Olive Garden DNP

[ChuckUFarley]

imported post


I have written a not so lengthy e-mail to Darden Restaurants Inc the parent company of olive garden, explaining my extreme disapproval of the treatment of twest



Dear Sir or Ma'am
"I am a Disabled Veteran of The Global War on Terrorism and served my country for 15 years in the Military, since I have been back in the states I choose to open carry a side arm (pistol) as it is my constitutional right, as it is for all Americans. This same right that many have fought and died for, it has recently come to my attention that one of your companies (Olive Garden) refused service to a friend of mine because he was carrying a side arm, I am needless to say very disturbed by this revelation that a company who profits off of the freedoms that the American Veterans provide would in turn refuse service to those sameAmericans who are doing nothing illegal by state or federal law, I know that as a private entity you may choose to ban firearms on your premises legal or not, as it is also my right to inform the Disabled American Veterans and Every other Veterans Groups about the treatment of our brothers in arms, since Olive Garden Claims it is store policy could you be so kind and to send me you're corporate policy so I may distribute it to all the local Veterans groups and Gun Clubs and Open Carry and Concealed Carry Orginizations so they may know not to frequent your establishments.

V/R
ChuckUFarley

I doubt this will do anything but this just made me mad.

 

[ChuckUFarley]

imported post

DrewGunner wrote:

Olive Garden sucks anyways.

:what:ROTFLMAO Dude i just spit my coke all over my computer screen, i havent laughed so hard in a while thanks.

 

[grishnav]

imported post

Damn. I like Olive Garden. And Red Lobster.

That sucks.

 

[just_a_car]

imported post

Mike wrote:

I think this might be a WalMart situation sort of - they obvioulsy are not pro-gun, but appear not inclined to enforce a ban at most or all stores - I think the best plan might be to STOP pestering corporate office (they might start enforcing a ban) and just discreetly open carry as much as possible in Olive Gardens around WA and USA.

I agree with Mike, here.

This seems to be the case with most Olive Gardens, most Costcos, and most Red Robins. They appear to have a corporate no-weapons/firearms policy, yet don't enforce it at the local level.

If the business is willing to allow us to OC in peace, I figure the local store has earned the right to my business.

Edit To Add: Also, Olive Garden has been on the DNP List (see the sticky) for quite some time, so this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. So has Costco. Red Robin, on the other-hand, I chose to leave off, as I have yet to hear of an actual case of someone being asked to "cover up or leave" in one of the restaurants, even though the report of their policy comes from surfj, a respected member of the forum. He reported it within the DNP thread on page 4: http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum55/3630-4.html

 

[grishnav]

imported post

Why did Red Robin come into this thread, anyway?

Are people confusing Red Robin with Red Lobster?

AFAIK, we still don't have verification on the red robin policy...

 

[just_a_car]

imported post

I brought up Red Robin as one of the corporations that has a written policy, yet the local establishments don't seem to enforce it.

surfj confirmed it by reading it himself when his girlfriend worked there (see the link I posted), so I'd say it's pretty clear, just not enforced, nor posted at any restaurant.

 

[Bill Starks]

imported post

When we had the meet in Seattle at Red Robin I made sure to personally thank the manager, Dave for hosting us. At no time was there mention of a Gun Free Zone policy.

 

[just_a_car]

imported post

M1Gunr wrote:

When we had the meet in Seattle at Red Robin I made sure to personally thank the manager, Dave for hosting us. At no time was there mention of a Gun Free Zone policy.

That's the second OC lunch that was held at a Red Robin without incident (one at Lynnwood, one in Seattle on the waterfront). This is one reason why I haven't added them to the list.

 

[ChuckUFarley]

imported post

If anyone is still intrested i finaly got a reply

Dear

We deeply respect and appreciate your perspective and motivation to contact us. Also, let me say that we are grateful to you and all the men and women of our armed forces for serving our country.

Olive Garden's focus is to provide all of our guests with a genuine Italian dining experience. Our policy regarding firearms in our restaurants is that we do not allow firearms except those carried by law enforcement officers. It is our position to restrict firearms from our restaurants, which the law allows under RCW 9.41.300(d). Based on the feedback we have received from our guests and employees, our policy is the best way to achieve our goal of creating a pleasant dining experience.

While Olive Garden creates procedures to share with employees, we do not produce a manual or statement to share publicly. Instead, we rely on our managers to communicate with our guests as the need arises.

We appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns, and we hope we may look forward to the continued privilege of serving you at Olive Garden.

Sherri Bruen

Manager

Olive Garden Guest Relations

 

[Bear 45/70]

imported post

ChuckUFarley wrote:

If anyone is still intrested i finaly got a reply

Dear

We deeply respect and appreciate your perspective and motivation to contact us. Also, let me say that we are grateful to you and all the men and women of our armed forces for serving our country.

Olive Garden's focus is to provide all of our guests with a genuine Italian dining experience. Our policy regarding firearms in our restaurants is that we do not allow firearms except those carried by law enforcement officers. It is our position to restrict firearms from our restaurants, which the law allows under RCW 9.41.300(d). Based on the feedback we have received from our guests and employees, our policy is the best way to achieve our goal of creating a pleasant dining experience.

While Olive Garden creates procedures to share with employees, we do not produce a manual or statement to share publicly. Instead, we rely on our managers to communicate with our guests as the need arises.

We appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns, and we hope we may look forward to the continued privilege of serving you at Olive Garden.

Sherri Bruen

Manager

Olive Garden Guest Relations

So the Olive Garden's policy is that they are bigots. They allow cops to carry but us substandard law abiding legal to carry citizens are not allowed too. Probably why the wife and I quit going to either the Olive Garden or the Red Lobster any more.

 

[Bill Starks]

imported post

When I was writing them about prior issues they gave me the same speech about RCW 9.41.300. I wrote them 2 times that the RCW in question did not apply to the whole place.

 

[joeroket]

imported post

So are they saying that .300 allows them to restrict firearms, or that it allows us to carry in the restaurant except for the places off limits to persons under 21?

Her statement is not very clear.

On a side not they are far from an authentic Italian dining experience. The food there is mediocre at best in comparison to real home cooked Italian food. I guess they have to keep reminding themselves that they are authentic.

 

[atkpilot]

imported post

Sounds like you handled the situation well. Did they make you pay for your meal?!

I have never OC'd, but I CC all the time!