Olive Garden
When You're Here, You're Family
Message from Olive Garden
Olive Garden is a family of local restaurants focused on delighting every guest with a genuine Italian dining experience. We are proud to serve fresh, simple, delicious Italian food, complemented by a great glass of wine, served in a comfortable, home-like Italian setting where everyone is welcomed as family and friends. Olive Garden's menu features a variety of Italian specialties, including classic and filled pastas, chicken, seafood and beef. Enjoy our freshly baked garlic breadsticks and your choice of homemade soup or garden-fresh salad with any entree. All menu items are available for take-out, and our Parties To Go! menu offers generous family-sized meals for your next family gathering or office party.
Editorial by Citysearch
In ShortEstablished in 1982, this chain gained a following for its laid-back atmosphere and generous portions. Patrons settle into comfortable booths and tables in dining rooms with plants, artwork and décor reminiscient of the villas in the Tuscan countryside. Starters include scampi, sausage or pepperoni pizza, and several soup choices, as well as a signature seafood dip (crab, shrimp, cheese and marinara). Entrees include classics like lasagna, fettuccine Alfredo and chicken parmigiana. There are also "Garden Fare" options, which promise 30 percent fewer calories.
Key Points
- Fresh, delicious Italian food
- Variety of wine and beverages
- To Go ordering available
The Inside Scoop
- What to Drink - What's spaghetti and meatballs without a glass of wine? You'll find vintages here from Italy, Australia, California and Washington.
Insider Pages Reviews for Olive Garden
I went to the Olive Garden in Kirkland recently with my family to celebrate our 9 year old daughters birthday and the place was extremely busy which was frustrating at first.
But once we were sat our table our server was excellent. His name was Marcus and had an 'interesting' hair style which my wife and little girl absolutely loved. He did an amazing job of making sure everyone was happy and there drinks were refilled and the most amazing part was that he remembered 6 customers drinks and food without writing anything down.
Now not to say that the Olive Garden is the best restuarant in the area, but they have done very well when it comes to hiring the right people.
Loved the service!!
Posted 09/08/09 | Report Abuse
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I like this Olive Garden although not one of my favorites by far, its still very good. Not all Olive Gardens aer exactly the same. The staff plays a major role in service. This one tries hard, its usually always crowded unless you go during the day.
Posted 06/07/05 | Report Abuse
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Going down-hill
by Anonymous
I used to love this Olive Garden! While I think their food still tastes great, they've changed so much that it's hard to enjoy it. This location's staff seems to be quite cheesy, and they almost force you to add items on to your meal. This location is somewhat small, and it's hard to feel like you're having an intimate, private meal. The other bad part about this restaurant is that they've raised their prices so much! I used to get a simple pasta dish that used to cost $7, now it's close to $13! While their food tastes great, I definitely go here a lot less now because of the atmosphere and the prices!
Posted 04/15/05 | Report Abuse
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Olive Garden, yeah it's a chain, yeah it's sometimes corwded, but the food is good, the portions are bigger than most, plus you get to color on the placemat! I know they got smart lunch deals, all you can eat breadsticks (a little plain tasting), salad and soup. Plus they cater. They hooked up my friends wedding with some pasta and veggie lasagna, breadsticks, and professional service.
Posted 03/04/05 | Report Abuse
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Latest reviews from Citysearch.
Watch your overcharged bill
by mris
Friday (8/21/09) was our first time visting Olive Garden, for a dinner.
Food quality is average, prices seem ok. We tried the neverending pasta bowl, $8.99 according to their list price. However, our final bill arrived for $11.99 each, although we didn't have any additional choices. We ended up paying it (plus tax, plus tip), as we trusted our server and didn't verify right away. A small price for a lesson well learned.
Pros: cheap
Cons: questionable service
Posted 08/25/09
It's good food...
by mabes32
I'm so sick of all you yuppies ripping on olive garden and any chain that you label "non authentic" Of course it's not authentic. Who cares... The obvious truth is, the majority likes the food they serve better than if it were truly authentic italian. It's good consistent food at a great price. I've been all over Italy, and would take olive garden before 90% of the places I've eaten at over there. If you're looking for a good meal at a great price, choose Olive garden. If you're one of those that cant distinguish between authentic and good food, go somewhere else and quit clogging up review boards with your negative comments.
