server

line cook

prep cook

dishwasher

to-go specialist

Olive Garden

This was my first job as a server here at the Olive Garden, & I must say it was a good experience while it lasted. Although it was very short unfortunately. A typical day would start off with a manager huddle up with all of the servers for that shift. And after that we would just provide service to our guest's need. From my personal experience, every guest''s i've came across were very nice and it made my job as a server so much more fun. And with great support from my work peers, I honestly would say this would be the best job I ever had. I had alot of fun while learning alot. I learned all sorts of type of wines, foods and pretty much learned how to interact with our guest's. I noticed that every guest's i served, i gradually became more out going with them and I established a inside joke with some of them as well. A few would be expecting me to own the OG in a couple of years as a joke and said they'll watch me progress throughout my career here. So from reading all of this, working at the Olive Garden was great. For the hardest part of the job, I must say that it was difficult trying to satisfy the general manager. Even though I only worked here for three weeks, i was sadly let go because I received a complaint from one guest and from a team member on my first dinner shift. (Dinner is hectic at the Olive Garden) And I was always working lunch shifts too before that. I just felt like I was easily disposed of despite me putting alot of effort into my first serving job & felt like I was doing a great job as well for two weeks. But one complaint from a guest & i'm gone just like that. But don't let that discourage you from applying at the OG. It really is a great place to work at , you'll make alot of friends and receive alot of support. I just wished that I have done a better job that one night so  that maybe I would still be here working at the Olive Garden.

I would do my sign in slip, that consisted of different things that we needed to focus on as a team and position wise. I would then start my shift and I would go work and be caught up to speed by other hosts and if I was starting at a really busy time I would be on my feet the entire shift, if it was slower though I would be doing something more menial. We only ever got breaks if we were going to be closing, this often meant 5-6 hours without a break (breaking labour laws). Then I would be sent home on the spot without any notice which was very difficult for me as I lived far from the restaurant, a fact which management knew. 

However my coworkers were all very supportive and I do feel that the training I was given was sufficient for me to work independently. I felt that even though there were many different positions on front-of-house, we worked closely enough together to build strong connections which, in turn, helped us work better and more effectively as a team.

The hardest part of the job was the expectation to be amazing at all aspects of the job fresh out of training. Or having the pressure of essentially running the whole restaurant on your back alone. Management does not understand boundaries nor other forms of thinking than theirs. I have been ridiculed by management over simple mistakes and doing things my way. Would not recommend working here for any other reason than the free food, weekly pay, and coworkers.  

I loved everyone I worked with but management was awful. Almost all of the employees disapproved of the management so it wasn't just my experience. Shifts are short. Expect to work 6-7 days a week with no overtime pay because it's almost impossible to hit 40hrs. I averaged 25-35hrs a week working 6 days. They actually don't allow over time (more than 8hrs per day). If you hit overtime you get into trouble from management. There has been times when I actually worked off the clock (not getting paid hourly) so I could keep my tips. Management are bullies, expect to be yelled at or pulled into the office if you don't meet your sales goals. You're trained to be very pushy with sales and you can actually notice that most guests are annoyed with you because of it. Expect to work split shifts which can be a waste of your day. For example, you come in for a lunch shift at 11am, work 1-2 hours, then you are expected to come back for 5pm only to work another 1-2 hours because servers that work split shifts are always the first to go home for fear that they will hit over time. You've now spent your whole day essentially being at work, but you only ended up working 4 hours total. They are always hiring and the turnover is very high.

Once i enter the restaurant i make sure we have enough cutlery for the day, our menus are clean and ready, and that we have enough servers to start taking tables for the morning. 
I learned that being in this type of work or anywhere, you have to know how to handle a rude customer and have great problem solving skills.
Management at the Olive Garden is terrible, you have that one manager that is on top of everything and others that slack on their job and treat selected few employees poorly.
Co-workers are amazing, great energy, great attitude and overall do their job as told with great communication skills. Its fun working with people there, you feel open to talk to them. They are mostly a younger crowd but they're awesome people.
The hardest part of the job is the fact we had so many amazing mangers quit the job and a lot of rules changed. Its so hard to keep up with the constant change, its unstable,confusing, and unorganized. 
The most enjoyable part about the job is dealing with customers, you have good and bad customers sometimes but a friendly smile and nice families can brighten up anyone's day.

