Olive Garden opens Monday

Cami Joner/The Columbian Justin Temple, a bartender trainer, stocks the bar of the new Olive Garden in Vancouver. The restaurant will open for dinner at 4 p.m. Monday.

Vancouver’s new Olive Garden will open at 4 p.m. Monday, giving diners a new venue for Italian-style fare.

On the corner of Southeast Mill Plain Boulevard and 164th Avenue, the 246-seat restaurant is an example of the company’s Tuscan farmhouse design. It features wooden ceiling beams, tile flooring and seating fabrics imported from Italy, said Chuck Flor, director of operations.

About 172 employees will report to the new restaurant, said general manager Donna Martinson. It is Clark County’s second Olive Garden, which has operated from a single location near Westfield Vancouver mall.

“We start training our new team members (today),” Martinson said.

The task will be overseen by trainers from other Olive Gardens in Vancouver and Portland, she said. “The servers will learn about the food while the busers will learn how to balance a tray full of dishes,” she said.

The restaurant will also employ hosts, hostesses, line cooks and bartenders. Restaurant employees will earn hourly wages that range from the state’s minimum wage of $8.07 per hour to $13 per hour, plus tips for some positions, said Martinson, who has worked for Olive Garden for more than 23 years.

The restaurant is operated by Orlando-based Darden Restaurants Inc.