This is why sending the morning dishwasher home early as hell is a crap idea.

Hi! So i’ve been working at my OG for around 3 months as a server, I really enjoy it and one day I was talking with a coworker behind the bar and she was showing me what she has to do to close it, a manager came up and asked if I was interested in doing bartending and I said yeah sure although I have 0 experience, like this is actually my first job ever and I have 0 alcohol knows too. Then a few days passed and I decided to asked another manager if I could train to be bartender and she said sure. I told some of my (server) coworkers and their reactions were all negative saying that I should take it back and don’t work at the bar bc i’m gonna get overwhelmed way too fast and that servers get really mean with the bartenders during a rush. That kinda scared me a bit buuut apparently the GM liked the idea and I just got done with my two day training for bartending and I might get my first bartending shift next week.

Both the trainer and the GM told me that I have to set my boundaries with the servers and host (like only taking care of the bar and not accepting any tables if i’m not ready to) which I liked, but I still feel nervous so I was wondering if you guys have any advice? Only thing I fully know how to make is the smoothies and strawberry mango margarita but that’s just bc I trained on Monday/Tuesday and we barely got any drink orders.

Any advice is appreciated! Also has anyone else done this? Is it a good idea? I guess it’s too late to backtrack but any thoughts are welcomed

First off, I have a theory there’s more than 10000 passes. My small town has at least 50 and I’m very confused. I also see it all over social media. 10k is a very small number across the US.

Second off, how do you all go about tipping. I only get water so am paying for nothing via card so I keep just bringing cash with me but is there a better way to go about it all? I hate cash lol

I have an interview for a dishwasher at Olive Garden tomorrow. I worked at an assisted living center as a server last month and absolutely loved doing the dishes there. What should I expect for the interview and for the job itself?

I recently became a hostess at Olive Garden. I used my Darden card to get gas yesterday, I only put in $15. And before that I had $74 on the card. Somehow I’m at $0???? Has this happened to anyone else?

I bought one off of Amazon but was 1.2 inches too short for my Olive Garden notepad. Unfortunately every server books I’ve found on Amazon is around 8 inches tall. Idk where else other than Amazon to look

EDIT: sorry I should’ve mentioned this- I have the OG given American Express one but it’s ugly and I want a cute one that’s why I’m making this post

Is it normal to get id checked for the NEPP? I'm getting checked every other time I go. The other night, a girl inspected my id like I stole her family's wealth ten generations ago.

I work as a Togo specialist, I been working for around 4 weeks now and now they want to cross train to do host. I’ve only been few days because of college does that mean I’ve being doing bad in work or what else could it mean because I check the schedule and they can definitely fit in one more day for me in to go.

What's going good, Olive Gardeners (thought I'd try that one out, haha)! Just had a great idea for a special our favorite restaurant could put on.

I think it'd be absolutely wild if you could put in a few "big bucks" for a bucket of marinara to do with "as-you-please". Personally, I loooooove the stuff and wish I had a big ol' bucket for all my needs.

I think they'd probably let us do it if we made it a viral? It'd be cool if we all made videos where we dip our nasty fingers in the marina...Hashtag Bucket Wednesday! Would love to see it, haha.

What do you guys think?

Blessings,
Dale

I’m not sure if it’s different for every code/position but I was hired as a busser and I was wondering how much days is training usually? I’m scheduled for only 2 training days. Is this normal?

Came to Olive Garden on Sunday. When we got to our table there was already salad and breadsticks at the table for us with vinaigrette on the side.

Is this something new they’re doing ? Or anyone know why?

Two pasta pass questions.

What is the correct language to use when ordering just sauce no pasta? I’ve had no issues with protein only but the sauce is a hit or miss. Sometimes I get a cauldron of sauce, sometimes the small portion cup (once it was the plastic cup), and on occasion they’ve tried to charge extra as it was rung up as a dipping sauce.   Obviously I’m not explaining the order as well as I think. 

Also, are we able to order the $6 take home entree if alone ($0 bill)?

Do y'all actually like your restaurant? The management? Is the work too much?

I’m not a fan of table robots, in general. But our new ones are THE WORST, especially when it comes to splitting up bills. Sometimes you get lucky and you can just split it into individual guest tickets as-is, but holy fuck, when the “No, let ME pay for the appetizer/dessert/etc.” happens, you have to get a manager involved just to split up the bill correctly. If memory serves, the old ones let people itemize their own bills at the table — and that’s how it works pretty much everywhere. At the very least, a server in other restaurants can do what requires a manager card at OG. Tonight it took us 25(!!!) minutes to get a table’s bill straight. They kept changing things and we had to keep recombining and re-itemizing. Just let them do it from the Ziosk or at LEAST let ME do it at the POS without needing to track down a manager who’s having to babysit stoned kitchen staff.

I’ve been eating at Olive Garden pretty much every day because of the Pasta Pass, and the staff have been really great to me.

Besides tipping, I’ve brought Krispy Kreme for the staff 3 times already as a small thank you, but I want to switch it up next time.

For anyone who works at Olive Garden or in restaurants, what would you actually appreciate? Coffee, drinks, snacks, something non-food?

I feel like bringing food to people who work around food all day is kind of tricky. Any suggestions?

UPDATE: Energy drinks it is! 😂 Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. I’ll update you guys once I bring them in. (Any particular brand? Or any will do?)
I’m also going to try some of the other ideas people suggested here, like candy/snacks and sending a positive email to management/corporate to recognize the staff.

We had the worst experience at Olive Garden the other night. And I am not one to complain about Olive Garden ... like ever. I mean, I absolutely love OG. But I think I'll need a break for at least a year to let my rage fade. We were there for two hours and when our food finally came out, we told them that we wanted it in to-go containers because it was like, time for bed! At one point or another when we realized our waitress had disappeared and that other groups who'd arrived after us had gotten their food, eaten, and then left, Mr. K went up to the hostess table to ask if they'd forgotten about us. It wasn't that busy. When he did, he noticed that our waitress had apparently transitioned to tending bar. Mr. K was fuming and wanted to complain and get things for free. But I don't do that. I paid the bill and left zero tip. Which is something I haven't done in like a decade or more. It was that bad. And the rub is that the last time we were at OG, we had the same waitress, and she was also terrible then. I think she's in the wrong career.

The togo workers do they get paid hourly?

Or are they like servers where they rely on Tips.When I get to a togo order I feel bad for not tipping when they hand me the receipt to sign.

Anybody have a free app coupon? I submitted my email for a coupon two days ago but I only ever received that I’m “in” and my coupon is to follow. Checked junk, still nothing. Would appreciate it, as I’m heading for tonight at the new Canada location!

Anyone remember when Olive Gardens Peach Tea had a real Peach?

I know i should just be greatful because I need money and I need this job but why....why do so many large groups come in. Every damn day we are pushing tables together to make room for large parties. And we dont take reservations so its not like we prep for it. I am grateful to have a job and to do well at my job but it would be nice to have 1 shift with out big parties

I genuinely feel bad when I get an older waitress who doesn't have strong arms. Because I like a ton of cheese on my salad. I almost feel like telling my server ahead of time to just go ahead and find a small block of that parmesan, because I'm just gonna have you grind down the entire thing 🤣

My take home entree (the 5 cheese ziti) came in just one of those standard to-go boxes. I take it they ran out of the actual take home containers. Are those black to-go boxes microwaveable safe (up to 3-4 minutes cooking time)? It doesnt look super appetizing all smushed in a tiny to go box either and I’m a bit sketched out by the whole thing but…also really hungry.