Doesn't Recommend

mris

Joined 4 years ago

Watch your overcharged bill. Friday (8/21/09) was our first time visting Olive Garden, for a dinner.

Food quality is average, prices seem ok. We tried the neverending pasta bowl, $8.99 according to their list price. However, our final bill arrived for $11.99 each, although we didn't have any additional choices. We ended up paying it (plus tax, plus tip), as we trusted our server and didn't verify right away. A small price for a lesson well learned.

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mabes32

Joined 4 years ago

It's good food.... I'm so sick of all you yuppies ripping on olive garden and any chain that you label "non authentic" Of course it's not authentic. Who cares... The obvious truth is, the majority likes the food they serve better than if it were truly authentic italian. It's good consistent food at a great price. I've been all over Italy, and would take olive garden before 90% of the places I've eaten at over there. If you're looking for a good meal at a great price, choose Olive garden. If you're one of those that cant distinguish between authentic and good food, go somewhere else and quit clogging up review boards with your negative comments.

Doesn't Recommend

cutebirdie

Joined 7 years ago

An Example of Poor Quality. This was our first visit to the Olive Garden. A garden it is! Full of bad food and high prices cultivated over time by poor management.

Our meals were mediocre at best. The chicken parmigiana was very average, the salad was drenched in dressing (cough, sputter), and my nephew's spaghetti with plain sauce was swimming in water--imagine that--not being able to get something as simple as spaghetti with sauce correct! We had to drain his dish of the extra sauce that was obviously diluted with water (sauce was barely the color of tomatoes, and very thin) during preparation. My nephew had said, "Look at me! I am eating spaghetti soup." I would not recommend anyone patronize this chain of restaurants.

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Traditional dishes and all -you-can-eat salad, soup and bread sticks are the draw at this upscale-casual Italian restaurant.. In Short
Established in 1982, this chain gained a following for its laid-back atmosphere and generous portions. Patrons settle into comfortable booths and tables in dining rooms with plants, artwork and décor reminiscient of the villas in the Tuscan countryside. Starters include scampi, sausage or pepperoni pizza, and several soup choices, as well as a signature seafood dip (crab, shrimp, cheese and marinara). Entrees include classics like lasagna, fettuccine Alfredo and chicken parmigiana. There are also "Garden Fare" options, which promise 30 percent fewer calories.

Recommends

sdsungoddess

Joined 7 years ago

too crowded. I love Olive Garden but this location is alwys packed. No matter what night we go or at what time there is always a line out the door. If you are really craving those yummy breadsticks pull up a seat at the bar. You get great service and do not have to wait 40 minutes.

Doesn't Recommend

jimadcock

Joined 9 years ago

Hot Food Bad Wine Bad Service Bad Value. There was some confusion about where to seat our party of seven, so they sat us in front of the kitchen door. The tables and chairs from a defunct Denny's. The table location was impossibly noisy. $7 corked wine, my wife insisted I make them take back, except all of a sudden all the waiters and waitresses who were streaming past our table turned deaf, dumb and blind. I finally walked back to the hostess to send a floor manager to our table to assist us, and it still took five minutes for him to arrive. Food was hot, which rates a coup in Seattle. Seafood Portofino was served hot (good) thick white sauce (good not great) and vanishingly small quantities of mussels (6 tiny), shrimp (2 tiny) and scallops (2 teeny tiny). One ounce of seafood in total. $100 for four adults, and three kids who basically didn't eat.

Doesn't Recommend

lusien

Joined 8 years ago

the restaurant is getting worse. Last time my friends and I went there it was a disaster. My friends were wearing jeans, sweaters, T-shirts. We probably did not look that fancy and/or "time worth spending". We were seated in a back room with many tables, zero privacy. Our waiter offered a cheap terrible wine (He said "this wine is very good, it is only 5 dollars"). It seemed that the food was cooked that morning and then was warmed (we came at 8 pm).

The free salad bowl was the only delicious food. It is difficult to ruin a salad.

It is better to save some money and go to a real Italian place.

Unfortunately, the restaurant's rating is getting worse. 5 years ago I would definitely recommend it.

Doesn't Recommend

kacimae

Joined 8 years ago

Its Ridiculous!. They don't take reservations not even for big parties. It's just ridiculous!

Doesn't Recommend

chills1956

Joined 10 years ago

Olive Garden?!?. This is NOT Italian food! Please, don't even waste our time by rating this with Assagio, Café Juanita, Isabella, etc. It should be in the same category with McDonald's/Taco Bell, in fact, they could probably drum up more biz if they installed drive-thru's!

Doesn't Recommend

The Big Ragu

Joined 10 years ago

top ten best Italian ?. Seattle must be lacking Italian residents. I mean the Olive Garden is OK but, cmon ! Top Ten ? I don't think so. People from New York would laugh themselves into fits if they read this.

Olive Garden has good soups, breadsticks and salads but this does not make them a good Italian restaurant.