I worked at Olive Garden for around a year. The training was very thorough but a lot of it is promo for the company. You get three tables which isn’t a lot, however you will be running around a lot. Management is terrible however. They scream at everyone, belittle staff appearance, and one shoved a tray into my hands and said I’d be dead if I was seen without it. People were constantly crying from stress but you can’t get a break, and will get written up if you try and have a bite of food to the side. I’ve never been in an environment where I’ve seen so many people cry constantly and management did nothing about it. There are some pros like they have cheap staff food and you get paid tips out the end of each shift and paid weekly. However the environment is very toxic and turnaround is high due to this. It was expected staff be ready for shift 15 mins before they started but they were unpaid time and when reminded of the labour laws they got mad and called people difficult. Money was good and consistent due to people wanting to eat there, but I cried before every shift due to the managers and the stress. Avoid if you can.

A typical day at work is not how a kitchen should be working, I have worked in different restaurants and in large kitchens that serve large quantities of food at the same time, but used to feel off whenever I walked into the Olive Gardens kitchen. 

Managers try hard to look happy. They try hard to learn names just to say "Hi" to you nothing else. Micromanagement feels like a good thing for the management because they don't work at the heart of the restaurant. Micro-management pulls us back when there are two managers looking at what people are doing from both sides of the line, that feels like an awful place to work. 

This place (maybe the Olive Garden where I worked, Regina, SK) is just a corporate restaurant where tips are not shared with the kitchen and they treat kitchen staff like inferior staff. Management boasts about having 120+ staff and I did not see even one happy face in the kitchen, they keep on hiring because nobody wanna stay and work there. 


Serving the guest providing 100% guest delight in order for them to keep on coming back,working hand on hand with colleagues make a strong team work, i've learn lot of things like dealing with guest, dealing with guests complaints and i've learned how to manage the Restaurant and Admin work also. Am currently working as a management trainee and being in the management is not that easy need to balance everything from the management to the staff,,it's fun to be with a different nationalities it's just that we need to respect their culture and they will respect you back. when the operation getting down and need to recover there's a hardship but helping each other can recover everything..as you work with colleagues and find them respecting each other, supporting each other watching them smiling even though they are tired you will feel so happy for them and for yourself also,,,

I first got hired as a dishwasher and later got the opportunity to work as a prep cook. Dishwashing can be physically taxing and boring, but it is very straightforward. You typically have 2-4 other dishwashers with you depending on the time of day. 

As a prep cook, you have a list of things to complete in a certain time frame.  However, the times do not account for the additional miscellaneous duties that also fall on us, so it can be difficult to meet deadlines depending on how busy the restaurant is. You HAVE to be diligent and a hard worker, especially as a prep cook.

As a student, I am grateful that my managers are flexible with scheduling and that the job is higher than minimum wage. My coworkers have also always been encouraging and friendly, and I think these reasons are why I have stayed despite some of my gripes with the restaurant.

The best part of this job was definitely the people you meet along the way. I've made many lifelong friends from working here.
Tips would be better on weekends and dinner shift. 
One of the biggest negatives was definitely the favouritism of management. If you were on their good side and made great sales, your shifts were easy and you would easily get along. But if you weren't making sales/upselling targets, the job became very difficult and hours would get cut.
Customers could be ruthless too. The never ending soup, salad, and breadsticks is hard to keep up with at some times, and some customers you could never be fast enough for. However there are many customers that come and would treat you really well.
Serving here takes some guts and very tough skin. But the people that can stick it out with you, are some of the greatest people you'll meet!


I was happy for awhile as a server here. The staff is absolutely amazing, which is the only reason I’m still putting up with this job. Management however, is terrible. They are actually hazing out employees just to make room for new ones, and they have awful communication. I literally learned the definition of gaslighting while working here. However, it’s like I said, the co workers are amazing. The tipout is low. But it’s the hardest place to serve at with unlimited soup, salad, and bread. You only get a max of 3 tables at a time. The dress code is ridiculously strict as well. The servers are friendly and they aren’t cliquey, but managers have favourites, and you better hope you’re one of them. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Server 1 salary reported	$17.85 per hour
Line cook 1 salary reported	$20.67 per hour
Prep cook 2 salaries reported	$19.68 per hour
Dishwasher 1 salary reported	$19.80 per hour
To-go specialist 1 salary reported	$17.85 per hour

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