Olive Garden Italian Restaurant

Four of us went to OG on Saturday Feb 8th. One asked about gluten free menu item and ordered gluten free rotini. I ordered rigatoni with meat sauce and sausages. Everyone else got what they ordered. I didn't. I received rotini, instead of rigatoni, not a big deal except it was gluten free rotini. There is a BIG difference in texture. I wish I had returned the meal. Server didn't seem familiar with the menu or details about it. Next time, it will be just tiramisu and coffee for me.

A very delicious and flexible all you can eat option. - Never Ending Pasta Bowl - $14: You get as many dishes of pastas in any combination you want with the sauce of your choice. I had four different dishes over the course of one sitting and only paid $14. That’s a steal! The first plate is 10 oz and every one after is 5 oz. Most of the pastas were mainly the same taste, but different textures. They were dense, FILLING, but generally good quality and a great foundation to the experience. If you want chicken, meatballs, or sausage on top, you have to pay $5 EACH PLATE that you add it to, so that is a bummer. - Spaghetti and Meat Sauce: Thicker pasta than I am used to with spaghetti, but generally good. The meat sauce was not as meaty as I’d like, but it was to a point where it is still within tolerance (and possibly my preference). - Fettuccine Alfredo: Standard. I’ve had fettuccine alfredo several times and felt it needed something almost every time if there wasn’t chicken or something else added. If you get it, this would be the one dish I’d highly recommend adding the chicken to. Good over all, though. - Rigatoni and Garlic Herb Sauce: New one for me. The huge tubes are a bit odd texture to me. It was actually quite practical for scooping up the sauce. The garlic herb sauce has a powerful garlic flavor! I would not eat this on a regular basis, but if I had a strong craving for garlic, this would be my first recommendation. Just try a small bit, first. - Angel Hair and Traditional Marinara: The angel hair was thinner than I expected. The marinara was zingy and almost a little spicy. I thought it needed more, so I did add some, but a little went a long way. It was still great, though. Better than I had expected since I almost always have meat with my spaghetti otherwise. - Breadsticks: Soft inside but medium tough outer crust. One of the three was a bit dry, but they were generally moist and good. A standard breadstick that is a bit on the dense side. - Salad: This was my favorite, actually. I like ranch…I mean dressing…BAH! I like salad. You order the salad to your preference ahead of time. If you don’t like a lot of dressing, make sure you specify that because they do add a lot (which I like). I skipped the olives. The onions were a bit more abundant which I liked. The tomatoes could have been cut in half (which I did myself) since they were larger (slices). The pepperoncini peppers they added were on the spicy side, wholesome tasting, but still they had a lot of bite. I liked it and it added a complexity that really matched everything overall and was well balanced. The lettuce was crisp and moist. They are famous for their house salad and I can see why. My wife's meal and comments: - Zuppa Toscana: The soup broth had a bit of a kick. - Chicken Parmigiana: Nice and succulent. - Gluten-Free Rotini with Traditional Marinara: It was okay. - Service: Our waitress was amazing. She was never away for more than a few minutes and was always looking into our needs. She was previously a cook so she knew the menu very well, which was helpful for gluten-free ordering for my wife. Her recommendations were spot on. The only thing is that the menu is very confusing and inconsistent for gluten-free options. The website says one thing and the menu another. We ended up having to defer a lot to the waitress and even then she had to confirm a couple things. They need to go through their menu and clean that up. Also, the kiosk at our table did not take our gift card and the server had to do it manually. - Atmosphere: VERY clean and professional while maintaining an ability to bring kids and wear casual clothing. It was super quiet with a warm feeling. The artwork on the walls had a lot of historical Italian themes with some semi-modern approaches. The bathroom had a cool kids step that folds. - Conclusion: This is a great representation of Olive Garden and their niche in the market. I highly recommend it! Visited Thursday night 6:15-8:00pm.