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Olive Garden
Category: Restaurants Italian Italian
11171 183rd StCerritos, CA 90703
(562) 860-8855
$12.95 for 3 Course Italian Dinner
Treat your family to a delicious night out with our
New! 3 Course Italian Dinner for just $12.95!
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 11 am - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 11 am - 11 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
Big fat foodie S. said: "Went to Aliotta's Via Firenze with my folks and wife to celebrate our move into the area. We found them on yelp. We were surprised by the location (in a strip center behind a KFC, but our concerns quickly vanished once we entered.…" read more »
84 reviews for Olive Garden
Review Highlights
"Of course the Zuppa Toscana soup is my favorite, yum."
(in 3 reviews)
"Love the bread sticks, don't care what anyone says, give me..."
(in 13 reviews)
"It's simple, always fresh, good dressing."
(in 3 reviews)
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84 reviews in English
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Review from Jennifer R.
Los Angeles, CA
1/6/2012
Boy o' boy it gets super crowded here! In the evening time on a weekend, it can be a very long wait. This is the Olive Garden that I usually come to but if the wait is longer than 30 minutes - I leave.
I love the stuffed mushrooms here and the sea food Alfredo is good but my new go to is the never ending pasta bowl. Its all I need. I can eat stuffed mushrooms, delicious salad and bread and get full. I'm taking a full bowl of pasta home! Whoo! -
Review from Chanelle B.
Los Angeles, CA
i like this olive garden, its located across the cerritos mall. the service is good, very friendly servers, and the good is ok depending on what u order. i recomend the chicken and gonchi soup (if you prefer creamy soup)
i recomend the PINK MASCADO (dessert wine) yumers! it taste like candy -
Review from Cici T.
1/3/2012
I don't think it matters what I say because crowds will still flock to Olive Garden. Families will congregate for their get togethers, parents will hold their children's birthday parties there, high school couples will go on their first (or subsequent) dates, and waits will still be 30 minutes on Tuesday nights.
But I'll say it anyway. The pasta is MUSHY. MOOshey. Do Americanized Italian restaurants not do their pasta al dente? Bring your leftovers home, and when you nuke it the next day, you'll find that your pasta has disintegrated.
Ok but to their credit, the salad was rather fresh.Listed in: C is for Cerritos.
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Review from Joseph V.
Los Angeles, CA
1/28/2012
The food is good. I love the salad and the breadsticks. But the problem I have with this restaurant is how old and dirty it looks. I don't feel comfortable sitting at their tables because it makes me feel dirty. Couple years ago there was a cockroach crawling on the wall next to our table, this is the truth, I am not lying. If that's not irritating enough, management did not do anything about it because by the time they came the roach crawled away already. Didn't even comp a thing. So possibly, just order take out.
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Review from Elsa T.
Paramount, CA
1/24/2012 1 Check-in Here
Good food and good service
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Review from Aina V.
Orange County, CA
11/13/2011
I usually don't care for Olive Garden, being that it deviates so much real italian food. However, I would say it's one of the better American chain restaurants out there.
Something particularly good happened at this branch. First, the waitress spilled her entire tray of drinks on me when she got to our table. That's not the good part, just wait. For some reason, I wasn't in the mood to fuss, so I was nice about it. Despite that, the waitress brought the manager around to apologize. He left without implying that I would get anything but some more napkins to clean up. When we got the bill: Surprise! Our entire check had been comp'ed.
Kudos to that manager for giving me the free meal instead of some complimentary dessert or just accepting my complicity. It's nice to see politeness be rewarded, as opposed to seeing brash complaints be rewarded. The former is how it should be. -
Review from Stephanie S.
Lakewood, CA
Updated - 11/12/2011 1 Check-in Here
Besides the wait time on a Friday night (they don't take reservations, there were about 7 of us and the wait time was a little over an hour, hence why I've given them 4 stars) everything was perfect. Service was awesome, food was delicious, and prices do not burn a hole in your pocket.
I ordered the lagasna fritters, very crispy and satisfying. The rigatoni was omg, so good. My other buddy ordered some tortellini with beef and that was pretty scrumptious also...
