Olive Garden Employee Refuses Service to Uniformed Police Officer

When I first saw the headline I thought it was a joke. I know there are a lot of businesses out there that have policies against firearms… anyone who carries concealed is familiar with that reality. I have never heard of a business refusing to serve a law enforcement officer.

Now official statements from Olive Garden suggest that it was all a misunderstanding but what is certain is that the employee had been told they don’t allow firearms and had NOT been told that law enforcement was an exception to that policy. Here is what the officer shared on Facebook after he left the restaurant.

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Olive Garden is owned by Dearden restaurants, the same company also owns Red Lobster. Here is what we heard from the company:

Rich Jeffers, a spokesperson for Olive Garden, said this type of of treatment is “highly inconsistent” with the chain’s business values. He also reported that the company’s president, Dave George, apologized to Holsworth and said police officers are always welcome inside their restaurants. –Source

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