Critic's Review
I got a coupon for $5 the all-you-can-eat soup and salad, so I thought I'd use the opportunity to check out the Boca Raton location. The Fort Lauderdale location is an awful restaurant; maybe things were better up where they have lawns and hedges?
They've updated the outside of the restaurant, but upon entering I realized that the interior was still the older style. A dreary bar area that I wouldn't want to have a drink much less eat. They do have small booths, however, so I wasn't stuck at a table in the middle of a dining room. The place was surprisingly dead.
They attempt to provide the ambiance of a real Italian restaurant, but I know better. Real restaurants don't have advertisements on the table.
I ordered the soup and salad without even looking at the menu; I just checked the regular price in case they didn't take the coupon for some reason. $7.99. Still not bad; I've had the salad before and it's a big bowl with a decent dressing.
Like most chains, they don't scrimp on the lemons here.
A salad bowl arrived quickly. There isn't much preparation. They probably have a bathtub filled with the stuff in the kitchen.
I loaded up a plate and dug in. It has a lot of stuff in it; way too many croutons. Do people eat the croutons? I never have, even when I was a kid.
The soup came out looking like it had way too many potatoes, not enough sausage and a few bits of kale.
There were 2 girls at the next table also doing the soup and salad. They were charged $3 for a dipping sauce, which seems absurd with a $7.99 all you can eat lunch. They complained and the waiter removed it from the bill.
I took a look at the table, overflowing with food. A ridiculous haul for $5.
I was trying to figure out the food cost; probably not much with the volume they buy, but $5 doesn't go very far. Luckily the iced tea is all profit, except for the lemon
Another plate of salad, and another. The bowl has about 3 salad portions in it, even if you don't eat the croutons.
I'd eaten all of the liquid out of the soup, leaving a pile of potatoes. My server asked if I wanted more soup, and I asked him to get me one without so many potatoes.
The soup was way too watery to stand up without potatoes. Usually potato soups are fairly thick. The soup is pretty much a loser. The liquid doesn't have much flavor at all.
No dessert after eating a head of lettuce with soup, but you do get chocolate mints regardless.
Conclusion
I'm not a fan of the food at the Olive Garden, with the exception of the salad. At the regular price of $7.99 the all you can eat soup and salad is a great deal, assuming you like italian dressing, because that's the only choice you have.