FOOD - A
SERVICE - A
I've been going to this local Olive Garden for quite a few years now and every single time it's always been a great experience. Cheers to awesome food and service.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/7/2011
Besides the wait time on a Friday night (they don't take reservations, there were about 7 of us and… Read more »
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Review from Janette R.
Norwalk, CA
11/29/2011
I always have a nice experience when visiting this Olive Garden, food is great as well as service. Our waitress Shivon was very knowledgeable of menu and very friendly and outgoing . Even tho my coffee was cold when served, she was not hesitant at all to bring me another right away. This location is awesome to visit with friends or family.
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Review from Melissa W.
Cerritos, CA
12/10/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Olive garden overall is just ok. My favorite is the breadsticks and the Zuppa Toscana. In the past, service at this branch has not been too great but I noticed since their prices increased on the menu, their service has gotten better. I dont know if those two are related, but just an observation. Service has been pretty great lately but their prices have noticeably increased.
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Review from Al C.
Los Angeles, CA
8/2/2011 1 Check-in Here
I feel so bloated right now.
The biggest mistake ever was for my job to move within range of an olive Garden (aka the OG). At the rate I am going I am destined to be the fat ass I just knew it was impossible for me to become.
At the rate I am going I should gain another body by the time summer is over.
Now everyone knows Olive Garden for their fine Italian food. (tee hee)
All I need to say is Tour of Italy & I am done.
No complaints at all. I love the area i is in & thank goodness for Yelp or I would have never known it was there because it is in a hidden nook & cranny of Cerrito.
Ok, I need to go take a nap. -
Review from Peter K.
Cerritos, CA
9/28/2011
THEY TOOK MY SALAD :(!
The lady clearly saw that I was still eating my salad and she came in and took it before I even finished it.... The thing is also that this was my first time going to Olive Garden and everything was ok... Never ending pasta bowl is whatever.
We had 2 servers the first one was nice then the second one we really didn't see and she was the one who took my salad..
It was an ok experience.
(from what I've heard, most things in olive garden are not fresh they're actually defrosted and cooked) -
Review from Phoenix A.
Los Angeles, CA
7/6/2011
Wow! What's up with the service here?! Personalized thank you cards with my bill. Bottles of wine in hand for the servers to get their upselling out the gate!
Okay, we all know that OG is to Italian food as PF Chang's is to Chinese food, but once in a blue moon, I'll get a hankering for their salad, breadsticks, alfredo sauce, and stuffed mushrooms.
I had all that plus a bite of their calamari, which I don't think is that great, and I ordered the seafood pasta with little scallops, shrimp, and mussels. I don't eat the mussels. I just think that they look decorative. I ordered a Peroni to keep things light.
Our server, Jo (jo), was just outstanding, not overbearing, or Houdini-like.
The menu prices are still rather bearable and I see that they now charge $3.75 for a side of alfredo or marinara sauce. It's about time you guys stopped bleeding that cost.
I don't eat here a lot, but I like that I've had a pretty decent experience here after not having been here for a while. -
Review from Jessica A.
Long Beach, CA
7/24/2011 1 Check-in Here
Service was a 5, food was a 2.
Should have stuck with Salad and Breadsticks, because the pasta tasted old. Way old, and they'd just opened.
Oh well.
Oh, and they didn't pour my Peligrino into a glass...just plopped the bottle on the table. -
Review from Kristell Y.
Long Beach, CA
8/26/2011
So apparently this would be my closest go-to Olive Garden place.
The food here is alright and good. But then of course, one of my favorite foods is pasta (hence why I gave it a 4/5 stars). If they weren't serving pasta, then of course I would be giving this place 3 stars. Service is good and they make sure that they get your order in on time rather than having you wait.
I come here whenever I have the chance to bond with my best friends and have one-on-one time with them, which is what I exactly did when I came here.
As for the "Never Ending Bowl of Pasta", be prepared to come here on a VERY empty stomach and I'm not kidding about that. By the time you hit the second plate, you're already full...at least not everyone but I'm pretty sure a good amount of people would. And oh...they were serving complimentary wine, which was nice. :) -
Review from Dennis P.
