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| - During lunch, their famous Unlimited Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks is only $7.99. They've added a new promotion called Tuscan Trio Combination that invites you to add Salad Toppers (Antipasti Italian Meats and Cheeses or Roasted Tomato Caprese), Pasta Sides (Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Fettuccine Alfredo, or Ziti with Five Cheese Marinara), or Tastes of Italy Small Plates (Chicken Meatballs, Tuscan White Bean Hummus, Crispy Risotto Bites, or Parmesan Roasted Asparagus). All selections are just $3.99. Even at $11.98, the lunch is a great value.
I've been to this location at least once or twice, but it's been at least four years since my last visit. I'm not a big fan of their restaurants, so I usually stay away. My mom has been talking about coming to fulfill her unlimited soup and salad craving, so we visited for lunch today. We both opted for unlimited salad and soup and a side of Spaghetti with Meat Sauce from the new Tuscan Trio promotion.
The salad is nothing grand; a mixture of (mostly) Iceburg and Romaine, red onion, tomato, whole black olives, peppercini, and seasoned croutons. They are extremely sparse on everything except Iceburg lettuce. There was literally two olives, two small slices of tomato, and six small rings/layers of onion in the first bowl of salad. For our second bowl, I requested no olives and extra tomatoes and thankfully, they were much more generous with the tomatoes and onions. I'm not crazy about their dressing, but it's manageable when we ask for it on the side.
We both chose the Zuppa Toscana for our soup because we've always enjoyed it. It's a creamy broth filled with spicy sausage, russet potatoes, and fresh kale and it's always delicious. As much as I don't care for Olive Garden, this soup is really great (especially with freshly shaved parmesan and black pepper). My only complaint is its consistency and sometimes lack of kale. We had a couple bowls and each bowl was different. Some had too much sausage, some had too many potatoes (making it starchier), and it always had too little kale (we love kale).
The Spaghetti with Meat Sauce was also nothing special. I don't have a preference for their sauce and overall flavor. The noodles were nicely cooked. Silly portion for four dollars. I would say skip the Tuscan Trio combination. Oh, and the breadsticks? Meh. Not worth the carbs or the calories.
Service was mostly great. After placing our orders, I realized that it may be advantageous to share a Spaghetti with Meat Sauce entrée rather than ordering two sides, so I decided to ask our server. All we asked was the size and price of the entrée portion and his response was bizarre. This was his side of the conversation: "Oh, but if you order the spaghetti, then it costs more to add on the soup or salad ... I don't know, I guess It's about $10 ... No, I had someone else order the entrée and when they split it, they basically gave them two sides, so you're getting the better deal ... Oh, the one over there is our dinner portion .. It's like 13-14 dollars ... You'll get the salad with the entrée, but it'll cost you like $4 to add the soup ... But, you can do whatever you want ... I'm not being lazy, I just don't want my customers spending more money because we're already charging you enough." UHH, WHAT? My mom was becoming annoyed, so she said, "Nevermind," and dismissed him. We just wanted to know what our options were and every time we tried to ask a question, it was met with a rebuttal of why the Tuscan Trio Combination was better (without actually making that statement). I had to reiterate more than once that we each wanted to order the Unlimited Soup and Salad AND a Spaghetti entrée to share. My mom felt duped and I also felt that there must have been a reason that he was so adamant about keeping the Tuscan Trio order.
Anyway, I still enjoyed my meal, but my return is unlikely. It would have been a two-star rating had it not been for the yummy soup. I love my salads and this one is definitely not worthwhile. Also, this isn't the first time that I've had really strange service at an Olive Garden franchise.
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