Olive Garden Italian Restaurant

3600 Westown Pkwy, West Des Moines - 50266
217 reviews
Italian Salad Soup
(515) 224-0824

I am not one to slander a business or be overly negative if it’s not earned. I did have a pretty annoying experience tonight at this location. I will say the food itself was delicious. I ordered the seafood alfredo. But my order was brought to my car 15 minutes past the time I was given. After food was brought to many cars who arrived after me, an employee stopped by my window to tell me mine was taking so long because someone spilled my side of ranch in my bag. So I waited some more. When my food came out, it was also with three other people’s orders. And I watched the same lady who let me know about the ranch walk up to every single car before mine and give these people their orders when I had been waiting the longest. Annoyingly, when I opened the bag to check my food - there was ranch all over the containers and bag, AND the ranch cup. The ranch cup was also half full. Nothing was wiped and they didn’t even give me a new side of ranch. Instead of walking in and asking this business what they were actually doing in the 15 minutes of extra time that I waited, I took the food and drove home.

This is Olive Garden is helping the community and practicing what they preach. Myself and 23 other young adults are biking across the country for cancer charity. The head chief and team donated 24+ meals to us. They helped us out in a time of need. I appreciate everybody who works there. Excellent food with even better service.

We went for an early dinner on a Saturday and were pleased to not have a long wait. The first interaction with the hostess wasn't the best (hence the 4 stars). However, after we were seated, our server Derek was magical with his service and kindness. He was attentive, patience, and worked with us as one person was having their first Olive Garden experience. He was upbeat but not overbearing. The food was great. I had the Chicken Parm and Zuppa Toscana. Also the Chicken Gnocchi is always lovely.

Always a fun experience, kids love it, staff is always very professional and attentive. Slightly disappointed in the fettuccine Alfredo but everything else was on point. We all left so stuffed.

Had a family dinner tonight, the 40 minute drive was totally worth it! Derrick was our server and he was hands down amazing at what he does. My kids enjoyed his jokes and he really made the whole dinner perfect. Our food was so delicious and we didn't wait long even though the restaurant was very busy. From what I witnessed, as a server myself, the staff there were doing their jobs perfectly. People were happy and everyone looked to be enjoying themselves! My family talked the whole 40 minute way back about what they're ordering next time and they want to ask for Derrick lol I've never done a review before but felt it was necessary for what great food and service we experienced tonight! Thank you!!!

I just had sauteed shrimp (very tasty) and a side salad. Side salad was a giant bowl of salad (had to hunt for my shrimp). There were only two options for dressing (italian or ranch). No lite dressings (disappointed). I also had hot tea (it was fine, tea is tea). Our server was very nice and knowledgeable. They are in dire need of a remodel; tables are too small, furniture and decor is dreary. Staff was friendly though (that goes a long way for me).

Went on a Valentine's date with my beautiful bride and had two great entrees but this simple dessert was heavenly - Italian donuts with chocolate sauce.I could eat just about anything on the menu and rave about it. Never had a bad meal there!

Our waitress was so sweet. It is my bday today. The lazagna cake is Amazing!

I enjoy the food at Olive Garden, and they have a good kids menu for family dining. The food here was good.Unfortunately, there were some issues here that make me not recommend this location, in particular.First, when I called to make a reservation, I was told that I could only call 30 minutes in advance. When I did so, I was then told we would have an hour and a half wait time. I'm not sure why they say you can't call more than 30 minutes before arrival if they can put you on a list that long.They then didn't notify us when our table was ready. If I hadn't gone in and asked (we were waiting in the car so kids could watch a movie), we wouldn't have known that we could go in and eat and would have just sat and waited even longer.Finally, where they seated us had a flickering light that was extremely annoying. The light was not addressed, or even mentioned, despite us sitting in the location for nearly 2 hours.TL;DR I recommend Olive Garden, but had a number of location specific issues eating at this specific one.

For starters, I was told on the phone I can't make a reservation. Understandable. Next I go to their website where there is clearly a page to make reservations, but it says there's no wait. Walk in and I'm told there's a 30 minute wait. Seriously?To sum it up, it's fast food Italian for authentic prices. Couldnt recommend and most likely wont be back. Just not for me