Restaurant Review: Olive Garden in Lynchburg, VA

I went to Olive Garden for the first time almost two years ago with a friend of mine. Now that I have eaten there twice, I can honestly say that I wasn't missing out on much by waiting so long to go. Both times that I have eaten at Olive Garden, my friend and I ordered the same thing as the previous visit. He ordered the tour of Italy and I ordered the Mediterranean shrimp scampi.

At Olive Garden, the table's salad comes in one bowl with tongs for you to serve yourself. I really hate how they do this. It means that everyone has to order the same salad dressing. The second time I ate there, I asked the waitress if we could have separate salads. She actually said no. I was tempted to tell her that if I was sitting at a table alone then I could have had whatever I wanted. But since my friend doesn't like to complain, I held my tongue. When she brought the salad, it was worse than I remembered from my previous trip to Olive Garden.

One of the nice parts of eating at a restaurant is that the salad is usually so much better than a salad you'd make yourself at home. However, their salad is the most pathetic salad I've ever seen. For two people, it's basically a giant bowl of lettuce, two tiny slices off a roma tomato, and two black olives. Who only eats one tiny slice of a roma tomato in their salad? That's just ridiculous considering what it costs to eat at Olive Garden. Since my friend doesn't eat raw tomatoes, I didn't say anything. But, I did complain about not having enough olives. She brought us a little bowl of black olives after we finished eating the salad--too little, too late.

I also hate places that act like if you ask for more bread that you must be slipping it into your pocketbook. If a place advertises that you can have all the bread you want, then I want more than one breadstick. It's that simple.

Our entrees were as delicious as they were the first time that we ate there. Usually, my friend doesn't eat all of his food, but he ate all of his tour of Italy. He highly recommends it. It is three dishes that you get on one plate: lasagna, chicken parmesan, and fettuccine alfredo. It's a great deal at only $14.50 + tax.

The Mediterranean shrimp scampi that I ordered is butterfly shrimp with cherry tomatoes and black olives served over linguine. It's in a garlicky sauce combined with butter. It's the kind of sauce that flavors what you are eating, but you may want to eat around it. At $14.75 + plus, it's a decent price, but I can make this dish myself at home. To see Olive Garden's full menu and prices, please see their website.

My friend said that the tiramisu he ordered for dessert was the best dessert that he had ever had. He highly recommends it. I didn't taste it, but I'm sure my homemade recipe for tiramisu is better.

I ordered the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. It was good and I recommend it. But no cheesecake can compare with my favorite, which is Outback's cheesecake.

One of the most annoying things about my second visit to Olive Garden was how they had someone going around with a bottle of wine offering a free glass to the customers. The idea was obviously to get the customers to order alcoholic drinks. Does Olive Garden need sales that badly? I've never been in a nice restaurant that went around offering samples. It seemed tacky for the nice restaurant that Olive Garden tries to be. Since the food is good, I recommend this restaurant. But if you're eating with other people, try to make Olive Garden give you your own salad with your own salad dressing. It's only fair since you're paying for it.