My wife and I are visiting Waterloo from the Quad-Cities, so we are very familiar with Olive Garden. We were very unhappy with our server, Ben, who had shoulder-length hair, all the way around. Everytime he was at our table he took his hand and put it in hair to get it out of his eyes. He did this frequently. He also let it hang when he bent over to put cheese on our salad or soup. We were lucky no hair got in our food. I am a former fast food restaurant manager, so I know about food service sanitation. He should've had his hair tied back and out of face so he wouldn't have to put his hands in his hair then handle our food. I brought this to the attention of the manager, who should've been aware of this and trained Ben not to do this. I'd be wary about going to this Olive Garden with their food sanitation practices. read more

Started off with horrible service. When we walked in the hostess had been in the restroom. A lady up front says to us "there's a small wait while we clean the tables" then walks away to never be seen again. Hostess comes out, other ladies up front doing end of night prep. After about 10 minutes of waiting a family walks in and the hostess seats them immediately (no reservation). We ask why we are still sitting there and the hostess says "I'm so sorry no one told me you were waiting nor wrote you down".... Thankfully the service got much better after that. Our server was very pleasant and apologized again for the rough start. A manager came over to get details of our troubles and apologized. Breadsticks and 5 cheese dipping sauce was good. The soup was yummy. The main dish of manicotti and three meat was amazingly good. One odd thing was my raspberry lemonade came out warm lol, the pitcher and glass must have just came from dishwasher because it had ice, it was just very warm to drink. We shall return for more Italian goodies. read more

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We enjoyed everything. We had the shrimp appetizer, lunch lasagna and soup and salad, breadsticks with Alfredo sauce. Issac was our waiter and did everything just right. Thank you for an enjoyable meal. read more

Came in with friends, unfortunately one of our group's plans had changed into an emergency and we had to change our order to go. Though this can be frustrating, we did not deserve to pay $80 each check for buttered noodles instead of alfredo dishes read more

We put our name in and were told 25 to 30 minutes. After 45 min we ask how much longer? We are told another 25 minutes. Not worth waiting and being lied to for over priced food. Such a disappointment. read more

We ordered 2 orders of "The Tour of Italy" for take-out. When we opened it it was terrible! Everything was old and dried out. There was no chicken in the Chicken Alfredo, the Lasagna was rubber, and, the Chicken Parm was so hard you had to cut it with a very sharp knife. The salad and bread sticks were fine. It's the last time we order takeout as it appears it is how they get rid of their old food. read more

I have never really had a bad experience at this olive garden until I went last week. The host who sat us didn't seem to be in a great mood. Our server was really sweet but the part that really ruined the experience was the wait. Understandably we went during lunch so a wait was expected but the wait time was almost two hours because they gave our food to the wrong people! I hope next time is better. Interior could use some updating as well. read more

We received absolutely phenomenal service. Elijah did an outstanding job, and his performance deserves the highest praise. The food was fabulous. read more

Food is good. Poorly presented. Service is welcoming and prompt. The interior need some work. If you are thinking about going give it a try. read more

Pretty good sized Meatball and Chicken Parm on special were very good. Good sized portion would be an understatement! We'd started out looking for a Mexican Restaurant and this turned out to be a nice alternative. The Chicken Dumpling Soup was amazing too! read more

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I was there in early Dec for a surprise 60th birthday party. Everything was great! Not only the food was good, the staff went way out of their way to keep us happy. I highly recommend this place. read more

1st the gal checking us in couldn't find our call ahead reservation! Group of 4 adults in a small booth. we ordered appetizers. Drinks came, then salad & soup and our appetizers came out with entrees well before we could need them. I don't care it's Friday night, you don't need to rush us through our meal. Bring the appetizers first, then the soup & salads and when we are finished with those and done asking for refills, then put in our entree orders. Please keep the table cleared of dirty dishes. When I request you to take a piece of dishware from me, DO IT, I don't care if you don't have a tray to put it on! Food was fine. read more

Great food and our server Sam was excellent. He was personable took good care of our table. *****

