Twenty years is a long time. A child born twenty years ago would be in their sophomore year of college right now. In the military 20 years qualifies you for retirement. Twenty years ago there was no Internet, no cell phones, and no Food Network.

Twenty years ago William Philips decided to take a break from attending the University of South Alabama and was naturally in search of a job. A new restaurant was preparing to open at the formerly benign corner of Airport Blvd. and Montlimar Dr. and they needed servers. It would do, for a while.

Twenty years later and Phillips is still at the Olive Garden. No longer a server, he is now the General Manager of the busiest restaurant in the city of Mobile. The numbers they do at the Olive Garden are staggering. The dining room seats roughly 275 people at a time yet waits are customary.

The kitchen staff is top notch as is the wait staff. When you do the volume they do there will always be times when things do not go as well as planned but the fact that people keep jamming the parking lot is testament that lapses in service remain the exception rather than the norm. In fact, the guest service under Phillips’ watchful eye has been so impressive that it recently earned him a trip to the famed Culinary Institute of Tuscany in the picturesque village of Riserva di Fizzano, Italy.

The school is part of Olive Garden’s rededication to genuine Italian cooking that began in 1995 when Bill Darden (Olive Garden creator) regained ownership from General Mills. The difference in a restaurant run by a restaurateur as opposed to a corporation is that restaurateurs treat customers like guests while corporations think of them as commodities.

When asked about Tuscany, Philips described it as, “A once in a lifetime thing. Just to see how they really do it in Italy. And then to see how closely we actually resemble it. A lot of our recipes are inspired in Italy and then to go over there and actually see it was awesome.”

Phillips has seen a lot of change in the Olive Garden and Mobile in his 20 years. When they first opened their doors in May of 1987 the only other restaurants in the immediate area were O’Charley’s (formerly located in the Festival Center parking lot) and Red Lobster (another Darden restaurant). At the time there were only two “big ole” computers for servers to input their orders. They have been described as looking like Volkswagen Beetles sitting on a counter.

Phillips says the food and décor have changed a lot over time, “There’s more color. More flavor in the food. More authentic Italy. When I first started working here the food was lasagna, spaghetti, and manicotti. People thought that was Italian. Now, you know, it’s more of Pork Filettino (grilled marinated pork tenderloin with rosemary demi glace and roasted potatoes) and Seafood Portifino (mussels, shrimp, and scallops in a garlic butter wine sauce over linguine).”

Other gastronomic changes over the years include a focus on fresh herbs and produce. Fewer dishes include red sauce which was virtually the only sauce two decades ago. Phillips credits the institute for creating a sincere Italian dining experience and for educating people on real Italian cuisine. There was a time when people thought of Italian food as just spaghetti with meatballs and lasagna. He says, “That’s not how people eat in Italy.”

Undoubtedly, new competition in the national market has played a part as well. The two main market competitors have recently opened within a mile on either side of the Olive Garden. Surely they have loosened the stranglehold previously enjoyed on Mobile’s Italian faithful. Not so says Phillips, “We haven’t felt it.”

Though Phillips’ longevity is anomalous in an industry where turnover approaches 100% it is not abnormal to his restaurant. There is actually another 20 year veteran, Marilyn Curtis. She and Phillips started together and were among the original staff when the doors first opened. Other “lifers” include bartender Brenda Freeman who will celebrate 15 years this fall, server Andrea Whitfield has logged nearly 12 years, the same is so for cook LaShandae Horace, and service manager George Arnold is a veritable rookie at just under eight years.

There are roughly a dozen more employees that have been there over four years. Such retention is virtually unheard of in the food service industry, which serves as yet another testament to Phillips and the passion with which he approaches his job. He says that he really enjoys the people and that is what has sustained his enthusiasm over the years. So visit William Phillips and crew for an authentic Italian experience.