Olive Garden: Ups and Downs

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During spring break, I had the opportunity to eat at Olive Garden twice.  The two trips were both different experiences, with always some pretty good food.  Olive Garden is one of my girlfriends favorites and had no problems convincing her for dinner.  Upon the arrival on our first trip at the San Mateo location, I noticed an update on the look including a new logo for the chain, which may be an attempt to gain more attention.  The interior consisted of a fresh look of the restaurant.  The walls were painted a nice calm white with lighting fixtures that match with a dim quality.  As we were

Breadsticks

being seated, the smell of garlic bread sticks that takes over the whole restaurant area.  We were sat down in a booth and greeted with a friendly waiter, who retrieved our peach tea drinks quickly.  As I gaze at the menu, I decided to try one of their soups.  You get unlimited salad, bread sticks and your choice of soup for under $15.  We both went with a Zuppa Toscana, which is made with Italian sausage, kale, and russet potatoes.

Zuppa Toscana

The first round of food was delivered, which included the bread sticks, which we ordered extra Alfredo sauce to dip them in, and the Olive Garden salad.  The salad reminds me of Italian flavors with the Italian salad dressing which gives the salad a nice fresh bite to it.  The taste of garlic and oils in the salad pair great with the warm buttery bread sticks.  My friend suggested the extra Alfredo sauce and lets just say we utilized the unlimited bread sticks.  Finally, the waiter asks if we were ready for our soup and I could not wait to try it.  The steaming hot soup arrived, and the aroma of the creamy broth within the steam.  The delicious smell did not disappoint, with tender meat and potatoes and the best part was the slightly crunchy but very tasty kale.  The broth is a creamy consistency that tops off the soup and makes the meal a great combo.  The waiter checked on us often to make sure we were doing good and overall had great service.  Our first trip during the break was delicious and satisfying.

The second time we went to Olive Garden during spring break, we chose the Coors location. We were greeted with quite the crowd, due to it being a Saturday night.  The intended 40 minute wait turned out to be 20 minutes which, I thought was a great way to start the experience. We started the second trip the same as before, with bread sticks and Alfredo sauce to go with.  To change things up and go with a more traditional Italian noodle dish to get a full experience.  This time it took a little bit longer for our waiter to greet and as well as to get our Dr. Pepper sodas.  The time it took to wait may have been the waiter had too many tables, because we saw her running orders and drinks but still took a long time.  When looking at the menu, the selection of noodles were unexplained which made it difficult

Bucatini with spicy 3 meat 

for me and my girlfriend to choose.  We decided on, after looking on the Internet to inform ourselves, we chose a Bucatini noodle with a spicy three meat sauce.  The waiter delivered our food in a good time but I wish i would have chosen a different dish because I the food did not taste like what I expected.  The dish what hot and looked great but I could not identify what was in this "3 meat sauce" which did not have any description for the sauce or noodles.  The meal was not bad, but it was not the delightful experience as our last time at Olive Garden.

I decided to do research to see if the other reviews were coordinated with my good or bad experience.  I found a review for the Italian restaurant chain on the website for "Business Insider."  The review, written by Ashley Lutz, shows the downsides to the restaurant that is bringing the chain down.  One topic that she brought up that both me and my girlfriend experienced was the confusing menu.  "The menu is confusing. There are complicated combinations and deals listed. Menu items include Spanish-style tapas, paninis, a burger, pasta, and meat dishes."  The menu simply does not explain the dishes or the deals well and end up for a very confusing experience.  On the Huffington Post website, an article "Olive Garden, Red Lobster Struggle to Revive Sales" shows the struggles of the two restaurant chains.  The authour stated that, "Olive Garden's menu 'failed to keep pace with guest expectations that started to evolve much faster than they had in the past,' said Andrew Madsen, Darden's president and chief operating officer." The post continues on how Olive Garden is declining with the figures to back it up.  I still like to eat at Olive Garden but the fact is that the chain needs to make more changes, because the ones they made have brought the restaurant down.  

In conclusion, I will return to Olive Garden even with the bad expierience.  I believe, that their good prices and pretty good food outweighs some of the inconsistent experiences.  The bad experience we had was not terrible but, it does show that the restaurant can use some improvements.  I am still addicted to the warm buttery breadsticks, soup and salads that are worth the trip alone, which makes Olive Garden a nice choice for a dinner when you are looking for something better than fast food. Some improvements that can be made include the menu and overall being consistent with food and staff.   The menu is way to generic and gives no description which leaves us that do not have a lot of knowledge on Italian dishes, semi-lost and confused.    

Sources - 

Denise. "Enjoy New Menu Options At Olive Garden." Boyz Rule Our World RSS. N.p., 29 Sept. 2014.              
           Web. 18 Mar. 2015.

Lutz, Ashley. "We Went To Olive Garden And Saw A Lot Of The Problems That Are Dragging Down              
           The Brand." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 15 Sept. 2014. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.

"Discover The New Olive Garden®." Olive Garden Italian Restaurant. Olive Garden, 2015. Web. 18                 
           Mar. 2015.

Polis, Carey. "Olive Garden, Red Lobster Struggle To Revive Sales." The Huffington Post.                             
          TheHuffingtonPost.com, 22 Aug. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.