Augusta Olive Garden announces opening date after second Olive Garden opens 20 miles away

Augusta's newly-constructed Olive Garden has announced an opening date – just one day after another new Olive Garden opened its doors across the Savannah River.

The city's Public Safety Committee met Tuesday to grant beer, wine and liquor licenses to both restaurants and package stores. Rachel Babcock, Olive Garden's onsite general manager in Augusta, topped the committee's list.

"Rachel, one question for you – how close are we to opening?" asked committee Chairman Sean Frantom, Augusta's District 7 commissioner.

"Nov. 27," she replied.

"Nov. 27 – love it," Frantom said. The motion passed the committee unanimously.

The new casual restaurant with an Italian-inspired menu will be at 804 Cabela Dr., in the Village at Riverwatch near Interstate 20.

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And it won’t be the only Olive Garden in the area. On Monday in Aiken, S.C., dozens of people lined up as the doors opened for a new Olive Garden at 2265 Whiskey Rd. A new building was constructed on the former site of a Golden Corral restaurant.

Augusta’s new Olive Garden had been hotly anticipated by area residents for more than a year. Its soon-to-be former location at 2736 Washington Rd. had sat on one of the remaining pieces of property that hadn’t yet been purchased by the Augusta National Golf Club.

Shell companies on behalf of Augusta National had been buying nearby properties for years to accommodate potential club expansions. Berckman Residential Properties bought Olive Garden’s nearly-2-acre piece of Washington Road property in August 2022.

No purchase price was made public, but the city records the property’s appraised value at nearly $2.7 million.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: New Augusta Olive Garden restaurant reveals long-awaited opening date