I am never eating at The Olive Garden again. Ever. For the rest of my life. Mark it down, January 10, 2006, the day that Andrew Teman officially denounced the Olive Garden and vowed never to walk through those faux Italian doors ever again. Now you might be asking yourself “Why? Why no Olive Garden? How can you resist the never ending pasta bowl? When you are there, you are FAMILY! What did The Olive Garden do to hurt you?”. All fair questions, and the short answer is that I can very easily resist never ending pasta, and no the Olive Garden never did anything specifically to hurt me. Unlike Cingular, who crammed the bad service stick up my backside and pushed me across the street to T-Mobile, The Olive Garden ban came about slowly and with far less of a dramatic back-story.
I think it all started when I last ate at The Olive Garden in Natick some 2 years ago. We were waiting for a table, which we were told would take about 2 hours (reason number one that I hate the Olive Garden. You cannot get a table there, regardless of time or day, in less than an hour. Ever.), and I began to think about what I was waiting for. I was waiting for pasta. For two hours. This infuriated me. Those who know me well, know that I rarely order pasta when out to dinner, unless the restaurant and the dish, are just top notch. I guess I just have a hard time ordering something that a four year old could make, and that costs roughly 89 cents at the grocery store.
From there it just sort of meat balled (get it…meatballed) and I just became increasingly irritated with all of the fucking hullabaloo that people made over The Olive Garden. They began to spring up on every street corner, and within 5 minutes of opening, there was a 400 person line out the door. People would sit around, gabbing over never ending pasta bowls, and sucking down crappy table wine out of salad dressing containers, and be loving every second of it. I just didn’t get it. I don’t get it. But I know I don’t like it, and therefore I am done with The Olive Garden.
This might be tough. I mean, clearly people like this place, so it is certainly possible that at some point during the remaining course of my life, that I may be part of a large and hungry group that insists on going to The Olive Garden.
They will say things like “I love The Olive Garden” and “Man, do I really enjoy The Olive Garden” , and I will cringe.
It will be a test of my mettle, but I am up for the challenge.
January 10th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
I ate at the OG last night and it was certainly less than stellar. It was fine but really nothing great, everything tasted very plain. In general, I don’t expect to get a great meal from a chain restaurant.
January 10th, 2006 at 5:18 pm
Really love the Olive Garden? Does “really love” and “Olive Garden” without the word “don’t” ever pass someone’s lips? I don’t hate the Olive Garden, but that’s cuz I’ve never had to wait for one second for a table there. I guess if I had to wait for mostly shitty food it would suck, but if you don’t wiat, at least it tastes ok and is cheap — and most of all it’s so bland that it can’t possibly offend anyone. Except, of course, you… though.
January 12th, 2006 at 11:27 am
I’ve never enjoyed Olive Garden, which makes me wonder why people might love it so. It’s mediocre, at best. I haven’t figured out why some people rave about the OG…then I realize it’s the same sort of people that rave about going to Bennigan’s or TGIFridays. Only, you get better fare at those two than OG. There’s a reason food critics don’t rave about any of these restaurants: they’re just not that good.
January 26th, 2006 at 11:19 am
I love The Olive Garden. First of all realizing this whole thing
is advertising let me give you my opinion. First of all the jerk
who knew he would have to wait 2 hours should have gone
somewhere else. Second of all I have never had to wait more
than 45 minutes. The food is always good and not matter how
busy they are the Glens Falls New York Olive Garden has the
best wait staff. Once we sat on the grass with our little
vibrator to let us know our table was ready. That is quite an
invention. Another time we said hold the vibrator we’ll wait in
the bar. I couldn’t combine beer and a vibrator. I am heading
for Keene New Hampshire Saturday the 28th and will go to
The Olive Garden they opened last fall. I will report in next
week and let you know how great it is. Have an O.G. DAY!!!
January 26th, 2006 at 11:35 am
Add Mary to the list of reasons why I hate the Olive Garden. I think she is extraordinarily representative of their typical patron.
January 29th, 2006 at 9:37 pm
Went to a Olive Garden just tonighte had guests from over seas and tought the Olive Garden is the perfect place to be .
