Olive Garden

(I told you I'd blog about it, Amber...)

Last night we went out to dinner with our good friends, the Jardines. We'd planned to go out with just our little family, but Mckenna really wanted Brooklyn's family to come. So we called and they were amazingly able to come at the last minute(much to Kenna's excitement).

The wait for a table was about an hour so we went shopping at some nearby stores, and then came back just in time for them to seat us.

From the moment we sat down I could tell our server was new. Not only did she introduce herself with another waiter, but when Ian asked about one of their drinks she had to whip out her little cheat sheet to tell him what it was made of. Ian and I were probably not making things easier on her by changing our order halfway through, but it was apparently too much for her to handle so she had to rip that paper up and start again.

Once we got everyone situated(high chairs, drinks, crayons, food ordered) we settled in for a night out with 6 kids. The kids actually all behaved really well and the night would have been really great if not for the following 3 things:

1. Amber and I both ordered the Chicken Marsala without mushrooms. When they brought our food out, BOTH of them had mushrooms. We decided it wasn't too big of a deal since they can just be taken off the top and put aside.

2. As soon as I began to cut into my chicken I realized that the cheese inside was totally burned. Not just a little cooked. It was black. I even tasted it just to make sure - and it was smoked. Nasty. I felt bad sending it back, but I honestly wouldn't have eaten it. The staff was very nice and friendly about it and someone else(manager? cook?) brought my food to me with the warning that my plate was EXTREMELY hot and would burn me if I touched it. Which brings me to #3:

3. Who brings a burning hot plate to a table with 6 kids sitting at it? That's just ridiculous. I should have touched it so I could get burned and sue.

4. When the girls were done with their soup I combined it into one bowl and handed it to the server. I asked him to wrap it up for me in a take-home bowl....I never saw that soup again. Later, Ian asked the same guy about it. He seemed to understand what Ian was telling him yet...still no soup. I finally asked the waitress and she appologized and brought out a fresh bowl of soup in a plastic bowl to take home.

5. Every time they brought our food to us it was either handed across the table in front of our faces or handed to one person to pass to another. Sometimes they would hand us a hot plate while their hand was protected by a hot pad - mine was obviously not... They also didn't even warn me on those times. I kept having to request water refills, or hand them plates off the table while they were trying to put new plates on a totally full table.

Even after all of that, I probably wouldn't be nearly as upset as I was when they handed the check to Ian and said, "You still have a balance of 3.64 on your gift card. You can either wait and use it next time or just add it as an additional gratuity." ARE YOU KIDDING? Do you honestly think you deserve anything in addition to the 15% you just added because our party was greater than 8? Not to mention the fact that gratuity was only added to our tab and not the Jardines...most likely because they knew there was NO WAY they'd be getting anywhere near a 15% tip from us. That actually angered me. Most of the stuff throughout the night was just borderline annoying. But when it was all added together with the fact that the woman had the nerve to ask for more money - after forcing us to pay her more than she deserved already...well I (obviously) left the table more than just annoyed. Oh and one more thing:

As we were walking out of the restaurant there was an employee washing the windows of the exit door. She kindly stepped aside to allow Burke to open the door and hold it open for the rest of us. Burke's arms were totally full so he had to open it with his foot and hold it open for all of us who were carrying leftovers, kids, and diaper bags. She couldn't even open the door for him.

I will never go back to that restaurant. I LOVE Olive Garden and have had many great experiences. I would have to say it is on my list of the top ten favorites for me. So I won't be veto-ing OG's in general, just that one(it's in Chandler).

Normally when I am upset by a business I whine and complain and vent for the next week but never do anything about it(like the time Ian and I were split up while traveling with our 3 kids and all in vain because the plane was late anyway). But by some amazing miracle I convinced Ian to write a letter to that restaurant. He promised he'd do it today, I'll keep you updated. :)