Pros: Fast, consistent, large portions
Cons: none
Posted 03/27/09
An Example of Poor Quality
by cutebirdie
This was our first visit to the Olive Garden. A garden it is! Full of bad food and high prices cultivated over time by poor management.
Our meals were mediocre at best. The chicken parmigiana was very average, the salad was drenched in dressing (cough, sputter), and my nephew's spaghetti with plain sauce was swimming in water--imagine that--not being able to get something as simple as spaghetti with sauce correct! We had to drain his dish of the extra sauce that was obviously diluted with water (sauce was barely the color of tomatoes, and very thin) during preparation. My nephew had said, "Look at me! I am eating spaghetti soup." I would not recommend anyone patronize this chain of restaurants.
Pros: None
Cons: Prices, Quality of Food
Posted 01/03/09
too crowded
by sdsungoddess
I love Olive Garden but this location is alwys packed. No matter what night we go or at what time there is always a line out the door. If you are really craving those yummy breadsticks pull up a seat at the bar. You get great service and do not have to wait 40 minutes.
Posted 11/16/06
Hot Food Bad Wine Bad Service Bad Value
by jimadcock
There was some confusion about where to seat our party of seven, so they sat us in front of the kitchen door. The tables and chairs from a defunct Denny's. The table location was impossibly noisy. $7 corked wine, my wife insisted I make them take back, except all of a sudden all the waiters and waitresses who were streaming past our table turned deaf, dumb and blind. I finally walked back to the hostess to send a floor manager to our table to assist us, and it still took five minutes for him to arrive. Food was hot, which rates a coup in Seattle. Seafood Portofino was served hot (good) thick white sauce (good not great) and vanishingly small quantities of mussels (6 tiny), shrimp (2 tiny) and scallops (2 teeny tiny). One ounce of seafood in total. $100 for four adults, and three kids who basically didn't eat.
Pros: Hot Food
Cons: Service, Wine, Value
Posted 12/28/05
the restaurant is getting worse
by lusien
Last time my friends and I went there it was a disaster. My friends were wearing jeans, sweaters, T-shirts. We probably did not look that fancy and/or "time worth spending". We were seated in a back room with many tables, zero privacy. Our waiter offered a cheap terrible wine (He said "this wine is very good, it is only 5 dollars"). It seemed that the food was cooked that morning and then was warmed (we came at 8 pm).
The free salad bowl was the only delicious food. It is difficult to ruin a salad.
It is better to save some money and go to a real Italian place.
Unfortunately, the restaurant's rating is getting worse. 5 years ago I would definitely recommend it.
Posted 12/04/05
Its Ridiculous!
by kacimae
They don't take reservations not even for big parties. It's just ridiculous!
Cons: no reservations
Posted 11/30/05
Olive Garden?!?
by chills1956
This is NOT Italian food! Please, don't even waste our time by rating this with Assagio, Café Juanita, Isabella, etc. It should be in the same category with McDonald's/Taco Bell, in fact, they could probably drum up more biz if they installed drive-thru's!
Posted 03/06/03
top ten best Italian ?
by The_Big_Ragu
Seattle must be lacking Italian residents. I mean the Olive Garden is OK but, cmon ! Top Ten ? I don't think so. People from New York would laugh themselves into fits if they read this.
Olive Garden has good soups, breadsticks and salads but this does not make them a good Italian restaurant.
Pros: friendly
Cons: food is too generic, owner - General Mills
Posted 01/06/03
Non piacere!!!
by aja2003
Are serious?? The Olive Garden? Dare I look at the best mexican ratings lest it says Taco Bell? Ugh. Come on Seattle, get a clue. Olive Garden could open up a franchise in Italy and it still wouldnt be Italian. Try Vicino or Mamma Melinas for god sakes!
Cons: Its not Italian food!
