and … it’s finally here
With a parking lot looking much like many at Utah State University – including packed stalls and waiting vehicles – the Olive Garden opened its doors to Cache Valley at 3:45 Monday afternoon.
Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony and a quick photo, hungry patrons in the caterpillar-like line crept into the establishment. The line went out the doors, past new landscaping dusted in snow, and nearly to Main Street.
One hour later, a white-haired couple strolled hand-in-hand through the doors, without a line and without a wait.
“At one point we had a two to two and a half hour wait, around 6 p.m.,” said host Adrienne Christensen, a USU junior with an undeclared major. “There was standing room only in the walkway from 6 to 7.”
At 8:45 p.m., a steady stream kept coming through the double doors, but the wait had dwindled to around 15 minutes.
As hosts, Christensen, Ash Johnson, a cosmetology graduate, and Ashley Osborne, a USU sophomore studying elementary education, greeted guests all evening. They matched impeccably in black pants, white button-down shirts, signature Olive Garden pins and “real ties.”
“Let me tell you, I don’t know how to tie them,” Christensen said, laughing. “It’s the hardest part of the job.”
In addition to greeting guests, Olive Garden hosts help promote the chain’s service-oriented atmosphere, by escorting customers to tables or restrooms, rather than just pointing toward them.
And they offer “rain patrol,” too.
Pointing to an open-mouthed, 2-foot high ceramic vase filled with “green and white golf umbrellas,” Johnson and Christensen describe rain patrol duties.
“We use the umbrellas to escort guests out if it’s raining or snowing,” Christensen said. “They’re huge, they can fit about 10 people under them.”
The host trio joined all the Logan location employees for training last week, though only half of the total 165 employees worked opening day, Christensen said. The others would work Tuesday.
“The good thing about training was that they fed us all week, so we could try everything,” Johnson said. “And now, all employees get to taste the feature entre of the day.”
Monday’s feature was fettuccini alfredo, and it was excellent, Christensen said.
Inside, the tables and dcor could easily pass a white glove inspection, while the sound of guests’ chatter, servers’ bustle and Italian chords combined, bouncing off rock walls and tiled roofs. A cozy cottage feeling, complete with miniature arches, accented the atmosphere.
“The little arches are the real deal,” said Leslie Fitch, a USU international studies sophomore and opening night patron who traveled to Italy after high school.
Approximately half the staff has previous serving experience, Christensen said. She credited managers who told employees “to come and get [the managers] and let them stress about problems” if anything awry happened. A visiting manager from California told her the night was one of the better opening nights he’d seen.
“It’s been pretty smooth, with no big problems,” Osborne said at 9:40 p.m.
But by 10:30, minor drama did strike – dessert drama, that is. Logan’s Olive Garden depleted its entire supply of Black Tie Mousse Cake.
“That didn’t really bother me,” guest Joli Johanson said of the cake’s disappearing act. “Maybe I’ll be back again tomorrow.”
Olive Garden will open at 4 p.m. every day this week, and then be open for lunch next week. Their regular hours, which will begin during their third week of operation, are Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
-hilj@cc.usu.edu