7/19/2011
There was a time when I was a die-hard Olive Garden fan. No matter what location in any part of the country, the menu items and quality have been consistent, plus it's good to know you can get your favorites no matter which Olive Garden restaurant you go to.
Last time I was here, I took my mom out for her birthday. One thing you can count on at any Olive Garden is that you can get all the fresh, hot breadsticks you want (I only ate 2, so I could make room for my meal). My soup was pasta e fagioli and Mom's was the minestrone. For our main meal, I had the Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken and Mom had shrimp primavera.
I personally have never had a bad meal at any Olive Garden. This meal was no exception. Fortunately, Mom liked hers as well. :-)
Since we were too stuffed eating our meal and wanted dessert, we ordered a slice of triple chocolate strata for take-out.
The service we received was friendly and very attentive. Our server made sure our water glasses and bread basket were always filled and we were checked up on at regular intervals.
My only complaints are that this particular location can get quite crowded and noisy at peak meal times, the parking can be a challenge and the prices have, in my opinion, gone into the stratosphere ESPECIALLY for dinner.
So for the time being, I must bid Olive Garden "arrivederci." -
Review from Phuong N.
Garden Grove, CA
11/12/2011
I was here on a Friday night.. The line wasn't that horrible at all. The service is good. The waitress was awesome. However, the food itself is just ok. I had much more better Italian food. But for the price, I think this is as good as it get.
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Review from Maggie C.
3/13/2011
So I was still craving spaghetti and meatballs. Good ole Olive Garden has that.
We waited for few minutes and we got the giant table all for ourselves. Once again my meatballs were better than my spaghetti.
3 stars food.
Olive Garden is kinda yummylicious!! -
Review from Ariel M.
Huntington Park, CA
3/29/2011 4 Check-ins Here
Great ambiance. Very romantic. I enjoy the lighting in the center dining room and the lack of chusma here that the Downey location always gets. The waitresses/waiters are attentive and everything is clean.
If I had to wait very long to eat here I wouldn't come but I am typically seated in less than 10 minutes or don't have a wait at all. I like Olive Garden, even though it isn't authentic, but I won't wait more than 20 minutes to eat here... -
Review from Lo T.
Cerritos, CA
6/28/2011 1 Check-in Here
My kids love the endless salad and soup.
The minestrone wasn't that bad , I think the Seafood Fettiucine was too rich.
The warm apple crostata was good and so was the berry zabaione.
Love their coffee though. -
Review from Andrew S.
Bellflower, CA
7/17/2011
I like the ambiance of this place. Plenty of parking-some of which had shade, a definite plus during summer. And their entrance is under a canopy, so its partially shaded. A nice look. And the bricks around flower bed were high enough to sit on, I liked that. And then when you get inside, there's plenty of place to sit while you wait (some places have like 2 chairs and that's it). Although, I didn't have to wait long--even on a Sunday afternoon. And the center of the dining area has sorta a sunroof that wasn't too overwhelming. I really liked the ambiance of this restaurant.
Now for the service, not bad. The waiter wasn't annoying and he came by from time to time. He was nice and courteous. The only thing was that he didn't tell me what wine he offered us. He just said it was sweet red wine....?? Thanks?? But whats it called? It was good but it wasn't worth buying a glass, so I guess it doesn't matter. Actually, now that I think about it... I think he should have waited to offer us a sample of wine after we had ordered our food. So that he can recommend one that complements our food. A major flaw in service I think.
The food... it was ok. The white bread sticks had some butter, not to strong. The salad... in a odd shaped bowl where all the salad dressing would gather at the bottom. I still liked it though. I just avoided the bottom. It didn't matter since it was limitless salad. It had a blend of lettuce, tomato (slice tomato, I prefer the grape looking tomato), red onion, whole jalapeno, and cabbage.
I had the tomato soup with chili... I dont know what its called. It was ok. A little too much beans for my taste but the overall it still tasted fine.