Posted 12/30/02
It's a Chain
by jlundquist
It's a chain, Need I say more! Find something a little more tasteful that this. If this is how you like your Italian, you WONT like Italy
Pros: Good for kids to mess
Cons: Bad food
Posted 12/09/02
garbage
by europete
Olive Garden restaurant is no more proper Italian food and cooking that the man in the moon. All they offer is lots of advertising and bad food to back it up.
Most people do not know real Italian cooking, so they get away with fooling people, making them think that what they are getting is real Italian cooking.
Pros: clean
Cons: poor cooking, buddy-buddy mentality, phony representation
Posted 12/03/02
The biggest joke in Seattle!!!
by adamg9
As an Italian-American, and having lived in Italy and studied the cuisine I would consider myself a good critic of Italian food. The olive garden is a horrible place where for $5.95 you can get all you can eat sewer waste. This place is a joke that thinks they are serving Italian food. I can assure you they are not. Their commercials insinuate that it's the place where Italian-Americans take their Italian relatives. I can assure you that the relatives would be thoroughly insulted if they were taken to the olive garden, and would never be heard from again.
Pros: none
Cons: too many to list
Posted 11/28/02
This is fast food!
by rachelfro
Good grief what about Freemont Classic or Pasta Bella or the Pink Door. I'll have to remember to vote next time :).
Pros: Cheapish, Get what you expect, Ubiquitous
Cons: Ubiquitous, boring, bland
Posted 11/15/02
gentrified and corporate
by ProfessionalServer
price? imagine what they could charge if you they didn't spend millions on TV, radio and billboard ads, and opening more and more restaraunts. Good Italian food is easy. Do the right thing and stay at home and make fettucini alfredo if you can't go to the neighborhood place near you.
Pros: gentrified, gentrified, gentrified
Cons: gentrified, gentrified, gentrified
Posted 11/09/02
Dumbed down food
by keefily
The McDonalds of Italian food. Absolutely awful. Completely unauthentic. Italian food for people that don't know what Italian food tastes like.
Posted 10/24/02
Satisfies an Italian craving
by cakelly
When I am in the mood for pasta and salad, I go to the Olive Garden. The salad is excellent...I could eat bowls and bowls of it. The pasta is 'okay' but satsifies a craving when I have it. I usually order the cheese stuffed ravioli. Nothing special, and a small portion, but with the unlimited salad it is worth it. The ambience is a little cheesy and "cheap" complete with plastic breadbaskets.
Pros: unlimited salad, friendly staff
Cons: small portions, a little bland
Posted 10/12/02
Blender Italian Food
by srl542000
"Track Style Restaurants" that pour over cooked pasta from plastic bags for the masses!! It's the "Frosted Flakes" of chain Italian restaurants. You always know where the bathroom is located at whether your in Las Vegas, to Tacoma, or Orlando. Bad food which would make any good Italian crawl under the bed and never come out! I guess if your on a bad road trip and need to eat pasta, it fits the need. Your always family, but, honestly I would divorce your self from this one!!!! Find a real Italian eatery. There's lot's of family run Italian restaurants that even on a bad day out shine the Olive Garden...Come on Seattle, you know there out there...even in Tacoma!
Pros: Inexpensive, Bathroom location, Better than can food
Cons: Blender Style pasta, Over crowded., Trys to be Italian.
Posted 09/01/02
good value for the buck
by nkford
Depending on the time and day of the week, seating can be a wait. However, the food, service, and kid friendly servers make up for the inconvenience. The food is always served hot and is always flavorful and delicious.
Pros: excellent value, great taste, good service
Cons: crowded
Posted 08/13/02
Yummy
by bafischer
Let me just say, yummy. How can you describe the atmosphere and the food? Delicious.
Posted 08/12/02
A typical chain
by TaraJacobs
There is nothing great or unique about Olive Garden. It's a typical restaurant chain with no character, nothing that stands out above the rest. My husband likes the place because it's got a parking lot. Their menu has Italian dishes, but the pasta tends to be overcooked. Even the salad that comes with your meal is mediocre. The dressing tastes like something that came out of a bottle, and I'm SURE it did. Nothing tastes homemade; it just tastes like it was bought in bulk!
Pros: parking lot
Cons: pasta overcooked, prices too high, crappy food overall
Posted 07/21/02