We were not desapointed .the wait was resonablie 10-15 minutes a little slow on the service part but the food was delicios and the oversised portions made up for the waitting.
Will be back .
Emil & Izabel Rus
February 5th, 2006 at 7:29 pm
I find the OG mildly annoying. I know it’s going to be a cheap mass-produced take-off on Italian food, but on the other hand, it’s not terrible. And I never wait there for longer than 20 minutes or so, mostly because I leave to go somewhere else if I have to wait that long for mediocre food.
To me, the OG is still head and shoulders above Appleby’s and TGI Friday’s. All of these places are best left to frat boys, middle-aged guys trying to recapture their youth by flirting with cute waitresses, and others you might expect to say, “How cool is that?”
The best thing about the OG is that it’s predictable. You know what you will be getting. And usually it is close to other peersonality-deprived chains that might have shorter lines.
February 6th, 2006 at 4:42 am
The OG really sucks out loud !!!!!! My teenage daughter was really looking forward to eating at the stoughton masslocation. We tried getting in there several times after the opening in december 05. always aone to two hour wait. Well we finally got in last night after an hour wait, big mistake .A real
inept waitress,slow service adisgusting chicken parm dinner. The chicken wasas tough as shoe leatherThe salad had ahalf of tomatoe and all lettuce,top that off with acouple of stale breadsticks.I think the people raving about this money making farce eat at mickey d’s a lot.I guess it’s a step up for them???
February 23rd, 2006 at 8:33 pm
I have been there once, I have to drive 30 damn miles to get there cause I have this $50 dollar gift certificate. Exciting, but I wish my relative would’ve just given me the $50 dollars in cash, would have been much easier to spend…..and I wouldnt have had to pay extra for gas……
February 24th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
Thank YOU!!!
Just got back from a retirement lunch at the OG. I was there an hour
and a half before I got my soup! I told the waitress to cancel my entree
because I had to go back to work. They charged me $8.00 for a cup
of soup and a glass of iced tea! EIGHT BUCKS for mediocre soup! Then
she had the GALL to say “Your food was ready”! I am so pissed off. I join
the anti Olive Garden club!
Liz Leaman, York, Pa.
February 28th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
I work at the OG. I have owned my own business several times over. Things got tight, I took a job as a waiter. My roommate was a waiter at the OG for two years, and he sugested I try it.
It’s a good restraunt, and all of your complaints are not based on the restraunt as a whole. The food is prepaird fresh, and with a lot of effort to keep it both safe and good.
Pasta, don’t eat the pasta, don’t eat the soup. Those are retarded items ment to passive the cheapo’s and those who refuse to try the real food. there are many really great dishes. that no one ever tries.
The lines get bad on Friday and Saturday night. That happens anywhere worth eating, and The never ending pasta bowl only comes around once a year for six weeks and we hate it worse then you do. The bastards who are drawn in by this and by our soup, don’t tip and they stay forever preventing us from making money.
Ok, just my opinion, but it seems like a waist of time to really get upset at a restraunt, more so basing your anger off of one restraunt or one night or one waiter.
March 6th, 2006 at 7:01 pm
Agreed. The last straw for me was getting a table, then having the male waiter rudely hit on my husband right in front of me.
March 8th, 2006 at 10:16 am
I have gone to the OG many times over the years. The food is fresh and mediocre. Often the waitstaff brings out the next course before you have time to finish one. About three months ago this happened and I did not tip the waitress and told the hostess when I left what happened.
My friend and I were in the area of Lawreceville N.J. last night 3/7/06 where we always go. We go there in a pinch, when not fine dining!!!
We decided to go there again, but we prefaced our decision that we would tell the server what happened the last time and not to rush our three courses! She seemed to agree that it was ridiculous how we were served, and that she was caple of our request! We recieved our drinks and shortly our salad came out. We were not half way finished with the salad that our appetizers came out, we both looked at each other and let it slide. We were not half way through and yup!!! here was our server with our entrees.
“To soon she said,”itold her to take them back and I went to the hostess and asked to see a manager. I told him what happened and that We specifically explained uor previous experience to the server. The manager said they wiill make us new entrees but we dclined and asked for our check. He brought bac the check and said that he had to charge us for our drinks by state law. The server came back with our entrees at this time and once again I sais we do not want them. The server asked if it was her fault, my guest said absolutely! So now we will never return to the O.G.