I had the chicken carbornara ravioli ... it was good, not great. Nice big slices of chicken, ravioli was good too. I didn't think the sauce was too strong.
So if I had to rate the place, 3.2 around. Nice ambiance, ok service, decent food, and a little over priced given the quality of the food. -
Review from Elizabeth V.
Long Beach, CA
11/20/2010
I certainly won't hide the fact that I'm not a fan of Olive Garden.
This last visit was so bad it surprised me. To the credit of the manager, all 3 meals were comp'ed. I was even surprised at that but I am thankful that she was interested in the reputation of her restaurant.
Our waiter showed up and immediately tried to be gohd's gift by touching certain shoulders and flirting. Yes, it was sad. His cred went up when he took our drink orders and made sure to write down the non-ice drinks. We also placed our food orders.(Two soup & salads and one eggplant parm with no cheese and sauce on the side.) I get, and suggest, the salad with no dressing and have it brought on the side. And Bryce suggested that since each table only gets one bowl, he would bring the table salad dry and all 3 types of dressing for us to try.
And then Bryce was gone.
After a good amount of waiting, I went to look for the floor supervisor to get our drinks but I spied Bryce and went back to our table. Bryce brought us our salad. He delivered a bunch of other food to the tables next to us.
And then Bryce was gone.
Well, our salad was swimming in dressing. So to not be a complete downer, I went to encourage my lunch partners to go ahead and start on the salad (they liked the dressing) and that I would just wait for Bryce to return to re-order a salad. There I was being nice and I didn't realize we didn't have plates. So even if they wanted salad, they were going to get any unless they ate out of their hands or out of the big bowl. Bryce reappeared with our soups and bread and drinks. He handed out the soups wrong, the drinks were over filled with ice, and I still had no silverware. We sent back the gross salad while he was giving us our salad plates.
Bryce went to S&S #1 and offered her grated cheese, she accepted, then to me, I declined, and then he appeared to be going around to the other side of the table but he didn't make it there, he just wandered off.
Yes, ATBWG.
So Eggplant Parm had to ask another waiter for grated cheese and I finally got a fork... from the other waiter. We finished our soups and Bryce came back with our salad and another apology on the drinks but no actual drinks. Now, Bryce has been apologetic for everything, repeatedly, and not just at our table. And this time when he left, my table started comparing notes on the meal. So far, Bryce didn't get anything right except the glass of ice tea.
He comes back with the Eggplant Parm, and it gets sent back because it's sauced and covered in cheese. Promises of drinks on the way again.
ATBWG again -- for a long time.
This is when the manager shows up to ask how our meal is going. Personally, I voted for the nicest person at the table to tell the manager what has happened with our lunch but Eggplant Parm made me tell. While I'm talking to the manager, our drinks show up from another waiter. This fact was not lost on her. Two people without drinks till what was almost the end of our meal, and the one full meal showed up, was returned, and then delivered while the manager was at our table. She apologies profusely and leaves. Now I'm thinking she's going to go talk to Bryce, or better yet, send him home and find us a better waiter. The manager returns and offers that they pick up the tab and Bryce will be out to redeem his poor service. She also has brought us another round of the soup, and this was also unexpected but a nice gesture.
Bryce shows up to check on us and offers to bring to-go containers... ATBWG.
It was quite a wait for his return with our containers and all were thankful that he did not have any further reason to come back to our table again. But Bryce wasn't sent home, he started with the 2 new turned over tables, still trying to touch-on the women and winking as if that's what you get tipped on.
As for the food, the soup was salty and the salad, when we finally could eat it, was basic salad. I won't be back because I just don't enjoy the food.
But again, to the credit of the manager, she saw a problem, dealt with the staff and verified the meal returns with her kitchen, and then came back and spoke to us. I have no doubt she's had practice comp'ing meals in regards to that specific waiter. Maybe she should send him back to waiter school to learn how to do his job and keep his hands off the women-folk at his tables. -
Review from MissusBugatti J.
