Pros
The only good reason to work at Olive Garden (Darden) as a server is basically the same as for any typical restaurant... the hours. If you are a student, a parent or have another reason for needing flexible-ish hours, then it is a decent place to work because they usually have a large server staff that can provide flexibility if you need to change your schedule sometimes
Cons
It is a very oppressive work environment dictated by the corporation and their ever evolving and progressively constricting standards. I began working there in 2007 and the work environment conditions got consistently worse over the years. To this day, I keep hearing from my former fellow employees how much more oppressive it continually gets. For the amount of money you make, the company demands too much of you. Your job is constantly in jeopardy and management does not let you forget it. It is not only the serving staff that is micromanaged, it is the entire store staff. The company has no problem firing anyone for any small reason, management as well. 3 general managers, 4 managers and countless other staff were fired for mostly inconsequential things during the 4-1/2 years I worked there; while others got away with everything. There was no rhyme or reason to job security, you never knew who was going to be axed from one day to the next. I was stressed out every shift, afraid I would be fired next until I finally found another job and was able to quit. The company takes "the customer is always right" to a ridiculous level and the customer, regardless of how out of hand they are, holds your job and your dignity in their hands. I have personally witnessed many situations of outright fraud on a customers behalf that was rewarded by the corporation. Even those situations that were documented to corporate by store managers. To come into work every night and be lectured on how awful your performance is (as a whole - this is the speech you get as a collective before every shift) and threats of losing your job before every shift does not make it a nice place to work. The clientele has gotten progressively worse as they have learned how much they can get away with. It is NOT a good work environment and definitely not worth the stress and small amount of money you make.