Rant. People, please don’t dine and dash wherever you go to eat. Just got off my shift and had my second walkout this month. Management told me it’s my second warning and will be my final next time it happens again. Will probably get moved to food runner is what she says.

I had two parties going on so I was running back and forth trying to stay on top of refills. Yes, I did check on the walk out table too. I was surprised they left already when I came back out so I bussed the table…only to find they left without paying. ): It was only a $40 tab and they couldn’t pay it. If you can’t pay then don’t come out to eat. If for some reason you lovely couple are read this, I hope you sleep on the hot side of the bed all your life and that the food gives you diarrhea!

So people, please don’t dine and dash. Your servers will receive the consequences. How the hell are we supposed to make sure people actually pay when we are busy running refills? /:

I've tried to become a manager at OG but it always seems like this unattainable goal where they tell you all sorts of stuff. I've been told that I need to be committed to it (as in they want people to work that position as a career), I have to be transferred to another store not of my own choice, and I have to become an SP first, which they don't seem to want to give me unless they are sure I want to be a manager. I wanted to become a manager to work a good paying full time job while in college, and because I'm very familiar with the company. I'd consider myself a good leader and having the personality it takes to do the job, but everywhere I've worked the management has always dragged their feet to start my SP training for some reason. Is this just a me problem or does OG just have a dysfunctional process for getting new managers?

I'd also like to know how you guys got in. What was your process leading up to management? Thoughts on the job? Any tips? Thanks in advance!

Be very leary when your manager wants to train you on deliveries. Because you ain't getting out of it!!

Been with the company for about 3 years and I've seen a couple of dishes come and go, and with the revival of the stuffed chicken marsala and steak gorgonzola (i forget how that's spelled and honestly don't feel like looking it up rn), it has me thinking; just how much has this menu changed in the last 10 years? 15? 20? I'm only 22 and vaguely remember coming to OG as a kid so not many memories of food there (besides dolcinis, RIP), but I've heard we had a lot more and a lot better meals and deserts back then.

Out of curiosity, anyone know the reason for this? I'm assuming the answer to this may be due to cost or efficiency, but I'm not sure. I've seen single-shop diners and other restaurant chains whose menus are 6 times the size of OG and they seem to be doing great. The small menu makes it easier on servers and line cooks to memorize, but after about 6 months or so you get tired of working around the same food day after day after day.

What were some of the dishes you guys remember getting deleted? Any favorites?

Edit: Dang you guys are listing off some truly amazing sounding meals. What a shame. I knew Olive Garden had gotten rid of some meals but on this scale I had no clue! RIP old Olive Garden menu items.

I posted a shift to be swapped. someone made an offer, and i accepted it. then, it was awaiting manager approval. but today, the whole swap seems to have disappeared, and i have my original shift again, and i had to repost it for a swap. i never got a notification that the swap was denied or anything. did a manager deny it, or did the other person remove their offer??

edit: im trying to decide if i should message the person who made the offer to see if they still wanna do it, or if i should resend my “hey yall posted a swap for ____!” message (everyone at my location sends group messages for swaps/pickups they rly want that they post)

Single mom here and I see alot of posts of people who work as servers at OG. I’m looking for a side hustle for nights and weekends. Do you make good tips at all?

Does anyone remember this drink?? The only people I’ve seen talk about it are my own family & I’ve been dying to try and remake this drink on my own!!

I remember it was a chocolate sort of drink with a sweet cracker or type of bread on it?? It sort of tasted like a milkshake, but its been so long the taste is escaping my memory. This drink also had an alcoholic and non-alcoholic version. I think I last got this drink around 2010 or so & have been lost ever since.

If anyone has any information please let me know!! I’m desperate lol.

Hello! I’m a server at Og and I’ll be working on a Black Friday for the first time. So I was wondering if Black Fridays were typically busy? Especially on nights, thank you!

Went to Olive Garden last week, and to my surprise, there was a giant dark bird feather in my salad.. literally the length of an iPhone.. weird especially because the majority of their food comes in bags.. anybody experienced this before?

I got hired a few days ago to serve at OG, but no prior restaurant experience. Wondering how long it took you to get comfortable with the job? Is it hard to pick up?

How long does it take to schedule the second interview at OG? I had my first interview last Monday, and the manager told me they would definitely call me for a second interview, but it’s been a week, and I haven’t received any message from Olivia or any email with updates. Should I call the restaurant, or does this process usually take some time?

Hi I recently started serving at olive garden and yesterday they told me I need to get on a website to get some alcohol license and that it costs around $8-10 and theyll reimburse me but I forgot the website. Does anyone know what website or should I just call the store? I live in Illinois if that help

say you’re serving a two top. Guest one orders soup and salad as their meal, and Guest two orders an entrée with their choice of soup or salad. How would you ask Guest one about the timing of their soup and salad- whether they’d like them together or one before the other?

What’s your approach to balancing this?