Garden Grove, CA
9/10/2011
Had a very pleasant experience. I brought my mom for a birthday lunch and our surver and the manager came to sing her a bday song. The server was more into it than the manager. Figures. Our server was very enthusiastic about providing good service--very friendly, courteous, and down to earth. He made some great suggestions as well. Overall, best experience I've had at Olive Garden, and the best service at any restaurant I've had in a looooong while....even tops service at Jar! Minus one star because my dish way too tart for my taste.....leftovers, however, were delicioous the next day along with some of the breadsticks. Mmmm!
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Review from Christina N.
Huntington Beach, CA
10/8/2010 1 Check-in Here
For some reason I wanted salad from here and told my bf that I must have it tonight ! They weren't very busy but we did wait a few minutes to be seated. Our server was friendly but quite forgetful and didn't really check up on us nor really took our plates away once we were finished with them.
Love the bread sticks, don't care what anyone says, give me a dozen and I'm one happy camper !
Basic salad but I just really enjoy it here, very light, and super refreshing, never dull and always fresh.
Eggplant parmesan - I mean this is a basic dish and you can't go wrong with it, lightly breaded eggplant fried to a golden brown crisps, served with spaghetti as I opted for meat sauce, I mean it's not the greatest dish ever that would wow me, but I was happy.
Braised beef & tortellini - sliced short rib pieces,portobello mushrooms tossed with asiago-filled tortelloni in a basil-marsala sauce. This dish was good, the first bite was very flavorful, but by the second or third, it just became overly salty and pretty much killed the dish.
Overall experience was mediocre, no wonder why I randomly only want there salad. -
Review from Stephanie B.
Cerritos, CA
1/9/2011 3 Check-ins Here
This place is always busy and that's what I hate about this location. Their pasta isn't that great to be waiting 40 minutes or so for a table. I do enjoy their zuppa toscana and peach bellini but that's pretty much the only reason why I keep coming back.
I enjoy other olive garden locations, but not this one!! It's always a hassle to come to. -
Review from Elizabeth N.
Long Beach, CA
9/11/2011 2 Check-ins Here
When you walk in they are unfriendly and when they're really busy, they don't really care for you. The only good thing is the unlimited pasta which takes forever to refill but if you ask for more chocolate mints they'll give it to you and your leftovers.
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Review from Angela S.
La Habra, CA
11/10/2010
Another day, another free lunch from the boss... gotta love it! We took out a new sales rep to lunch today and decided to hit up this Olive Garden, I've never been to this location before, it was nice. We arrived close to noon and I was getting nervous it might be really busy because most of the parking lot was full, but there was no wait at all, we got seated right away. Our server Miguel was a pro, he was quick, efficient, and very polite, a perfect waiter. The 4 of us ordered the following:
Lasagna Classico
Chicken Parmigiana
(2) Grilled Shrimp Caprese
Salad
Zuppa Toscana Soup
Breadsticks
I had to try the new dish Grilled Shrimp Caprese, the picture was beautiful and when I actually got the dish, it looked exactly the same, it tasted quite good, I would probably order it again if they still have it on the menu. Of course the Zuppa Toscana soup is my favorite, yum. No need to elaborate on the breadsticks, you know how good OG breadsticks are. My co-workers seem to enjoy their meal as well, no leftovers to take home.
My only gripe about this meal was... the waiter forgot to give us andes chocolate mints at the end of our meal, and I would have totally said something but I only realized this when we were driving out of the parking lot, that's like the best part of the meal! Minus one star for no chocolate mint. -
Review from judy c.
Cerritos, CA
6/30/2011 1 Check-in Here
The food is good just everything is too salty =X
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Review from Andrew D.
Long Beach, CA
1/10/2011
For being "just' an Olive Garden, I thought they did a good job for us last night at dinner.
As usual, the wait to get in for dinner, even on a Sunday, was excruciating. We arrived around 6pm and waited nearly an hour to be seated. But, you can't blame that on the restaurant, only on its popularity.
Our server was genuinely friendly and prompt. (As an aside, I feel bad for them having to ask each table if they'd like to do the "wine tasting" of their house jug-wine-in-a-bottle. We turned her down, but saw a table of 8 diners take her up on the tasting offer just to say no to full glasses. Now that's rude!