IF I WANTED FAST FOOD I WOULD HAVE GONE TO MCDONALD’S OR BURGER KING YUCK!!!!
March 11th, 2006 at 1:24 am
then dont fucking eat there–i’m sure the staff would appreciate it greatly.
March 11th, 2006 at 4:39 am
Good I hate the OG too. crap food oh yeah it’s real authentic italian NOT!!!!!!!11
March 13th, 2006 at 11:30 am
Great comeback Amanda. You DO get the point
March 13th, 2006 at 12:47 pm
I don’t know why Amanda has to be so nasty and what the great comeback is according to Liz. They must be staff members at the OG.
The point is that the customer is always right! It is the customers’ tips that are your breadsticks and butter. DO YOU GET THE POINT!!! If you are staff members pass it on, it may help the service. Wow making a point without using profanity.
March 14th, 2006 at 10:59 am
I was being sarcastic, Tim…sorry about the mis-Q
April 3rd, 2006 at 3:53 pm
What is wrong with you people? Is this a joke? It seem’s so sad that you need to go on and on about a wait you act as if they told you 15min and it was 2hours. Get over it.
April 7th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
I love your site.
April 11th, 2006 at 7:41 pm
go to http://www.ripoffreport.com and see the latest on the stoughton olive garden, this is mostly for ann. do a search and it will be the latest post.
August 4th, 2006 at 1:13 pm
I also work at the OG. Someone said not to eat the pasta, that there were other really good dishes to try. Like what? The frozen T bone steak? The frozen pork loin that’s so thick most of the cooks microwave it to get it to temp? Or maybe you mean the frozen raviolis with the canned sauce?
The OG is certainly NOT authentic italian food. I know because my uncle is from a little town outside of Rome and he wouldn’t eat a breadstick at the olive garden. Not even the SALAD is made fresh in house, much less the “wonderful” salad dressing.
When we run out of cooked lasagna, we microwave it from frozen. When we run out of that, we substitute manicotti with meat sauce and the patrons who “love the authenticity” of the OG never know the difference! Ha! What a joke.
And don’t even get me started on the “homemade sauce”. I AM A CULINARY TEAM MEMBER. I serve this food every single day, so believe me when I tell you I know what I’m talking about.
August 15th, 2006 at 5:59 pm
Having worked at an Olive Garden I will say two things. The first is that I will NEVER work for one again. The second is that I still eat there. However, this is mostly becasue I like a lot of the people that I worked with, and I go to see them.
Really, all the complaints people here have written are things you’re going to run into at any resturant that isn’t five stars, but is still popular. Oh, but the stories I could tell you about working there.
Tim- It probably was the servers fault the second time. Server’s at OG are taught to bring food out as soon as it is ready. The P.A.C.E. (no, you don’t want to know what that stands for) of the meal is supposed to run about what you described, so really the first time it happened is to be expected.
Also, if you show up right when they open during the middle of the week in february, I can almost guarantee that there will be no wait at all.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:20 pm
I like the O.G. I live in Dallas texas and all the O.G.s here are amazing. great wine selection, excelent staff, great food. i have no complaints at all.
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:26 pm
Just a little note about the Olive Garden in South Attleboro Mass. The mangagement crue treats their employees like shit, you give as much as you can to the company, and all they do is take, take, take, until they suck the living life out of you! Want proof, go and apply at the olive garden, any olive garden will do, and you will see, just what I am talking about, loyalty to your company is supposed to be a good thing, but when you give everything to a company that disrespects you contsantlyand gives you nothing in return, there is a problem.We have a manager there ( her real name I won’t say , but lets say her name is Julie)usually when you say good morning to someone, or just say hello, you expect a response, nope not even a smile, the face turns sour, and she sticks her nose up at you(manager of the year my ass how the hell did she get that) unreal, she is a manipulative , greedy, self centered piece of crap and she should be taken outside, and be beaten to a pulp with a piece of garden hose,always talking down to people and making them feel low as hell, I could go on and on, but the point is treat people as you would want them to treat yourselves, “when your here your family??” yeah what a crock of shit!!!!!!!! I have noticed several other team (ha team now theres a good one)members using this forum to complain, I hear you brothers , and sisters lets let corporate know how much they suck, and after I find a better job, I am going to call the board of health , and the Labor Board, just to report the activity that is going on in that building, because Olive Garden workers know the truth about what goes on, just like in every other restaurant in the business, the workers get shit on , and the managers do nothing at all !!!!!!Fuck you olive garden, fuck you Julie, and Fuck you Darden inc. thank you!!!!!!
