People usually order food in because they’re tired, busy, or just want something comforting, fast. For over $30 a meal these days, the least you can expect is something warm and edible when it shows up at your door.
But for one woman in Georgia, that didn’t quite happen. She says her Olive Garden order arrived frozen solid.
Frozen pasta ruins the whole meal
TikTok creator @tipsytreenursery filmed the moment after she unboxed her Olive Garden delivery—something she placed around 8:38 p.m.
“It took a little over an hour to get here,” she said, as she panned her camera across the table.
Some items looked fine. “Breadsticks, cool. Salad, cool,” she said, gesturing at them.
Even the cheese dip and soup passed the vibe check. “Cool,” she added again.
But then came the pasta—specifically the Four Cheese Manicotti. She picked up a fork and tried “stabbing” her meal with it, but it wouldn’t budge. “Frozen solid,” she said.
Confused, she says she decided to call the restaurant. “They told me, ‘Oh, that’s how it’s supposed to be. It comes frozen,’” she recalls them saying.
“That was the biggest load of bull[expletive] I’ve ever heard in my life,” the TikToker exclaims. “If I wanted frozen food, I would have just went to Walmart and picked up frozen food.”
The video ends with a warning shot: “So count your days, Olive Garden. Count your days.”
Is the Olive Garden manicotti supposed to come frozen?
No, it’s not supposed to arrive frozen.
According to Olive Garden’s own online menu, the manicotti could arrive “Freshly Prepared, Packaged and Chilled” if ordered as a second entree. However, there’s no mention of it being served pre-frozen in any way.
A person who claimed to work at Olive Garden’s to-go counter commented on the video, writing, “It’s supposed to be cold but definitely not frozen… they’re kept in the cooler NOT the freezer!”
They added that if the order came through a third-party delivery service like Uber Eats, refunds have to go through Uber first before Olive Garden can help. Still, they admitted the manager should’ve handled the situation better.
Another user who said they work at Olive Garden chimed in: “Technically they’re never frozen, we make them fresh every day and they’re refrigerated.”
Olive Garden’s reputation has changed over the years
Once seen as a fancy place for date nights or big family dinners, Olive Garden’s image has taken somewhat of a hit in recent years.
While some diners still swear by their soup, salad, and breadsticks combo, others say the quality’s gone downhill.
On review sites like Trustpilot and Reddit, diners often complain about inconsistent food quality, slow service, or delivery mishaps. “Based on our experience at their BGC branch, staff are not approachable while the supervisor is not competent enough to face complaints of their customers,” one Trustpilot reviewer wrote.
@tipsytreesnursery Smh. Wtf is this? Frozen food now? @Olive Garden #olivegarden #frozensolid #frozen #serveithot #delivery ♬ original sound – Tipsy Trees Nursery
Commenters share their own frozen food fails
In the comments, people shared stories of their own.
One person said, “Ordered some spinach dip to-go from Chili’s one time and the cup had plain spinach leaves and a handful of shredded cheese on top. Told me, ‘Oh that’s how a Togo order comes, you have to microwave it.’”
Another joked that Olive Garden was never really that great to begin with: “It just felt fancy when we were broke.”
But some insiders offered clarification. “It’s supposed to be cold but not frozen,” one wrote. “They’re kept in the cooler.”
The Mary Sue has reached out to @tipsytreenursery via a TikTok direct message and to Olive Garden via email.
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