Our meals came out hot and tasty. I ordered off menu, my favorite, penne with marinara sauce and broccoli. The server was more than happy to accommodate my out of the ordinary request.
Servings are overly large but we got to have leftovers for breakfast today :) For a chain restaurant, I was pleased. -
Review from Erwin P.
7/3/2011
I hate coming to this branch. The atmosphere is very low class. The food, same as any other Olive Garden restaurants. Go to the one on Katella and Knott. No offense, just reviewing the place.
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Review from Patricia C.
Compton, CA
6/3/2011
In comparison to the one in Downey, it deserves all the positive reviews folks leave behind. I was so satisfied with the prompt and attentive service I received throughout my visit today. My husband ordered the pastacchetti with chicken, you know the one that they're currently advertising all over the place. I tried some of his and it was delicious, I do highly recommend trying it but I also recommend taking beano before hand if you're the type of person that gets gassy real easily. (yikes!) I simply had the cheese ravioli with marinara, still good but nothing special. Those fresh out the oven breadsticks are worth dying for and something about the way they grind that Romano cheese on top of your food that spells bliss. So long OG Downey and your lack of customer service tactics I'm ditching you for the one in Cerritos. Hmmmph!!! (storm off with nose up in the air)
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Review from Karla R.
Compton, CA
8/15/2011
I give this Olive Garden 4 stars based on their great customer service. Every time i go the staff never disappoints. I have been to some locations where the staff just sucked, but this place has good people working and of course the food is always great. I don't care if it's "fake" italian food, it tastes good to me.
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Review from Bojo F.
San Pedro, CA
9/10/2010 1 Check-in Here
I'm a long time fan of olive garden whether it's real italian or not.
I arrived at 4 pm and was seated promptly. The hosts were friendly enough.
After sitting down and looking over the menu we decided to get calamari (x2) with stuffed mushrooms. The calamari always taste great at olive garden and comes with two sauces (red marinara & some kind or ranch). The mushrooms were piping hot an delicious.
I request a lot at olive garden. I love extra dressing on my unlimited salad and the waitress did an excellent job.
I am a creature of habit. For my entrée I ordered the chicken marsala (with extra sauce of course!) and the waitress once again did an excellent job.
I see nothing wrong with Cerritos's Olive Garden, which is why I give them 5 stars. -
Review from linda t.
Placentia, CA
Endless pasta only a limited time
Always enjoy Olive Garden....endless bread sticks and salad is very enjoyable.
Their endless pasta dish has over 9 different pasta selection and 6 different sauces to mix and match...you can create what you want and try new dishes. The first plate was HUGE but after that they are a nice small bowl size. Maybe I should of asked for a small bowl to start because I never finish my first one so I didn't get to experience anything more than 1.
The meal was ended with their dessert sampler....wow....so rich and must be shared!!
ADANTE!! -
Review from Dexter P.
2/20/2009
Fine. Italian. Dining.
The best (arguably) Cerritos has to offer.
It's a step up from the Downey Olive Garden (or OG, as some of you hip Yelpers like to call it). The wait at the Downey location is usually always awful.
//tangent begin: I once took a buzzer from the Downey OG. My friend and I were waiting around for nearly an hour and just got into our car and drove away, buzzer in hand. It started going off on the freeway (oh great, now our table is ready! No, we're just out of range! Keep going!). You might want to know that once you get in range of another Olive Garden, the buzzer eventually pipes down. //tangent end.
Yes, I like to go here for my All-I-Can-Eat breadsticks, soups, and salad. I also, most recently, had dinner here on my birthday. Yes, I know, only the best.
The waitress seemed nice and bubbly enough. She took our drink orders.
"May I take your wine glasses".
*shrug*
"You may." But secretly I'm thinking: "I guess so, since you didn't offer me any."
Fair enough, no big deal. I'm more than capable of asking for alcohol when I want it. Still, it's nice to be offered. I actually appreciate the up sell.