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:33 pm
I am going there tomorrow with a friend. I agree though about not wanting to wait for mediocre food. I’ve never actually really been keen about the Olive Garden, but will go if friends/family want to. I just hate waiting for more then 30 minutes and their pasta isnt even that great
October 22nd, 2006 at 8:29 pm
I work at the O.G. in Ohio and I LOVE it! In fact, our O.G. is the busiest one around our area because people hear through word of mouth that is better then the ones closer to them! Yes, we do get waits and hour to an hour and fifteen minutes but usually that’s because of the damned never ending pasta bowl. And srsly, TRY OTHER DISHES. Don’t be lame and get spaghetti and meatballs. I love the staff, I love the food and we can’t get compliments like craZy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 4th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Well after managing to avoid this “restauraunt” for many years I was compelled to stop in for the new cheese filled rigatoni and sausage dish. I was in the mood for stuffed rigatone & sausage.
My wife has been bugging me to go here for quite some time, not really bugging me..just the occasional “how about OG” comment when we are trying to dicide where to go out & eat.
I could not agree more with the author. I just cant bring myself to order a pasta dish while out for dinner unless a top notch affair.
Cut to the chase here Mike…
Out of the rigatoni & sausage dish (prepackaged meal btw as per the waitress)food sucked service ok. Salad was good. Never again.
And can someone tell me why on earth I cant seem to get a HOT cheese Burger at the many burger joints here in th USA.
March 31st, 2007 at 8:51 am
I work at an Olive Garden in the Grand Rapids Michigan area for about four years while going to college. It is true that the wait for a table is just stupid long. Even on the nicest or worst weather of a day the wait will be up to 1 ½ to 2 hours. To sum up my experience with Olive Garden is simple: a fast food chain pretending to be a fancy Italian restaurant.
I have to acknowledge that the Olive Garden were I work had strict codes about cleanliness and it would be one of the few restaurants that I would eat at based only on the bases of cleanliness. A lot of the pasta and sauce is fresh and made that day or the night before and the vegetables are delivered there daily.
I hate working at the Olive Garden, but I would hate working at another chain more. This place was clean and the food is not even processed.
.
May 10th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Working at the OG is worse than any time you could have eating there. Guaranteed. It may just be the restaraunt business in general, of course; it just brings out the worst in people.
May 13th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
I work at the olive garden in vestal NY. I think that it is a great place to work and a awesome place to eat. Trust me the never ending soup,salad and breadsticks get on the waiters nerves more than they get on yours can you imagine going to a table and taking them a bowl of soup just to have someone else at the same table ask for more soup its never ending running back and forth. As a hostess I deal with difficult customers all the time its not like we can tell other customers to get up and leave so there for people are put on a waiting list. I dont see you complaining about the Red Lobster and their both owned by the same company. In fact the Red Lobster usually has a longer waiting list than we do. I guess you dont complain about Red Lobster b/c none of you have the money to eat there so why dont you stop going to all the mediocre restaurants and start coming to where your treated like family. Ya know we could say a lot of rude things about you as guests too but we dont b/c we have more class than that. I say to Hell with the ANTI-OLIVE GARDEN CLUB and some advice for you is “GROW UP”
May 20th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Yes, Tammy, since Red Lobster is the standard by which good restaurants are judged. I give you leeway based on the fact that a night out to Red Lobster on an OG employee’s salary is about as classy as it gets. Olive Garden’s food is perpetually bland, their wine selection on par with a 7/11. Certainly some guests are assholes, but you’re being paid to deal with assholes. If “growing up” means eating at Red Lobster and not being able to criticize the products we as consumers pay for, then I shout a resilient “NO.” Get a real job, Tammy.
