watching the middle table get completely catered to all while being embarrassingly rude. The final straw for me, and the reason I took the time out of my day to write this, was when the blonde manager came out and handed a gift card to every single person at that table. I understand if I was one of the people at the table how happy and compensated I would feel at that point, but as a fellow guest sharing the same space having my service delayed, interrupted, inconsistent and neglected BECAUSE of them, made us feel like chopped liver! We could not believe what was happening and just wanted to get our to-​go boxes and leave. We weren’t expecting our meals to be comped, but the manager never even approached our table to apologize for the evening’s events or anything. The waiter tried to pretend it wasn’t happening, but he was extremely stressed and frazzled the entire time because he was the original waiter for the middle table, which resulted in him being short with us and unintentionally rude. Some acknowledgement of our extreme patience is all we wanted. I could tell blonde manager was super sweet and genuinely felt bad (whatever sob story the Birthday Diva told her must have been a tear jerker) because she was bending over backwards to make the guests happy. However, in result of how it was handled everything that the middle table was complaining about ended up happening to us and EVERY OTHER TABLE IN THE ZONE. In conclusion we paid our $ 90 bill, but the events of that night remained with us throughout the entirety of our evening even after leaving the restaurant because we could not believe how things went down.
In conclusion, I’m not writing this with attached demands in order to keep me returning to the establishment– that’s not how I roll. I wanted to let it be known that the staff last night had a text book simulation on what to do when one table wants to control the whole place, and they failed miserably. We left feeling like we should have taken our money elsewhere, and knowing that’s the last thing you want your guests to experience, I wanted to let you know why. You can contact me with any additional questions, but for now it’s safe to say we will not be coming back

The food was great. Our server was great and always asking us if we are ok. She was awesome. The food is great but great service always makes everything taste good.

I adore Olive Garden and this location has been my favorite since I was at least 10. I’ve never had a bad experience and I’ve been coming here for (like I said) 10+ years. The waiters and waitresses have always been super friendly, helpful, and fun to be around.
Not to mention that the OUTSTANDING food. Pasta and I are BFFs and Olive Garden is my go to place. Plus the chicken and gnocchi soup is to die for! I love this place so much! ¹⁰⁄₁₀ every day!

Wow has this place slipped. I ordered the trio you see on tv. Instead of the big bowl of ravioli they show on the commercial I got 3 measly pieces. The chicken Alfredo tasted like a bad tv dinner over microwaved.
Bread was good as was the second salad. The first had almost no mix ins or dressing on it.
Ive had worse, but not much. With so many Italian places out there, this one is off the list.

Went here tonight with my husband and children. Staff was friendly. I ordered a chicken dish that was undercooked. They waitress got me a new one, and the manager came out and apologized personally and comped us for the dish. We will definitely return!

We love Olive Garden the soups are fantastic… and the pasta is excellent and desserts are fabulous. Delicious steaks and seafood. Chicken marsala is my favorite… Tiermasu Is out of this world

Really dissapointed in the quality of food at Olive Garden. It has been a while since we have come here. I used to love their salad and breadsticks, which did t seem as good as it used to be. They discontinued my husbands mussels and put a less desirable shrimp scampi on the menu. The ONLY reason I gave our visit 2 stars was because of our waitress who was really great. I am dissapointed in you Olive Garden.

All I really have to say is wow, the staff here really know what they’re doing. In an age when customer service has started to die out they still do things the way it should be. Customer always comes first and the customer is always right. Not that I had an experience where they had to say I was right in something but I get the feeling that they are that kind of place. If you’re ever in the area you should stop by.

