Couple goes to Olive Garden. The family next to them nearly ruin their night: ‘Please please please complain’

Restaurants are special places. Unless you're forking over the big bucks, you're experiencing an intimate moment—sharing a meal—alongside other groups of strangers. Background noise is part of the deal, which means everyone in the room bears witness to birthdays, proposals, and the like.

But one couple says their latest Olive Garden visit came with a soundtrack they never ordered.

‘This Dinner Was an Actual Fever Dream'

Content creator Valerie Jeanne (@itsvaleriejeanne) shares footage from an Olive Garden dinner with her husband. Her video has since accumulated more than 184,000 views.

The video begins with Valerie Jeanne filming herself at the table. Audio from a neighboring table's iPad is blaring over the general noise of the restaurant for the entirety of the video.

“My husband and I went to Olive Garden and a family sat their 7 year old next to us with iPad at FULL BLAST,” she writes in text overlaying her video. “This dinner was an actual fever dream.”

Valerie Jeanne pans the camera to her husband, who sports an unamused look similar to her own. Later, her video shows him laughing in disbelief as the audio keeps playing. He shakes his head and says, “Same thing on a loop.”

Valerie Jeanne writes in her video that the audio was so loud and repetitive that she and her husband “started to memorize it.” She also says that at some point the parents “walked away,” leaving their child behind with the iPad.

In her caption, she adds, “To think I was worried my camera wouldn't pick up the sound enough … Thank goodness the breadsticks were good lol.”

Viewers were incensed in Valerie Jeanne's comment section, with many saying that “restaurants need to step in and implement low volume or headphones.”

“As someone working food service, please please please complain,” one viewer commented. “The more people complain the more likely a business is to step in or implement a policy.”

“The amount of adults that listen to their phones full volume or have full conversations on speaker phone is also annoying,” another wrote. “Has anyone heard of headphones?! The older I get, the less patience I have for this [expletive].”

Is It Bad to Play Audio Out Loud?

While a few consumers find it acceptable to play audio out loud, most people consider it inappropriate in public spaces.

A 2025 PCMag survey found 75% of American adults “consider it unacceptable to video chat or take phone calls on speaker without headphones in public spaces like coffee shops or grocery stores.”

Some institutions have started cracking down on such disruptive noise with new regulations. According to the Washington Post, United Airlines announced earlier this year that “listening to audio without headphones can now get passengers removed from a plane.” In London, Time Out reported in August 2025 that 70% of riders surveyed found loud “headphone dodging” disruptive. Transport for London can fine offenders up to £1,000. 

@itsvaleriejeanne

Subplot News reached out to Valerie Jeanne via TikTok comment, as well as Olive Garden via email.

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