May 29th, 2007 at 2:22 am
No more Olive Garden for me, either. When one opened in Utah, we ate there - had to wait an hour, but the food was great.
Today, we ate at the one in Albuquerque.
It was CRAP.
We ordered the exact same dishes, but in Utah the pasta actually tasted fresh. In ABQ? It was mushy in the middle. Rubbery on the edges. So was the chicken. It screamed, “DAY-OLD-MICROWAVED” like nothing had before. And it was $12?!?!
I couldn’t even finish it. And the breadsticks? At the UT Olive Garden they were flavorful, but the ABQ breadsticks tasted like leftovers from Fazolis.
Gross.
Also, on what planet is it “cheap” to pay $12 for something that I could get out of a Chef Boyardee can for $.59?
June 10th, 2007 at 12:24 am
Tim…you sound like an unbelievable jerk. The second time it happened, yeah, I can understand being upset…But the first? Besides, what do you want her to do, ask the busy linecooks to hold off on your order so it stays warm? By the way you sound, you’d probably then complain it didn’t arrive quick enough after you’re done sucking down bread sticks and salad.
Olive Garden may not have the greatest food, but you’re the idiots going to a chain restaraunt and expecting a unique experience. Yeah, we do have good dishes that don’t include pasta…and the quality isn’t universal for every Olive Garden. Obviously some places have better line cooks, waitstaff, etc. than others.
And to Cam: Tammy’s probably working her way through college; that’s what I’m doing, and I know most of the younger staff of the OG I work at are doing the same. She’s right, you do need to grow up if you’re going to be such a judgemental arse. Care to tell us all how much YOU make? Judging by the fact that you’ve gone to the OG enough to hate it, I’d say not much.
So, sure…Go somewhere else. Like another said, the waitstaff will appreciate it. The customer isn’t always right…If you’re being an insufferable ass then you deserve to wallow in your OG-induced misery. In my experience, you usually get the experience you ask for…Try being nice to your server. Oh, and remember: They usually make less than 3 bucks an hour and depend on tips. When you don’t tip, you’re screwing them over. Though I suppose that’s how some of you ‘high class’ people get your jollies, hm?
Seriously. Go somewhere else if OG is so beneath you.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:17 am
based on each and every person’s comment, I can tell who has and has not been a server.
there should be a law that requires all restaurant customers to have been a server at some point in their lives.
August 13th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I like the mints.
September 1st, 2007 at 12:22 am
God - where do I start? I agree with the wait issues; most times I’ve endured going to this place because someone I knew “had” to go, I waited on average 25 minutes. Olive Garden is NOT worth this wait. It’s sad that many local, independent Italian restaurants struggle while there are lines out the door at the Olive Garden. It’s really about marketing. This idea that their chefs train in Italy? Hogwash. Your local Olive Garden does not employ chefs, only cooks. And these cooks have not been to Italy. Italian families “enjoying” the Olive Garden? My family is Italian and we mock this place endlessly because it is so bad. Ever try to order something without a particular ingredient? You can’t. Once upon a time when they had pasta primavera we asked to delete a vegetable and they couldn’t because the “vegetable packets” were all frozen. The breadsticks have some nasty margarine concotion dripping off of them and the soups are always way too salty. And for some reason, the bill there always seems as expensive as your typical Italian restaurant (expensive soft drinks I think…). Why not pay the same amount of money for a LOT better food without the wait? Makes sense to me.
September 1st, 2007 at 12:25 am
I think Pangiote said it best:
“a fast food chain pretending to be a fancy Italian restaurant.”
October 16th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
If something goes right in the way of customer service (this goes for any service based industry), that customer might tell one person. If something goes wrong, they’ll tell 10.
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:51 am
I work and go to school at Le Cordon Bleu and have eaten at a plethora of restaurants in the Atlanta area and I must say I still eat at the Olive Garden once in a blue moon. Ive never had anything that tasted like crap. Granted the wine isnt superb, but the salad and breadsticks, to me, are outstanding. They remind me of my childhood (frequently ate there)
If you dont like, dont go there. Quit whining like a little infant.