This review is dedicated to the sweet bartender chic who take care of us at the bar. Instead of dealing with the wait for a table she just took our food and drink order. And kept us happy. All night. More breadsticks? No problem. Refill? No problem. That's why you come to OG. Good people up in here. read more

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Service isn't the best... called to make a reservation and was rudely told they don't do "reservations" but I've made them in the past here before. Guess I'll be heading to Red Lobster instead. read more

Unimpressed. I understand that this season is hard with short staffing and business, but there needs to be honesty about wait time. We called on our way and got on the list, the wait time was 30mins. We waited 30mins. Then when I asked for an update we were told "probably 25 minutes but I am warning you there is an 8 top ahead of you on the list." We waited with our baby and ended up leaving and going home because he couldn't wait anymore. If they had given us an honest wait time, we wouldn't have come and that is fine. But when we aren't given accurate information and drive all the way with a baby to be told to wait twice the original time, it's extremely inconsiderate. read more

I have to start by explaining my 3 star review. The hostess when we arrived was not accommodating, which is why this is 3 and not 4 stars. We were seated next to another group, literally 1 foot from their chairs, in a booth. I asked to be moved to the next booth, which was open, and she had to check with her supervisor. The supervisor did not allow us to move due to "full reservations" at 8:30ish on a Saturday night. Had they been full, I would have understood, but that booth sat empty our entire stay. The server was a very nice gentleman who took great care of us. He had served us before and remembered us from over 2 years ago! Good on him, wish I could remember his name to give him a shout out! The food was very good, and memorable. For a chain restaurant I was very happy with our food! Hostesses could use a couple courses in customer service! read more

I live nearby and probably visit more than the average customer. I've always had great service and food. They get quite busy on the weekends but you can check-in online, which comes in handy for me. Even when they are at their peak hours, I'm still impressed with how attentive our wait staff always are and how quickly I can get in and out. My go-to dish is the cheese stuffed shells and TIRAMISU, it's my absolute favorite and the best I've ever happened across in a restaurant. read more

Jenna was a great server. She went above and beyond and did everything to meet our dietary needs and make us happy. She made our birthday experience great and our vegan in the family found something to eat easily. We were very happy with our experience. Delicious food and amazing service. read more

Good is not good.soup is good and the bread sticks are great but restrooms are awful service is not great

Food was good But here's the deal Waterloo Olive garden, your server Nick was GREAT. I went out to eat with my in-laws for mother's day this past Sunday. Nick was our server, we where there around 4-5 and packed because mother's day. Nick really impressed my 62 year old mother in law as did everyone else on our table really. He was a sweet heart and I hope he gets some sort of recognition internally for doing a great job during a very crazy busy holiday. As always on my behalf , shout out to the kitchen crew, the underdogs, the un-sung heroes, back there with no natural light coming from the outside world from a busy day like mother's day, food was hot, pretty, and delectable. Good job kitchen team!!! Respect ! read more

Went for lunch on April 19, 2021. Restaurant was clean including the restrooms. Was greeted by friendly staff and ushered to our table quickly. Our server Anthony was fantastic and we were greeted in a professional manner. Food was great.... especially like the serving sizes of the lunch menu. Didn't need to request refills on our drinks.... Anthony was right on it! Because we live out of town we don't get to visit an Olive Garden often but we were extremely pleased with our lunch date. We WILL return! read more

The great thing about this experience was the service. Our server was fabulous and made sure to take exellent care of us. On a side note, this restaurant has a moldy musty odor and is dirty. Not one of the nicest atmospheres for a restaurant with these prices. Our food was tasty and served fairly quickly. So that was a positive as well. I didn't love it but didn't hate it. I doubt I'll go back though. read more

Food is always a hit. Love the refreshing drinks. Great menu items to choose from. Comfy seating and the staff seem pretty nice and quick

