14 Olive Garden Customer Habits That Make Employees Roll Their Eyes

Eating at a restaurant is supposed to trigger an unspoken social contract. The staff does their best to deliver a fantastic meal, and diners respect their efforts with polite behavior and appropriate tips. Olive Garden employees venting online claim that some customers refuse to hold up their end of the deal. They hog the table for hours, and make incessant demands without ever being satisfied, or they let their kids run wild and create a mess. While none of these annoyances are usually enough to ruin a shift on their own, dealing with them over and over again is tiring. 

Here are 14 habits Olive Garden staff say drive them up the wall, based on firsthand stories and discussions shared online. Some are obvious breaches of restaurant etiquette, while others are surprisingly common mistakes made by well-meaning diners. We created this deep dive because knowing all the behavior that grinds employees' gears can save you from becoming break-room gossip.

We get it; nobody comes to Olive Garden to make friends. You're there for soft, buttery breadsticks and endless plates of pasta. The server's job is to get all this deliciousness to the table. Can't you speed things up by cutting the chit-chat and rattling off your order immediately? To the staff's dismay, some diners try exactly that. They bark out requests without even waiting for the server to finish saying "hello."

A Redditor posting in r/olivegarden explained: "My biggest pet peeve is when I'm trying to introduce myself and they just interrupt me and say 'I want a (insert drink here).'" Another Redditor claimed they nearly quit the restaurant after witnessing an elderly customer yell about breadsticks before the server finished getting her name out. That entire interaction could've been saved if the customer had waited just a few seconds. And they still would have received their bread! The typical Olive Garden has thousands of breadsticks on deck, and servers are used to delivering multiple baskets per table.

Would you care for a warm bowl of minestrone soup, thick with vegetables and Olive Garden's famous pasta? Or maybe your soup preference leans toward creamier options like chicken and gnocchi. It's perfectly reasonable to want a detailed breakdown of every available soup option — just don't expect your server to provide it. Read the menu instead. Olive Garden serves the same four soups year-round at every location.

You can order minestrone, chicken and gnocchi, zuppa toscana, and pasta e fagioli (zuppa toscana is our first choice). You're not going to find a surprise sausage tortellini soup unless Olive Garden updates its menu or announces a limited-time soup flavor. A server on the Olive Garden subreddit complained that they once handled a party of nine, and each person insisted on hearing the soups listed. That's a lot of time spent explaining for someone handling multiple tables, so some servers say they won't do it. They prefer to politely point out the soup page and let the menu do the talking.

Dining at Olive Garden is often an over-the-top experience. There are servers doling out six pasta plates to the same table over here, a crew of cheerful servers singing "happy birthday" over there. The spectacle belongs on social media. But that doesn't mean the staff want to star in the content. A disgruntled server told r/olivegarden that their biggest pet peeve is: "When people point their camera directly at us (strangers btw, trying to do our job) while we sing 'happy birthday.'"

The rule isn't "never film Olive Garden staff." Some team members will gladly ham it up for a video. The key is to ask permission first. Filming without consent might annoy someone who dislikes being on social media, or isn't in the mood to be on camera. Those unwilling participants add negative energy to videos, even if they're the only ones who notice. Find the natural performers on staff, or limit filming to your own dining party.

You need another straw, your friend's out of Diet Coke, and you're both interested in more breadsticks. There's no trouble at all if you make your requests in one go. Or you could ask a wandering busser for the straw and let your server handle the soda and food. Whatever you do, don't force your server to make multiple trips. Asking for something new every time they come to the table kills their efficiency and earns you a spot on the annoying customer list.

The dreaded three-peat is especially irritating. By the third trip to the table, the server has practically morphed into an errand-person. Service is part of the role, but not dedicated service to one table alone. Olive Garden servers often look after three or four tables at a time, making them too busy to easily run back and forth for a single party.

