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| - Yesterday we went to Olive Garden to treat my mom to a Mother's Day lunch. I have been here one time before with my fiancé and we had a great experience so I was expecting this visit experience to be no less satisfying than the prior one.
It was very busy upon arriving, but this was expected for the occasion. The hostesses were pretty unwelcoming and gave off a bit of a cold vibe, not the best impression on this visit. We were quoted a 45 minute wait for a party of 6 which seemed reasonable all things considered. They had a fair bit of waiting room which extended outside as well; the day was beautiful so we took advantage of this and waited outside until our table was ready. They had the vibrating coasters that light up and vibrate when your table is ready so waiting outside was easy and stress free, no worries of being overlooked/missed. They under promised and over delivered with the wait time and within 20 minutes we were seated :) which made up for the cold welcome.
Our server Salvador was very professional and polite, he was always diligent with serving our table from his intro right until we asked for the bill. He was always good at checking up on our table and ensuring everyone had what they needed. He was also good with clearing plates and bringing refills which is always important to me, even more so when you're with a bigger party at a smaller table :) as you can't afford the clutter with limited room.
The most disappointing part of this visit was actually the food, I know coming to Olive Garden it's unfair of me to expect the best Italian food money can buy, but in comparing it to my previous visit it was definitely much worse. For the complimentary wine sample I tried the Zinfandel today, wasn't my favorite, a bit sour. The salad and breadsticks were very salty, definitely less enjoyable than the heavenly breadsticks we had last time. Those who ordered soups were happier than us salty salad eaters. As for the meals themselves the feedback was mixed at the table, about half were happy and half were not. I ordered a meal from their "Lighter Italian Fare" menu, for a "light" option the presentation was very heavy and unappealing. There was far too much sauce, the vegetables were over cooked and overall it felt really processed; basically it felt like the opposite of what I was trying to order. One of us ordered lasagna and that came out looking extremely unappetizing, sloppy and overcooked. It looked worse than one you would buy from the frozen foods section of a grocery store :S. The rest of the dishes were a bit better, other than the strips of steak in in my brother's pasta dish which were clearly a poorer cut.
The visit in the end was a bit of a disappointment, as it was Mother's Day I was really hoping for something a little more memorable that reflected my first visit here. The hostesses were unwelcoming, the wait time was good as was our server, but not exceptionally good to the point that would make up for an overall pretty disappointing meal. Unlimited breadsticks and salad/soup is definitely a plus so I'm sure I'll give Olive Garden another go, I just feel like I need a little break given this mediocre visit.
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