"I was here, the Christiansburg Olive Garden, last Wednesday, April 10, 2024. To the shock of everyone I was with, this was my first time at Olive Garden. I had tried going to a different Olive Garden a few times back home, but it was always too busy. I had heard a variety of reviews and was super excited. I know a lot of people love Olive Garden. I was with a larger group, and our server was great. He was attentive and very nice. I appreciate him!First things first, those breadsticks were incredible. I have heard of the legend of these breadsticks, and boy they did not disappoint. They were buttery and salty, which almost reminded me of a soft pretzel, but in the best way possible. Unlike a pretzel, they were also garlicky, which was exactly what I was craving. I absolutely love that you get refills, and I am glad that we got a refill. If I didn’t know I had dinner on the way, I could have solely eaten those breadsticks.With your entree, you can get either a soup or a salad. I chose salad, as well as almost everyone else at my table. We got a big bowl of salad brought to our table with our breadsticks. I am not sure what I was expecting, probably a sad house salad. Just some lettuce with a sad, small variety of toppings. This salad was different, even though technically a house salad. It was loaded with toppings. It had croutons, red onions, carrots, peppers, olives, and most importantly tomatoes. It has a nice Italian dressing and parmesan cheese, however we chose not to get the parmesan cheese on top, but I was not missing it. I am not a huge salad person, but I would definitely eat this one again.For my entree I got chicken alfredo. I love pasta and I prefer alfredo over marinara, so I thought it would be perfect. Unfortunately I was wrong. It started out okay. The alfredo was creamy and stuck well to the fettuccine. It was heavy, as most alfredo is, and was the perfect opportunity for leftovers. There was a lot of chicken in a ratio to the pasta which is usually a good thing, but not today. The chicken was very underwhelming. And worst of all, one of my pieces of chicken was slightly pink in the middle, a sight you never want to see when eating chicken. It is quite off putting, and it made me lose my appetite. When I got to the restaurant, I was trying to decide between the fettuccine alfredo or the chicken alfredo and I definitely made the incorrect choice. Luckily, I did not get sick. I did not eat the pink chicken, or any of the other chicken off of my plate after that, which was a bummer but also made sense. I could have probably sent the plate back or notified our waiter, but I decided to just eat the pasta, and maybe another breadstick. Usually, I would love getting a portion the size of this one. It ensures I will have a good lunch the next day, maybe even two. Unfortunately, I just did not want to risk it, and I was grossed out so my leftovers went into the trash.I am not writing off Olive Garden entirely. I do believe in second chances. I did not get sick and I enjoyed parts of my meal. I think next time I will stick to some vegetarian options though. At the price point, I can not justify wasting another meal because of some undercooked chicken."
