Olive Garden Italian - Jacksonville

I hadn't visited an Olive Garden in years, but my daughter wanted to celebrate her birthday there, so our family of five went on a Sunday evening. The service was outstanding, the atmosphere was inviting, and the food was delicious. The restaurant was quite busy, yet the manager took the time to come to our table and check on us, which was a lovely gesture. I’ve definitely updated my view of this chain restaurant, and it has now earned a spot on our favorites list.

Olive Garden wasn't what I remembered it to be. I used to love the salad and breadsticks, but this time the salad arrived with barely any dressing, and the garlic breadsticks were lacking garlic flavor. To make matters worse, our waiter only brought out two breadsticks at a time. We rarely saw him and ended up relying on the waiter from the table next to us to refill our drinks, bring us a to-go box, and even deliver our check. On top of that, the bill was $37 for some subpar food! I also have to mention the parking situation—it was chaotic. Cars were parked everywhere, and I had to circle the lot four times before finally spotting someone leaving and snagging their spot.