I was wondering how do I know if I got the second interview. I just came back from the first interview a couple hours ago and the person that was interviewing me said he will look over all the candidates at the end of the week. But a couple of minutes ago I got a message from Olivia saying they would like to set up a in person interview. Does this mean I got the second interview or was it a mistake.

for some context i work at olive garden, at my location there is not a single camera on the entire premises, my habit every single day when i get there is to set down my phone and my apron on the computer stand and go put my purse in the linen closet (that’s where everyone puts their belongings) i have severe food allergies and athsma, so i keep my purse around me at all times because it has my life saving medicines in it, i have no enemies at work (as far as i know) sunday night i was closing togo, got done around 11:00 now its just me the manager and one dishwasher, because we have no cameras there has to be at least 3 people in the restaurant at all times, i was getting ready to leave with my manager and this dishwasher as i went to get my purse, it was gone, missing. we searched for 20 minutes the entire restaurant. as i called my fiance to come get me because my purse also had my car keys in it. he came and got me as i took my defeat that even in my mangers words, “someone had to have stolen it” keep in mind this linen closet is in the kitchen, there is no costumer use of this closet, so it had to have been a coworker, this was a sunday night and we’re a very busy store, so that night there was at LEAST 50+ people working, i went back monday morning before open to search one more time and accepted defeat once again, i went home and locked and ordered all new cards and made a police report because my cards, my keys, my apple watch,and my meds were all in it, they very well could’ve stolen my car as well if they wanted to. i get a call monday night at 10pm from my manager, THEY FOUND IT! thank god. it has EVERYTHING still in it including all my valuables and cash (ab 50 dollars in cash) but where did they find it you may ask? the men’s bathroom trash. on the bottom of the trash bag. now. this tells me this was personal, this person didn’t want to take my money or gain anything out of this. they just wanted to make my life hell for a little while, imagine if we didn’t find it, it would’ve just been put into the trash with no way of ever getting it back, this purse has my life in it, every ounce of my being, replacing everything in it would be well over 600 dollars especially since i was never given a backup key when i bought my car, my car is a push to start, very expensive to get a replacement. i still am replacing my cards in fear that they may have taken pictures of em or something like that. either way. this was personal, and i have no idea who it was, i will be keeping my purse in my car from now on and my keys will go into the office. i need to figure out who this was, and i have no idea where to start, because as far as i know, i have no problems with anyone there. i want them to be held accountable. but my managers don’t seem to want to try and investigate this. what should i do?

Can absolutely confirm that after a meeting a few days back that the stuffed chicken Marsala with mash potatoes and the steak gorgonzola Alfredo are making a comeback, can’t say when exactly in all locations but the prayers are heard

I’m attempting to swap shifts with a coworker for this week but it doesn’t give me any options on how to approve the swap. Maybe I’m just dumb lol, can anyone give me some information on how to approve the swap offer?

Why is the chicken and shrimp carbonara cheaper than the shrimp carbonara??? I’m SO confused 🙏🙏 there’s no difference in the description other than chicken.

How to make a bank account without a guardian when you are under 18??

Just a rant- I landed my first serving job at OG recently and wasn't prepared for how much stuff I had to buy lol, from my own uniforms, non slip shoes, all 3 of my health cards, etc, I've spent around $200. I thought servers make bankkk but I started training this week and my trainer said the most she's ever made is $197 in one shift, which isn't bad but isn't incredibly good. She said the tips range from $50-$100 per shift usually which is not as much as I was expecting, but then again my location usually cuts people after 3-4 hours. Is this normal for all Olive Garden locations? Are other places better for serving? So far my training has been very thorough and lenient so I feel good about OG being my first serving experience, I'm just not sure I'll last long here with only bringing home $50 a night in tips😖

How would I minimize the cost of the following order? It seems very server dependent.

My teen likes the rigatoni with butter sauce but doesn't eat salad. I just want salad with a side of grilled chicken. Half the time a server will just charge me for the side and half the time I get charged for a salad and chicken. Is there any way to increase my odds?

Thanks!

Exchange or sale of pins

Let’s say there’s two people and both order an entree. One chose unlimited soup with the entree while the other person chooses salad. Is eating from the other person’s salad allowed?

I work 8-5 full time but I need more cash. Is this something I can apply for with 3-4 hours nightly availability + weekends or should I not waste anyone's time?

Thanks!

Every time we go to OG my husband brings up this dessert. He says at one point they had an Andes mint pie. Does anyone remember this? Or have a picture of it? I’d like to recreate it but I have no idea what it’s supposed to look like and have not been able to find any reference to it online anywhere. Thanks!

The Olive Garden I work at has recently implemented a new rule that we have to split our tables if the party is 8 or more people. Before this we would take anything up to a 20 top by ourselfs so this is a huge change for our store. Is anyone else going through this?

Hello, I recently started serving at Olive Garden, I've been here for a month if not less, and today two managers asked me if I wanted to be trained in to go specialist. I said I was okay with it, but I lowkey feel like it's because I might be a bad server. I still don't really know if my numbers are numbers are good, like alcohol, addons, and appetizers wise, but I have really high ziosk scores. I also got written up my second day out of training because 3 tables complained about me. Long story short, do yall think it might be because I'm a shit server, or because they're desperate for to-go specialists?

Why is it so bland ?

Hi guys! So i’m not sure what I should do. I’ve been working at OG for about two and a half months now. I love working there (i’m a host), about half of the staff is decent, but the hours are TERRIBLE.

When i first got interviewed, I told them 3-4 days a week, and only lunch shifts (10-4), absolutely no dinner shifts as I have other obligations. The hiring manager told me this was awesome as they were in need of lunch openers. At first, they started putting me on for 6 days a week (Tuesday-Sunday) and ALL dinner shifts. I told them this was not going to work, as I had mentioned when I got hired. My manager told apologized and said It would take 2 weeks for this schedule to change. After the 2 weeks, I was starting to get put on for 3 days, all lunch shifts which was perfect, and then after about 2 weeks, i noticed a change in my schedule. I was getting scheduled a 1pm to 4pm shift once a week, and as everybody knows, 3 hours a week isn’t enough to pay for basically anything. i’ve been getting put on for 3 hours a week even after reaching out to my manager.

My question is, is this their way of trying to let me go easily? I already have an interview for another job in a week but this is just ridiculous.

I need to file an anonymous report about something that happened at work. Does anyone know a good way to do this? I know there is a website but I don’t know what it is