http://www.olivegarden.com/default_f.asp
By the time I got home from a meeting with my professor (to get my A) it was after 7:00. I didn't feel like cooking so we went to Olive Garden in Concord. I go there every 6 months or so. They have had most of the same staff there for a while now, which is great. The Olive Garden's all have a similar decor. We didn't have to wait too long. I think a party that came in after us got to be seated before us though, because one of the girls in the party knew the manager. We were seated near drafty windows right in view of the kitchen entrance area. The woman who brought us to our table was nice and courteous.
It took a while for our waitress to greet us. When she finally came over she offered wine, but it was white so I declined. She then took our drink order. I just wanted lemonade, but she said raspberry lemonade so I just went with it. Usually I get a horrible stomach ache after I drink the raspberry lemonade, but it didn't taste as sweet as it has in the past so I didn't get sick. After our drinks came she took our food order. I decided to try the new five cheese stuffed rigatoni with sausage, rigatoni pasta stuffed with five Italian cheeses in a tomato alfredo sauce, topped with grilled Italian sausage and melted mozzarella. My husband got the chicken parmigiana (surprise, surprise).
She brought out our salad and bread sticks pretty quickly. The salad didn't have enough dressing on it for me. It needed just a little bit more. The bread sticks were hard on the ends and didn't have a lot of flavor like they normally do either.
It took a while for our meals to come. The noise from the kitchen area was obnoxious. The area was extremely busy. There were dishes being broken, kitchen staff with hairnets walking in and out of the dining room and staring at patrons. There must have been quite a few birthdays because there was quite a bit of singing in our area. It wasn't the most pleasant atmosphere. If they just added a set of large doors to the entrance area, it would cut down on the sound and busy atmosphere it creates.
When our meals did come out the portions were great. The sausage in my meal wasn't like the sausage you get at the grocery store. It had a much more milder taste that was quite pleasant. The rigatoni was good as well. We only got through half of our meals because they were so filling and it was so late in the evening. They made for great leftovers.
Our bill only came to $30. That's pretty good for 2 dinners with drinks. Overall I would give Olive Garden in Concord a 2 out of 5. The atmosphere ruined the dining experience for me.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment