Miserable Time at Olive Garden

You should have left when you werent greeted in 15 minutes. Go
somewhere else and enjoy your drafts and dinner, go home, lookup the
phone number to Olive Garden online, get some sleep. Awake the next
morning and call the manager of Olive Garden, telling him or her why
you walked out.

You have every right to be angry and I wholeheartedly agreed with you
until you wrote "This is at least the 4th or 5th time that we have had
horrible service there." Good Lord man, if its been that bad why keep
going back? Are you hoping to hit a nice server one time?

And while others may disagree, I did like your asking your wife if she
wanted an appetizer or not. Too bad the server never knew it was
directed at her.

I hope you hear back from them.

I looked at my wife and said "Do you even want the appetizer since it
took so long for our drinks?"

You completely lost any support I may have given you with that snotty
remark. If I were your server, I'd be cold to you as well. You chose
to start things off with a negative tone: That was all YOUR doing.

I don't think Olive Garden will miss you.

Don't ever, ever, EVER get snotty and cop an attitude (even if one is
warranted) until AFTER you get your food.

Rent the movie "Waiting" some time if you don't believe me.

I will say, though, that sitting at my table for 15 minutes without
even being acknowledged would tick me off too. If my server stops by
with a smile and a "I'll be with you as soon as I can!", and I can see
that it's busy, I will happily wait for 15 minutes. But if I sit
there for 10 minutes without so much as being looked at, then I'm out
of there.

I can understand your frustration, and I also think that your server
should have apologized and been charming for the rest of the meal
instead of giving you an attitude right back.

I agree with everyone else, though - always ask to speak to a manager.
AFTER you get your food. :-)

Although it sounds like there were problems, if your times are correct
an hour and a half isn't THAT long for a popular restaurant during the
holiday season.

Here's a little tip I think works when you are not getting what you
expect at a restaurant. It's called "Ask for the manager." Not many
people know it (or at least don't use it), so keep it under wraps.

You were there for an Hour and a half, hardly an exceedingly long
amount of time.
You never asked to see the Manager, but for what exactly?
You started the tone of the evening by saying to your wife "Should we
even bother getting appetizers, after all our drinks took so long"
that is no way to start good service expectations. I myself would
ensure your food would take extra time, as you're already in a bad
mood and I wouldnt be getting a good tip obviously.
You "assumed" that her bringing the drink refills were a bother.

No, I really see nothing wrong with the evening you're explaining
here. Nothing that could have been remedied ON THE SPOT.

Also, the next time im on the other side of the state, I'll be sure to
visit the Olive Garden!

While I understand your frustration, we're talking about a chain
restaurant here, during a very hectic time of year. I wish people
would cut servers a little more slack, it's really one of the most
difficult jobs.

It would help if you speak up with the hostess, server, and management
while you are experiencing problems.

that Jason mentions the "meal was well beyond our expectations." and
that they planned on enjoying the appetizer?

Well hey,that's always a GREAT reason never to go there again.

I hate going to places where the food is good.

Huh?
You arrived at 9:20 and left at 10:48?
And that's what? An hour and a half?
Sounds about average to me - especially for a Saturday night - unless
you were in some sort of hurry.

As for the waitress being 'curt' with you, I probably would have felt
the same after you got all snotty.

And is it just me or does it seem as though people who eat out these
days carry stop watches? 7 minutes for this...3 minutes for that...15
minutes for this...
What the-?

Overall, this visit doesn't sound earth-shatteringly bad. Nowhere near
deserving of your general attitude anyway.
It sounds like you walked in with a chip on your shoulder after so
many other so-called bad visits and nothing short of a miracle would
suffice.

While it may have seemed like a long time to you, dining at that hour
on the Saturday night before Christmas is going to take longer. It
seems your time constraints are out of line for a "fine dining"
restaurant where diners are expected to take at least that long to
enjoy their meals.

While your server should have been more friendly, you may have set the
tone yourself with your remark to your wife in front of her. You also
could have pointed out that you asked for a large draft at the time it
was brought out, and asked to speak with a manager then, rather than
waiting over a week to complain.

Why didn't you ask for a manager if you felt your service was not that
good? That's the best place to start and you probably would have
gotten something taken off your bill.