Ideally, it would have gone something like this:
"Would you like a glass of wine with your dinner? May I offer you a tasting?"
"Okay!"
Oh well.
So, special treat tonight! Not two, but THREE item sampler appetizer. It is a special occasion, after all. This trio of fried deliciousness is pretty fail safe. Fried zuccini, mozzarella, stuffed mushrooms, calamari...all very good. That night we were in a very calamari mood and doubled up. Also ordered the stuffed mushrooms and it was a win.
I usually go with the chicken alfredo or the chicken fettucini. Sometimes I feel bold and order the braised spare ribs in chianti. For adventure's sake, I ordered a new item on the menu. I like to live my newly classified age range "late 20's" on the edge. Something caught my eye! New! Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara!
Chicken and shrimp with bucatini pasta in a pancetta BACON....um, sold. My brother and his wife order salad. Score! I'd like soup please, the toscana. See what I did there? By ordering soup when the rest of my party ordered salad, I can have soup AND salad!
The toscana soup was delish, as per usual. Zesty sausage meat, hearty potatoes, something leafy (kale?). I quite enjoyed it. And also good for breadstick dipping. I even asked for a second bowl. I'm celebrating!
The Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara ended up just okay. I think I prefer the Alfredo or even the Seafood Portofino.
Overall, it was a good meal. I even escaped the staff-please-gather-around-and-sing-happy-birthday part. Thank god.
//tangent post script: I eventually drove the buzzer back to the Olive Garden in Downey. I swear I am a good person. -
Review from David P.
Cerritos, CA
1/14/2007
If they had found an Iraqi Olive Garden, it'd be good enough reason for invasion. The food at this particular location clearly falls under the WMD category, though I'm not sure it 's organically based in any way. Someday I'm going to pre-emptively invade this place. I'm sure the waitstaff will great me as a liberator. It won't cost but a billion dollars, and take six months. I swear.
A while back, our little family went with our $50 gift card to the Cerritos Olive Garden, had some piss-poor salad, some pasta that tasted like ass, some meat that tasted like ass, and some bread that was probably good when it was baked, but had gone tough in the last billion years and now tasted like ass. The service was actually really good, and I felt bad for the young man who had to carry that shit around and pretend it was anything but ass. "Excuse me, sir, how was your serving of ass? Did you enjoy the ass tonight? Would you like me to box the leftover ass to take home?" Poor guy.
Don't nobody give us another Olive Garden gift card. I'll fucking kill you. -
Review from Linda J.
Anaheim, CA
4/22/2011
I have always liked going to Olive Garden. However on my most recent visit, my waitress was not attentive and friendly as I expected from my previous visits. Now what a lot of people like is their unlimited salad with the order of your entree. Unfortunately, my waitress did not check up on my party as we had to flag her down. She was completely MIA as this awful experience started at the beginning of our meal. We were not greeted by our waitress at our table after sitting down for about 5 minutes. We had to ask her for more salad refills as she did not even offer and did not acknowledge that our bowl was empty. Due to this experience I will not likely visit in the near future.
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Review from Ivan L.
Bellflower, CA
10/4/2010
I love Olive Garden's salad (and its unlimited)! We went for the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl and it was delicious! The service was excellent and the prices were reasonable. Our food was always fresh and hot and even came quickly.
The wait was about an hour on a Monday evening which is very surprising. The ambience is nice but, it is incredibly noisy inside. The acoustics weren't taken into account when they designed and built this place.
I would certainly return to this location. -
Review from Carlos A.
Bellflower, CA
4/11/2011 1 Check-in Here
If I could give this place half a star i would.
Let me start out by saying that I have been to Italy and know what great Italian cuisine should taste like. So to say OG is authentic Italian food is false
Olive Garden has those commercials where they supposedly send their chefs to train in Italy....lmao. I have to say, that is probably Bull shit. And someone should sue them for false advertising.
First of all the wait was 35 minutes so you figure this place must be really good if people are willing to wait that long. "Wrong"
Once we were taken to our table, it took the server about another five minutes to come greet us. Another five minutes to get our drinks and take our order..