0 stars if possible.
1 star price
3 stars food
–4 stars service
I used to love olive garden till my experience at this one. I was visiting my buddy for a long time again. We were greeted at the hostess stand and we did not have to wait (granted it was around 8:40pm). We waited a long time till the waitress came by. Jessie or Jessica or Jennifer something. At first she came immediately then (to my utter disappointment she dissappear ed for 20 minutes). Another waitress was wondering if we had been helped and even asked others where our waitress was. It was an embarrassing moment. We saw a server who has helped is before and the server greeted us… We were not at that server’s table. She even talked to that server as she pasted. Okay maybe she doesn’t know I haven’t been here before. I will give her that. It continues to get worse.
Finally when she came around she made the person I came with so uncomfortable they left. The reason? They were of a certain gender and ethnicity and status and appearance, and I was not. 99% of contact was addressed to my buddy. It was obvious from the way they offered that soup and salad was free and insisted I should take it home to that person (this is after I absolutely refused twice any soup, salad or cheese from them) the reason why my buddy left. This was unacceptable. How would they k ow if i am staying or visiting my buddy? Nope, just more assumptions. If a customer refuses a food item, the server should respect his or her wishes. This was only the begining.
The other server brought me food. I understand if the restaurant was busy, but that was slightly rude. Okay, maybe she had something to do in the mostly, now nearly empty restaurant. I feel better when my entrée finally arrived at 9:30pm. One hour later after I sat down. That’s fine. Suddenly, crunch. A shell on a ‘shell-​less shrimp’. Thank goodness I took a picture. However, she suddenly came to take the plate away before I can take the close up of the shells. (First picture is the first one I took. It describes this moment.) I ask for another. She asks that it will be taken off the bill, BUT she asks if I wanted this shrimp boxed… Why would any sane person want the shrimp they asked to be taken away boxed? First of all I can only assume she thinks I am doing funny things to get free shrimp. I refuse anything of that notion. Secondly, I can only assume she thinks I am younger than most by my appearance only or because I am a certain ethnicity. I was never offered a sample of wine (even when I was with my buddy). Other times we were asked our age first then offered wine, but no this service was worse. I noticed at this a table with 11 people of a certain favorable age, favorable appearance, and ethnicity had already been served and left while I wait.
So I was not happy and feeling quite disgusted at this point. I get the shrimp now and behold. Fewer shrimp plus shells. It smells like it was reheated (for the 15 minutes I had to wait). Thank goodness I took a picture. It is obviously shown below the difference. I did not touch or eat anything on that plate for fear it had been tampered with. The manager was called in. I do not believe she offered a name. She Offered to take the bill except for the appatiser I ate. I refused and paid the entire bill with cash because I was being nice. I left but forgot I would like to write a comment. Behold, it was past 10 already and the Hostess would not let me back in. Even though she saw me walk out a few minutes ago. Why? ‘Safety reasons’. Probably because I was wearing a sweater, no makeup. I was finally let in due to the manager after waiting insistantly with the protesting hostess. At this point you can guess I was very upset. The manager asked if I wanted my change. That was the first thing she said to me. Not, how can I help you. Honey, I do not want money. … probably once again from my ethnicity or age or appearance. I never raised my voice just insisted on writing a comment. Unfortunately, she tells me I cannot do that. Why? I paid in cash. Sure. I will pay in credit this time. Forget giving a message to the gm. I know that won’t be delivered because 1 customer is not happy. Thank goodness for Unilocal and media. Well I definitely paid in credit just to write the comment. This comment is now on for my friends on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, instagram, mass posted on Whatsup and posted on my personal Web site along with pictures
Did I mention she was ‘helping me’ by trying to fill out my customer survey. I wasn’t even the one to punch in a few answers and not even the one to physical punch in the amount of tip. Can you imagine a customer survey not completely filled by the CUSTOMER?
This dinner was over 1 and a half hours long for 1 meal for 1 person. Be ready for terrible service and sub-​par food if you look a certain way. Be sure to also get lucky and have the good server as well.
No amount of breadsticks, salad, soup, or cash is worth this.

Really enjoy this Olive Garden and go here for family dinners and lunches usually! I love they have gluten free pasta now! I would like this location to be a bit more clear on their coupon policies and if the coupon is confusing to the guests, the staff should still honor it.

I love Olive Garden, but what’s going on with the peach tea no slice of peach in it. I love the peach at the end of my drink.
I love that new Northern tour of Italy and the stuff rigatoni with sausage and cheese. I had it last night best dish I have had in a long time. Jessica out server was amazing she deserve her 20% tip. I don’t mind tipping when people are polite and attentive. Kudos for her and hope her boss recognize her for her work ethics.