So I guess I'm going to go against the trend and give this place a four star. The previous reviews are not stellar at all but my experience I had on Saturday night was fabulous. It was just my husband and I saw only a party of two. We arrived at 4:45 thinking that we would beat the rush but we still had to wait about 15 minutes to be seated. By the time we were seated the entire lobby area was jampacked with people waiting to eat. Our server was awesome. His name was Noah and he definitely had the personality for being a restaurant server. He was super kind made really great suggestions and very personable. He checked in on us several times throughout the evening to make sure that we were doing okay got us extra soup and salad and breadsticks without even having to ask him. He was so wonderful that I overheard the table next to us tell him how great inattentive he was to his service at their table. Once we sat down we were in and out pretty quickly. My husband had the lunch portion size of the fettuccine Alfredo with chicken. I did the pair your own. I got the whole wheat linguine with asiago garlic sauce and shrimp. There were several shrimp on my pasta they were not skimpy at all. It was delicious. I'm sorry that everybody else had mediocre service or food during their visits that they reviewed but I was more than impressed during my visit. What would've made it a five star is if there was more of a friendly greeting when we entered as well as the lady quoted us a 5 to 10 minute wait and it was actually 15 minutes. read more

Olive Garden Italian Restaurant - Lunch size fettaccini Alfredo with chicken. - Italian Near Me - Waterloo, Iowa

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I don't understand the big hype for Olive Garden. It's overpriced. The food seems like it comes in a frozen box, and they microwave it. Everything is so processed. I'd much rather eat at Biaggi's or a local Italian restaurant. The food is meh. I had some stuffed chicken with garlic mashed potatoes. It was fine, but the "stuffed" part is just two chicken breasts on top of each other with some weird cheese in the middle. The mushrooms were questionable and just tasted very earthy. I started picking them off after the first couple bites, and I love mushrooms! The potatoes are fine. They don't have much flavor. My husband had the giant meatball. It's seriously a large ball of unseasoned hamburger. No sausage. No spices. No nothing. He didn't even bother taking what was left home for leftovers. The breadsticks are good. I do love their breadsticks. I usually like the salad, but it was drowning in red onions. Gross. I also remember the day when the salad used to have real Greek olives. Now, you just get two or three regular black olives. Our service was wonderful. It's just a bunch of kids running the place, but they do a good job and run a tight ship. We also were seated immediately when we showed up at dinner time on a Friday night. I've never had to wait here. read more

Experiences are never consistent. Sometimes service is great other times we rarely see the wait staff. Never had an issue with the food or orsers being wrong through read more

We have eaten here a couple times in the Last few months , great waitress, food was hot when it reached our table! Busy but not overly loud. read more

I used to work as a waitress at the Olive Garden in CR & IC when I was in college so naturally I am more patient with food service BUT The Waterloo Olive Garden is awful....it is dirty all around, especially the bathrooms.. we went to the bathroom to wash our hands but left the bathroom feeling dirtier. & then after sitting back down 10 + minutes had passed without us being greeted by our server so I had to go up to the hosts... the food took forever (my son got a kids pizza, grapes and the smoothie) & I just got soup & salad.... I also got super sick after getting home and for that reason I will never go back. read more

I used to love bringing our family to Olive Garden, but the last few times the food has been plain and tasteless. I'm disappointed, and will hold off on visiting for a few years in order for them to rediscover flavor. read more

Food was standard Olive Garden fare, though a little under the quality that I'm accustomed to. Service was horrible. Shortly after we were seated, three more tables were seated in our immediate vicinity, all couples (like us). All three got their orders in and salads/breadsticks/soups before we were able to get our drink order in. The night continued in that vein -- slow refills, slow ticket, etc. read more