November 14th, 2007 at 12:37 am
Ok so I just got a job at Olive Garden and I was curious to see what people thought about the place…You GROWN ASS people are amazing. I mean if the wait (which many of you complain about) is not enough to proof that the place rocks…then look at how long the place has been in business. Or the chain atleast. Is there a line out the door at Sonny’s?? Most of you losers ate at the OG recently, probably last night and was simply bombed over the fact that you spent money. Hard bread will happen and yes some times your not the only person wanting to eat at Olive Garden. Here is suggestion to you Olive Garden Haters..If you don’t like the OG go to Red Lobster and sleep on the fact Olive Garden may not be your problem. Outlook on life?
December 12th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Ive been to Olive Garden a million times and ive drivin out of town to go because i dont have one where i live. I always have a great experience there and the food is always good. even if it wasnt good, i wouldnt complain because other people are making it for me and i get to be lazy. It can only be a bad experience if you make it bad. Its up to you. I just got an Olive Garden in my town and i applied there and im really excited. Im going to do my best to satisfy everyone of my customers even if they are gonna be rude asses. I dont mind waiting in line at all because i chose to go there. Ive witnissed plenty of rude people at resteraunts and it makes me want to laugh at how ignorant they are. and TIM the customer is NOT always right. You just have to humor their dumb asses so you wont get in trouble.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:10 pm
No, Olive Garden is not that great, and the only reason it’s so popular is because of the FAT nasty people that love the endless salad and breadsticks and huge portions. and somebody said that the restaurant business brings out the worst in people who work there, and that’s true because of people like Tim who aren’t happy unless they’re’ complaining. I work there and I don’t mind waiting on nice people, but so many people are SO unexcusably rude. I generally dread waiting on old people, fat people, and anyone wearing camo. A 15% tip is usually a stretch.
March 1st, 2008 at 6:29 pm
While driving past it, just seeing the Olive Garden sign gave me indigestion.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I hate the OG as well. but Ryan is in love with it. All ryan ever talks about is olive garden. He was born at an Olive Garden on a dark and stormy night. Brook has fleas, and he also loves the Olive Garden.
I believe it is a fact that only 1 dish on the menu takes more than 5 minutes to make. They actually time out and wait to put your order in after you get a second reload of breadsticks to create the illusion that they are taking careful time to prepare your authentic Italiano food. Is hospitaliono a real word? I think not. It’s not english, it’s not italian. You can’t just add the suffix iliono to any english word and create an italian one. Let’s try…. indubidiliono, mercediono, candlitiono……… case closed.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Hooray for you. I gave up on that place a long time ago…
1) Everything is basically frozen and then reheated.
2) There are no “chefs” in the restaurants, as the commercials imply - only cooks. Chefs create the recipes, but they certainly don’t work in the restaurants.
3) Just like you, I am annoyed by THE LINES. My God, THE LINES. When I ask people why they wait in line, sometimes for hours, for the Olive Garden when a decent, independent Italian restaurant around the corner is wait-free, they reply “what Italian restaurant?” Most of these independent restaurants are not in free-standing buildings with gigantic signs, so people are oblivious to them. But let me tell you, almost always they are superior to the Olive Garden.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
I work at an OG in Cleveland. It’s true, they don’t hire chefs, just young ghetto hoodlums that call off at the drop of a hat. The managers suck! If an employee has a concern or complaint, it falls on deaf ears. The most these “revovling door” managers will do is throw a bunch of numbers at you and make it look like you’re costing them money because you’re working there. Teamwork? BULLSHIT!!! The prep cooks are little more than paid slaves. I got a lousy 30-cent raise over one year. This is the thanks I get for coming in on my days off when those inner-city pieces of crap call off, working beyond my scheduled time, doing double shifts (12 to 16 hours in one day with no breaks), driving my own vehicle to pick up supplies at other OG’s since the inept managers can’t even order enough to last one week. The only reason I’m staying there is because I need medical benefits.
August 17th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Believe me, most of us with cooking experience hate working there. We know we work for Italian Denny’s. The soups and sauces are made from scratch while the salad is straight out of a bag. The Dressing ? Marzetti.