A few menu modifications are normal, especially when dining with a group. One person may crave mushroom ravioli with extra sauce, while someone else might want a creamy bowl of shrimp carbonara without the included red peppers. Olive Garden staff are used to requests like these, and will happily accommodate them. Trouble creeps in when one person needs too many modifications.

Some diners request several changes to their order, putting extra stress on both the server and the kitchen. A server posting on the Olive Garden subreddit said, "I get sooo many special requests it blows me away." They described an encounter where the customer wanted multiple alterations to their drink, breadsticks, salad, soup, and entree. The customer then committed a double foul and split the rest of their numerous requests into separate missions every time the server visited the table (asking for extra napkins on one trip and an extra fork on the next).

A different customer in the same subreddit said that during their last trip to Olive Garden, the server almost refused to believe that their party wanted their meals as is. Modifications are common, and according to staff, some customers grow angry when they're forgotten (something more likely to happen when the requested modification number is high).

Getting your bill to add up to the exact amount of your gift card can a be a little tricky. Often, your total is higher, and the gift card isn't enough to settle the debt, or the total is lower, and you're left with a gift card balance. It's the latter circumstance that can leave staff a little miffed. Why? It's all about the Benjamins, baby. Specifically, the lack of Benjamins.

Everyone understands why someone holds onto a gift card worth $10. That's almost enough for a soup-and-salad at lunch. What's confusing, according to some servers, is holding onto a gift card that's only worth a few dollars instead of giving that money as a tip. A server on r/olivegarden commented, "This one sounds a little selfish, but seriously what else would you do with the money?" A $2.50 gift card won't take much off your next bill, and it can be a hassle to keep the card if you're not a frequent Olive Garden diner.

Olive Garden's menu encourages lingering at the table, as the word "never-ending" pops up on multiple pages. We actually rank skipping the never-ending breadsticks, soup, and salad among the biggest mistakes people make when ordering at Olive Garden, while the never-ending pasta deal is iconic. However, working your way through multiple soup bowls or pasta plates is going to take time. The eye rolls start when diners act like the table is their new home for the night.

Server income largely depends on how much food they ring up. If two tables spend $50 and tip 20%, the server earns $20. If one table spends $80 and tips 20%, the server earns $16. Olive Garden staff prefer faster turnover because more tables usually means more money, even if a particular table generates a higher-than-average bill. When customers camp at a table for hours, the potential lost income for the server can be significant. To keep everyone happy, diners who want to hang out for a while should consider increasing their tip.

Everyone wants to believe they're the perfect customer, a dream for anyone who's sick of dealing with demanding, difficult tables. But that glowing opinion can falter after reading Olive Garden employees' complaints about common customer habits. On social media, you can find tirades about everything from minuscule tips to entitled behavior. Sometimes customers respond with support, but other times they mount a defense and irk staff even more.

"I am not sorry for commenting about how certain customers annoy me," a server wrote on r/olivegarden. "There are many nights I am in pain from the nonstop tables and needs from the customers who in the end are tipping me less than what their check, attitudes, and neediness warrant." The server doubled down on their complaint after a few Olive Garden fans said their lack of tips was their own fault, writing in the same Reddit post, "Everyone can hate on here, but I know all the servers in this group or at least my location would rather scoop out their eyes and put them in your gnocchi than listen to you berate us."

To a server, the squirmy bundle of joy sitting next to you probably represents extra work. Even the sweetest child can wreak havoc in a restaurant when their parents are distracted. A kid might scream, throw food on the ground, race around the restaurant, or engage in other loud, messy behaviors. Parents aren't expected to clean up after children in restaurants, forcing the duty onto servers and bussers who already have a dozen other things to take care of. The additional time that it takes to clean can also delay the next group waiting for that table.

Olive Garden's constant deals and hefty kids menu are bringing families into the restaurant, so the kids aren't going anywhere. It wouldn't be strange to see an Olive Garden dining room thronged with children. But, parents can keep the experience pleasant by focusing on prevention. Don't allow the child to toss plates on the floor or smear things on the table. If it happens anyway and the server has to do extra cleaning, acknowledge that in your tip.