We just came in for an early dinner around 4:20pm, both hostesses greeted us and sat us immediately then told us our server «M» will be right with us. As we checked out the menu and their new little computer gadget on the table, I looked up and realized another table after us was already getting served their soup and salad… About 5 – 10 minutes had passed and even with our «call server» button blinking, nobody came, so I decided to walk up to the front and asked the hostess (manager was standing about 8 ft away) if we had a server because another table has already been greeted and started to get their food. She apologized and went to go look for her, a few seconds later the blonde hostess decided to just get our whole order since our server was busy or couldn’t be found, we thanked her. A few moments later our server popped her head around the corner and asked if our drink orders had been taken, didn’t introduce herself or apologize for the wait or even really come to our table… She then dropped off our soup and salad, my boyfriend asked her to grab red pepper if she had time, and apparently she didn’t because he never got it, even with his second soup. Our food came out super quick, which was nice since I was starving, then not even 5 minutes later our buy one get one meal came out too. Felt a bit rushed, but proceeded to check the bag to make sure our to go meals were correct, one wasn’t. I let our server know one was incorrect and she swapped it out.
While working on my meal I was still munching on my salad, breadsticks and a bit of my boyfriends soup, our server came up and started taking away all of our plates… Awesome on pre bussing! But she never asked if I was finished and just took them away, she seemed like she was in a hurry to get us out so I didn’t even say anything.
Our drink was low and wanted another one eventhough the drink had no free refills, and we wanted dessert as well but our server never asked and just dropped off the check. Atleast she asked if I needed a box for my meal I didn’t finish…
Downfalls were.
Lack of real service from our server.
Management never even came over when he had plenty of opportunities to see how things were going or to appologize.
After a mess up like that don’t dodge your table, you should be trying to make it up.
Rushing us out even though we were super polite was kind of rude.
Only reason why I even gave 2 stars to this location was due to the the blonde hostess that stepped in to take our whole order, eventhough we can tell she was irritated, whether with us or the server I don’t know, but I know she stepped in as soon as she knew we weren’t satisfied customers. We also thanked her again on the way out and she apologized to us once again.
And another reason why I gave them two stars was because of another server who was attending to the other tables around us, when our «call server» button was blinking for a second time, she was the only one who helped us after 2 other servers had walked passed. And she helped me take a charge off of our tab that I screwed up on (on the table gadget under games don’t hit continue to play unlimited games unless you read the bottom first, where it says cancel $ 1.99 charge lol stupid me)

Just stopped in for a quick lunch with my husband. We ordered soup and salad. I have to say that this way the first time that I loved our server. She was so attentive to what we needed and so friendly. We ended up giving her a tip more than our bill.

I’m absolutely completely sold on the all you can eat Zuppa Tuscana. Seriously. Especially when you go for lunch. Killer deal. Today I’m going to try a new soup, the chicken and gnocchi. We’ll see how it shows. I also like the tried and true chicken Alfredo. I love theirs new branding as well. Might sound funny, but the have the coolest kids menu of pretty much any restaurant. Love it.

Came in last night to have dinner with my sister and niece. We were originally sat at a table that was right were everyone walks by from waters to customers. Not a fan of the table. We sat there for close to ten minutes and no one i mean no one came by to say hi, drink nothing. I looked at every service that walked by and they walked by like we were not even there. Then comes Jackie, she asked if he had been helped yet i sad no and asked to speak with a manager. The manager came over we told her the problem I asked if we could be moved and she made it happen. Thankfully she moved us to Jackie’s section. It completely changed my mood.
The only reason they are getting 4 stars is because of this server. Jackie was awesome, friendly and sweet. When i go back i will make sure she is working first. Thank you Jackie for turning my night around.

We left after about 10 minutes after being seated. Nobody came by to say «I’ll be right with you» or even gave us an «I see you, but I can’t get there just yet» nod.
We went in to try their new sandwich things, but they aren’t even on the menu anywhere.
I’m so sick of businesses being understaffed. Customer service has just gone to hell anymore. When will places realize that the money they skimp on staff only hurts them in the long run?
I really need to learn to cook…

I’ve been a regular at Olive Garden for years, once or twice a month. This visit was one of my worst, part of the problem was NOT their fault.
When we arrived (4:45pm on a Monday) the place was about 30% full. We had to wait 15 minutes for a table in a mostly empty restaurant, so did everyone behind us. My GF suggested we leave but seconds later we got called to our table in a totally empty area near the bar.
Our waiter disappeared for long periods of time, our food was slow to arrive. Based on what I heard from others sitting near us, many other diners had the same problem. I heard the waiters making excuses for delayed meals. I heard other people discussing leaving.
My drink glass got empty, which for me is a tip killer.
The food was okay, as always. The service was poor and slow.
There was a large hispanic family with a ton of kids who were totally un-​trained to dine in a restaurant, there were kids screaming and crying the whole time.
The screaming kids and the poor service really soured me on this place. But I learned a valuable lesson: Next time I go to a restaurant and see or hear screaming kids we’re gonna leave right away no matter what.
Dear parents, it’s not difficult to train small kids how to behave in a restaurant, and do it without any punishment. If you cannot do that than please stick to McDonald’s instead of an actual restaurant where you ruin the experience for so many other people. I did it with my three kids and never once raised my voice or spanked a child doing it either. It takes some time and talking but it’s not hard to train a small kid to behave in public. When you don’t it also reflects poorly on you too.

I’m a big fan of Olive Garden, and this is a pretty standard one. They are all set up the same way, aren’t they? Lunch special is cheap if you can get there before 4pm ($ 7.99 endless soup, salad and breadsticks). The lasagna frita appetizer is so delicious — make sure you try it! And try subbing ranch for their italian salad dressing — it’s my new favorite (why don’t they sell it at the grocery store too??).