The cheesy music is on loop. If we hear “That’s Amore” one more time we may lose our shit. The first time we learned wine names was because the seating sections are named after wines, i.e. “Table 43 is free in ‘pinot noir.’” The wine bottles for decoration around the restaurant make for an excellent steal at the end of a long shift. The best part of the job is unlimited breadsticks all shift. We also get to sneak Andes mints from the host/hostess podium. Like most jobs, a lot of how enjoyable your life there depends on your manager. Around dinner time the lobby is almost always completely packed with cranky, hungry people who have been waiting for over an hour to be seated (yay fun!?) The dessert fridge is what’s up. Sneaking squirts of whipped cream into your mouth is a good way to get through the day. We stink of Italian food at the end of our shifts. To work at Olive Garden you get unlimited breadsticks but need unlimited patience for guests.

It’s fun to flirt with the other waiters — we look pretty slick in our all-black uniforms. When we say a “45-minute wait,” that means we have literally no idea how long it will be because WE’RE NOT PSYCHIC. No, you won’t get seated faster if you try to give us five dollars. No, we won’t take your five dollars. Olive Garden is BUSY so we’re basically Olympians at serving. They don’t allow their servers to have lip rings. (I know this because I got fired over mine.) We know how to make everyone feel like family! Olive Garden sales soar with simple restaurant fix Olive Garden’s Never Ending Pasta Pass may have sparked a viral trend but business at the Italian chain is booming thanks to a few simple changes. After years of declining sales, the Orlando, Fla.-based pasta chain just posted its best quarterly sales performance in recent months, with same-store sales rising 6.8 percent last quarter, reports Nation's Restaurant News.

The chain had attributed its sales slump to an overall decline in spending on casual dining. But the company also admitted to slow service and internal disagreements about its superfluous unlimited breadsticks policy. But the past two years have brought significant changes to chain,  says Olive Garden CEO Gene Lee. “We’re just running better restaurants today,” Lee said during the company’s earnings call Tuesday. “I don’t think we should discount the importance of ensuring we’re properly staffed, our teams are properly motivated, simplifying the operation, reducing the size of the menu, processes and procedures.” In addition to better staffing practices, the company has refocused on bringing in to-go customers. According to company executives, to-go orders have grown more than 40 percent in the past two years, now accounting for 10.5 percent of the chain’s total sales nationwide. Olive Garden also added large-order delivery to its restaurants to ramp up its catering business.

“We benefit significantly at Olive Garden because food travels so well, especially when we put it in bulk containers,” said Lee. As fast food chains have rolled out deeply discounted menu deals, Olive Garden has followed suit with “everyday value” lunches and dinners priced between $6.99 and $9.99. best wine gifts ukThe company says its trying to remain competitive in the increasingly crowded fast casual market.names of wines that are sweet Despite the viral success of the Never Ending Pasta Pass, Olive Garden execs say the key to the chain’s survival lies in keeping it simple, not playing around with gimmicks.best big bottle of wine “One of the things we’re focused on now is trying to keep things simple,” Lee said. best french wine list nyc

“Doing simple things every day is really hard. That’s what’s given us the biggest lift at Olive Garden. We’re not relying on promotional activity to drive business.”Olive Garden Italian Restaurants Employee Reviews about "3 table sections" Show All Reviews > 66 Employee Reviews Popular Rating Date Apr 26, 2017 I have been working at Olive Garden Italian Restaurants full-time (Less than a year) Pros Professional atmosphere. red wine case for iphone 5Good job with 0 experience Cons Soup and salad sucks. best type of wine for seafoodDecent tips but not enough volume. buy wine free shippingMar 30, 2017 I worked at Olive Garden Italian Restaurants full-time Pros Great people i worked with Cons Everything is unlimited and guests are fat. buy wine kits

Only allowed 3 tables and split parties of 8 or more with another server. Ridiculous promos like buy one take one brings out the worst people. Darden sucks as a company. Advice to Management Come up with a better stadegy to help your employees instead of punishung them for everything. fine wine gift boxMar 29, 2017 I worked at Olive Garden Italian Restaurants (More than a year) Pros Awesome managers, team, and overall environmentTough to be the pay of a server considering the time commitment Cons 3 table sections make it more difficult to earn money, but it is a more demanding situation than most restaurants Advice to Management Keep on making the work environment enjoyable! The community relies on everyone sharing – Add Anonymous Review Mar 7, 2017 I worked at Olive Garden Italian Restaurants (More than a year) Pros Good/clean environment, good management (at least in the Grandville location), great deals and employee discounts, co-workers were great, and the education standards were awesome.

Managers let you sample all food/drinks. It made me believe more in the products I'm selling. Cons Cheap menu items, bad clientele/awful regulars, corporate interests means unnecessary comps = low tips. Also those ziosks SUCK. You only get 3 table sections, so the specific tables are important. Anonymous surveys and ability to sell more than baseline promotions and meals determine sections and hours. Advice to Management You'll keep better guests and company if you do better promotions and stop the unnecessary comps. Feb 28, 2017 I worked at Olive Garden Italian Restaurants part-time (More than 3 years) Pros Low tip out for servers; Easy menu to memorize. ok -- but not very educated. Cons Max 3-table sections. Split parties of 7 or more... not fancy at all. Present bottle of wine to every table.. even when it's too busy. Nobody ever buys wine after a sample.. wine drinkers already want to order before the sample.. the samples just encourage cheap customers to get free wine. Advice to Management On many occasions servers are forced to continue working off the clock to avoid pay penalties.

Feb 13, 2017 I have been working at Olive Garden Italian Restaurants part-time Pros Fair pay, flexible hours, friendly environment. Cons Refills, Refills, Refills.. and only 3 tables at a time. Feb 8, 2017 I have been working at Olive Garden Italian Restaurants full-time Pros I worked during the summer time so it was quite busy. It is easy to get people to cover shifts and is easy to pick up shifts. Was pretty good money. Minimum side work required Cons There was a 3 table limit on how many tables you may have as a server. Feb 6, 2017 I worked at Olive Garden Italian Restaurants part-time (More than 3 years) Pros Good job to get fast if you need a holdover, easy scheduling on ishift Cons Low income clientele led to low tips, lack of room to advance, only 3 tables at a time Advice to Management Do not tolerate dictator style management, it reduces employee morale and overall drive. Focus on improving the business, and a common goal. Michael did a great job with this though I must say, he always came off as pro employee.

Feb 1, 2017 Helpful (1) I worked at Olive Garden Italian Restaurants part-time Pros People think of Olive Garden as almost fine dining so it looks good on a resume if you're trying to get hired at a restaurant that's actually nice. Cons Hell on earth. People think OG is fine dining but act like its a sports bar. Also the days when all people order is soup and salad leave your head spining cause its refill after refill and you get it all. Silly regulations limit how much you're supposed to put in the bowls and ends up slowing down the whole process. Also as with all Darden companies at the time, you're only ever allowed to wait 3 tables at a time. Considering the soup and salad that's about all you can handle during those hellish lunch times but definitely caps your income during evenings/weekends. Jan 11, 2017 I worked at Olive Garden Italian Restaurants part-time (More than a year) Pros Training is very extensive because it's an entire week. Cons Can only take 3 tables at a time and do EVERYTHING for them.