My date and I got here having called ahead and had reservations. I was thrilled that we did this because the wait was 45 minutes if you were just walking in. We got seated down promptly. The restaurant was packed, and it was so loud to the point that I got a headache. We were waiting for another friend to come so the waiter kept coming back. I felt bad that they seated us when our whole party was not there yet. We ordered, I got "Tour of Italy" which came with fettuccini Alfredo, spaghetti, and some sort of chicken. It also came with soup or salad. We got our soup/salad and breadsticks. I was impressed that the breadsticks were not because last time I was here they were not. We then were told that our entrees would be an additional 25 minutes due to the kitchen being short staffed. They said that the average wait was 7, so that is a big step down. I was unimpressed because I had places to be after dinner. We finally got our food. The fettuccini Alfredo in my entree was terrible, with hardly any Alfredo. My friend got just the entree of that, and constantly complained about the quality of it being dry and overdone. She proceeded to complain and we in turn got her meal free, a discount on mine, and we both got free deserts and they made our pops free. I really appreciated this, but I also kind of expect that if someone complains. I would not have complained because my spaghetti was good, but hey, at least I didn't have to pay a lot! I would maybe stay clear of this place because the last couple times I've been here the food quality has been hit or miss! Use to be one of my favorite places. A shame. read more

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Went here the other day had great service and food was as usual Olive Gardens. The food came out hot and wasn't just sitting under a heat lamp for ever like you get sometimes. The best part of the night was when we got our check and had 6 mints instead of 3! It's the simple things at Olive Garden that can make it great! read more

Went with my boyfriend tonight and got the never ending pasta bowl. Our server wasn't great, never offering conversation and don't check in as often as most, but our needs were attended to. The food was standard, nothing to write home about because let's be honest--there's an Olive Garden at home with friendlier wait staff that has the same menu. Not impressed, but the boyfriend loves carbs and its close to our apartment so I'm sure we will be back. read more

Im writing this review while sitting at the bar waiting now for.. 20 minutes past the time I was told to come pick up a to go order that I called 30 minutes in advance for in the first place. This place is ass. There sub par fake Italian food is on par with chef boy-r-dee . They were quite happy to take my 30 dollars for a meal consisting of only appetizers and yet since then no ones said a word. No status. No free drinks. Just desolate isolation here at the olive lard-en bar. Still not getting my simple meal. Thanks a ton! This place is f'N AWFUL. BRING FAZOLIS BACK PLEASE DEAR GOD. Edit: after another ten minutes someone finally came out with my food only to set it down and answer a phone befoee giving it to me. Just took my food and left after the 40+ minute wait. Eat garbafe olive garden, I know im about to. read more

My family are big OG fans and we're excited to burn some gift cards for dinner. The wait was reasonable for later on a Saturday. We had time to grab a drink and the service was good. Our waitress was very nice and took good care of us. We ordered calamari, entrees, salads and soups. Salad was good as usual and the breadsticks were fresh, not hard like they can be sometimes. The calamari was really good but could use a tastier sauce. Soups were good, the Zuppa Toscana and the chicken gnocchi. The entrees were NOT good at all. My husband and I ordered the steak Gorgonzola. The sauce and pasta tasted odd, not like usual. The steak pieces were disgusting, sort of like over-tenderized. The texture was weird, so much that I didn't eat any of it, and I'm usually not that picky. My son had the lasagna and it just wasn't good. Other Alfredo entrees were simple and passing. I noted that the pasta portions were smaller than usual. I normally can't get close to finishing this entree. I was extremely disappointed as the steak Gorgonzola is one of my favorites. I'm afraid to try it again at another OG. I expected real meat for a $17 entree. I don't know if the issue is just with this particular location or if the cost-cutting by Darden is resulting in this experience. read more

I usually have good food and good service! Can't find a more reasonable lunch and they now have some great drink specials. They've redecorated and it's very nice. read more

Don't ever order the curbside delivery they told us to get here at a certain time and we've been waiting for 45 minutes this is ridiculous!!! read more

Just your typical Olive Garden. Breadsticks are always amazing. Chicken Gnocci Soup is good as well. I had the shrimp alfredo, but I wish they grilled the shrimp cause it tasted like they were either boiled or reheated in a microwave. read more

Fix your waitlist funtinalty. Put my name on there at 5:30pm with 1+ hour wait time. I show up at 7:30pm and the hostess tells me 30-40min. Are you F-ing serious? Not sure what the system is for prioritizing customers but it's definitely not this. read more