I have been to many an Olive Garden in my lifetime and I usually have a pretty decent experience. Unfortunately, the last time I visited this particular restaurant, the whole experience left much to be desired.
I went there with my significant other for my birthday this year. The only thing I enjoyed was the salad and breadsticks...but who doesn't. I digress, both the meal and the service needed a lot of work.
I don't know if our server was having a bad day or he had something out of work to worry about, but he was very un attentive and was kind of everywhere when he was at our table. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was just having a rough night and wasn't at his best.
The main issue I had was with the food I was served. My boyfriend and I ordered the same things this visit, Chicken Scampi. It took quite a bit of time to get the meal. When they showed up, there was quite a difference in our plates. Mine had absolutely no sauce at all. It was totally bland and tasteless. The server offered to bring me some sauce. It helped a little, but it was still not as good as it's been in the past. Another issue I had was the chicken was charred black on the bottom. Not brown, black. It was awful. I ate maybe 1/4 of the dish when I decided I just didn't want to eat it any more. The manager offered to have it refired, but I wasn't up to having another meal come out of that kitchen on that particular night. I've never not finished a meal at this restaurant so I left very disappointed.
I will probably go back to this restaurant...I just don't know if I'm ready any time soon.