Unfortunately for everyone who adores Olive Garden's three-pronged fork and Italian-inspired fare, the chain isn't open 24/7. Every closing time brings a fresh opportunity for customers to irritate staff. The hospitality faux pas is asking for a table at 9:55 p.m. when you know the restaurant closes at 10. Everyone wants to go home, the kitchen is shutting down, and you're trying to rev the crew up for another round of service.

Will some restaurants accommodate diners who arrive minutes before closing? Absolutely. But it's not guaranteed, and employees might sigh at the request. You'll be received much better if you show up at least half an hour before closing, when the kitchen might still be in full flow. Things become murkier the later it gets. A good rule of thumb is to assume you can't get a table if you walk into a restaurant at the last minute and see obvious signs of impending closure, such as mops on the floor or stacked chairs.

Olive Garden diners can order from a sprawling menu of Italian-American favorites like chicken parmigiana and garlic fettuccine with herb-grilled salmon. Those hefty entrees aren't appealing to everyone, however. Some diners are content with multiple breadsticks and a row of sauces. How the employees feel about that quirky order depends on where the diner sits. Ultra small checks are fine at the bar, but divisive in the main dining room.

Everything comes down to how much the customer tips. A bartender often handles the entire bar as well as multiple tables, giving them more chances to recover from a low tip. By contrast, a server could be limited to three or four tables per shift. If one table orders nothing but $10 in breadsticks and sauce, a 20% tip seems insufficient compared to what the server could have earned with a hungrier table. As usual, the remedy here is to increase the tip amount.

Customers who haven't worked in restaurants can look at Olive Garden's large dining room and discover a sea of open tables. They don't realize the room is carved into sections managed by different servers, and a table that appears ready for use could be in a section with no assigned server, or the server might be busy with other tables or work. Hosts only seat customers when they know someone is available to take their order.

Customers who flout established seating practices and choose their tables without asking often feature in employee horror stories. A disheartened server revealed on Reddit that the worst table they ever served moved themselves multiple times and claimed tables reserved for a different party. Someone commiserated by sharing their own tale of customers snatching tables. In that case, a group grabbed two tables from the floor when more of their friends appeared. The game of musical chairs affects the server in the section that's just been commandeered, and can disarrange the checks if it starts after food or drink orders are placed.

Olive Garden's position as a family-friendly restaurant makes it a poor site for drunken adventures. Diners who show up while intoxicated can be refused service, and those who aren't asked to leave still risk getting side-eyed by staff. Does an intoxicated diner behave differently than a sober one? Plenty of servers would say "yes." Someone who's not in their usual frame of mind might be extra demanding or tip less than usual.

Intoxicated diners can also affect other tables as well. A server on r/olivegarden described what happened when they dealt with a very intoxicated group in their section: "No one wanted to sit near them or at the bar (I was bartending). So basically I worked for nothing for two hours. My manager was close to refusing service but chickened out." The manager didn't kick the party out because their behavior was only annoying; it never escalated into a serious problem.

We've talked about Olive Garden's never-ending food deals; now it's time to break down how customers try to cheat the system and hope employees don't notice. Obviously, Olive Garden wants every customer to buy their own never-ending food deal. If three people sit down and desire unlimited soup or salad, three people should place an order. The trick is simple: customers trying to save money can order soup or salad for themselves and share the endless refills with others in their party.

"Had a group of 10 teenagers come in and try to pull this stunt," a server commented on r/olivegarden. "Three of them ordered soup and salad. ... My manager posted up at the front door to prevent them from dining and dashing." Many customers know exactly what they're doing when they team up on the never-ending specials, but some aren't trying to get away with anything. These customers believe they're simply being frugal. No need to pay for multiple meals if you don't have to.