Olive Garden Italian Restaurant

Imagine being tempted by Olive Garden commercials every day. Now, imagine there is no actual Olive Garden in your area for you to fulfill these temptations. Yep, story of my life. Since Hawai'i has no Olive Gardens, you can imagine my excitement upon finding out there was one down the street from my sister-in-law's house.

Ambiance was pretty standard and the hostesses were pleasant enough. My bf and I decided on the 2 for $25, which is not a bad deal for an appetizer or dessert, soup or salad, breadsticks, and 2 entrees. The food was pretty good, just as I had expected, but the service was the real killer. Our waitress was clearly bored out of her mind (it was a slow night since it was the day after Christmas) so you'd think she'd appreciate the distraction of customers but nope, she made me feel like we were intruding on her personal time. She regurgitated the typical spiel in a monotone voice and looked annoyed that we ordered the 2 for $25 and not separate entrees. She brought out the food and then never came back until the end of the meal then she made a big stink about putting our leftovers in the box, which I could've done myself. Without the attitude. Ugh.

Customer service is a big deal for me. I've worked in retail for years, I know how to treat people (especially those who are giving you money!) and this location just didn't meet my standards. I'd rather brave the parking nightmare that is the downtown Philadelphia location than spend an entire meal, feeling like we were inconveniencing our waitress.

Son loves them for the bread sticks. Food is salty at times. Variety is good.

The Olive Garden restaurant, a delightful family Italian themed restaurant, mostly known for its pasta and breadsticks. The best item on the menu, the Seafood Alfredo, is a food that you should definitely get. Fettuccine pasta with a creamy white Alfredo sauce, mixed with slices of shrimp and scallop make it my favorite all-time meal. Another great meal was the Grilled Chicken Flatbread, which has 2 prices of chicken with a spicy mozzarella sauce and bread on top. The final item I sampled, the Parmesan Crusted Steak, was delicious because of the crusted steak, served with cheese filled rigatoni pasta topped with many slices of fruit. The service at Olive Garden was why I only gave these restaurant three stars.  My waiter, Jessica, was very slow, and took a very long time for our food and drinks. Although she was very polite, we had to ask three times for an extra set of silverware. Finally, she barley checked in at our table to see how we doing, and I was very thirsty for a long time before I was able to ask for more water.

For the portion size, the menu items were very pricey. I was able to finish my meal quickly, but the price was high. Although, for the chips and salsa appetizer, and the breadsticks, the price was low.  It evened the price out, and I paid what I thought was reasonable.

The Skinny: With a great menu choice, the Italian themed restaurant, favored among families, gets three stars from me. Great pasta and meat, but mediocre service and okay pricing. Three stars.