She was very friendly but the wait was ridiculous. Then to make things even worse a table that had come ten minutes after my order was taken by the server, got their meals about ten minutes before our meal came out. I know it was a busy day but seriously "30 minutes for two pastas" on top of the 35 minute wait and ten minutes it took before our order was taken. Do the math!!!! I kept my cool because I use to work at a restaurant.
I know why so many people come here.Yea you get unlimited salad and bread sticks... First of all the breadsticks are not even that good...The salad was alright.......Common people if you have had real italian food in your lifetime you will all agree with me that the food you get here is crap.
The prices are high for the quality of food you get here.
I order the shrimp and chicken carbonara. I kid you not, I took one bite of the pasta and I had to spit it into my napkin. The sauce was horrible. I think a canned sauce would have tasted better....It was thick and lumpy, and tasted like salted butter....No taste whatsoever...It was so disgusting i didnt even eat any of the shrimp and or chicken on it.
Ten minutes later the waitress came over and saw the plate just sitting there and asked if i needed a box? I told her no im sorry but the food is gross. She said you should have told me before..I told her when You have not been back in ten minutes since you brought out the food lol....She just simply responded " I will have the manager take it off the bill" Duhhhhhhhh You think i was going to pay for it.
She brought back the check and as if she was doing me a favor she said " the manager took care of your meal" i started laughing.....i was thinking to myself." she took care of what meal? I only took a bite. I was at least expecting the manager to come out and say something in person.....But no.....
So for that very reason I will never again step foot at an Olive Garden ever again....
there are so many great mom n pop authentic italian restaurants out there that dont lure you in with unlimted bread and salad, but will provide real authentic dishes. Its not about quantity people, its about quality......worst meal ever -
Review from Kendo U.
Huntington Beach, CA
8/18/2007 6 photos
3 and 3/4 for me. 2nd day back in California after my Kentucky Fried Trip, and 2nd day to a big chain eatery for lunch. I haven't eaten at an Olive Garden since... hmm... I'd have to say High School (and my diploma has had enough birthdays to get a driver's license now...) It was better than I remembered it. The breadsticks were hot, the bottomless salad was crisp, the service was attentive... The things that usually irk me about big chains didn't seem to apply this afternoon... plus I was starving. =)
We started with a Spinach Artichoke dip appetizer which was not great, but decent. For my main eats, I opted with a non-regular menu item which was "available for a limited time". Grilled Steak Caprese, which consists of grilled steak medallions drizzled with a balsamic glaze served over angel hair pasta with melted mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes in a butter garlic sauce. And they also serve my favorite Acqua Panna bottled water... Ah.... Sound good? It was. I finished it all, with loads of breadsticks and salad and waddled my way back to my office and battled the food coma demon for the next few hours before it was time to go home. -
Review from Mike L.
Norwalk, CA
1/10/2007 2 photos
Awww yes, the Palms Restaurant of Cerritos. A place to be seen at the city and as Vincent T. wrote in his review, a good place for people watching.
Going into this restaurant for dinner might required an early reservation or having people going there ahead of time for a table. For a large group, you can always expect a long wait as majority of the groups are families or for large business meetings.
Not much have changed since my high school days. It's still a pseudo Italian restaurant that dummied it down for normal American consumers. After tasting authentic Italian restaurants, this place's pasta sauce is too watery and over done on the pasta. The meat can be too hard and the complimentary bread sticks can be too greasy.
If you take away those factors, you still get a very hearty meal in a great setting. The ambiance of the place is very nice and soothing. The good thing about going to Cerritos's branch of Olive Garden over other Los Angele's Olive Garden is that the service is whole lot better and the people working here are more down to earth. It's a good appreciation of that and the with no snobbery involved.
My only concern about going here is that just as the previous reviewers pointed out that it's a long wait and that might attribute to the fact that three LONG BEACH reviewers are here at Cerritos. C'mon!! There's one in Torrance. Go there instead so that we can get to our tables faster.
But hey, this Olive Garden is better than Torrance and it might be a good call to come here instead for your faux Italian dinner.
