Tuesday night, I went out to dinner at the Olive Garden with two of my friends. While I love the Olive Garden, along with their delicious salad, bread sticks and Five Cheese Ziti, I often times start my experience off awkwardly. Tuesday was a rare exception.
The moment you sit down at the table, your waiter or waitress should offer you a sample of the wine. Although I am only 23, I feel there are ways to offer a sample of wine without making things awkward. Our waiter on Tuesday night did just that - he offered the sample, politely asked my friends and I for our IDs, and poured the wine. That is how it should be done.
In the past, my friends and I have had the same waiter twice who has made things entirely uncomfortable. In fact, the last time we went before Tuesday, he said he would like to offer us a sample of their wine...if we were old enough. When I said, "We are old enough," he took away the glasses and whisked away with the bottle of wine, and that was that. Apparently, he thought I'd said "aren't."
Other times, I haven't even been offered any wine at all. They've just assumed I wasn't old enough and moved along. It literally ruins the whole experience, because from that moment on, I never liked any of the waiters and waitresses who assumed I was a young, bad tipping teenager.
Tuesday night at the Olive Garden, not only did I try the sample of wine - I actually liked it and ordered a glass to enjoy with my meal. And, our waiter received a generous 20% tip, despite the sluggishness on bringing my friends and I glasses of water. Thank you, whoever you are. I enjoyed the best Olive Garden experience I've had in a very long time.
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