Fat Olive Restaurant — Restaurant in Wigan

Please be aware that this restaurant closed late in 2024 then shortly afterwards reopened under new management, so reviews posted before that date are no longer relevant. I had previously eaten here on a number of occasions prior to the closure and both the food and service at that time were fantastic. Sadly, this is no longer the case. After our party had arrived and we had been seated we were left waiting for 30 minutes before having our order taken. During this time, at least two other tables nearby had people seated after us and their orders taken, with one table already having their first course served. The food took another 30 minutes to arrive and was hit and miss. The cajun chicken had a vaguely cajun flavour to it but was not remotely spicy and had a bland sauce with it. The beef brisket, by comparison, was excellent - perfectly cooked with tasty mash, carrots and gravy. Sadly, this was the only high-point of the evening. After finishing our main course we had to wait another 20 minutes before someone came to clear our table and ask if we wanted the dessert menu. After we said 'Yes' that person went off and disappeared. After another 10 minutes one of our party walked the eight paces to a nearby table to get the dessert menus for us. It felt as if we had been deliberately seated at the table that was specifically to be ignored all night, and while this was going on, other tables around us were being seated, orders taken and food brought out quite quickly. Anyway, after yet another 10 minutes someone took our dessert order, which took just under another 15 minutes to arrive, and just as the desserts were being brought to us, the guy who had originally said he was going to get the dessert menus rocked up with - you guessed it - dessert menus. You could not make this up. So, the desserts. The creme brulee - which this place was renowned for - was merely average and nowhere near as good as it used to be. And the sticky toffee pudding was also average and only warm - not even slightly hot, just warm. To sum up, the food is nowhere remotely as good as it used to be and the service was completely woeful. The only partially redeeming thing here is that the prices are reasonable, but that doesn't excuse the food being mediocre and service almost non-existent. It really does pain me to say this, but I would seriously advise anyone thinking of dining here to go elsewhere as there are plenty of other restaurants in Wigan that provide much better food and service at a similar price, or even go the half mile up the road to the Wetherspoons Brocket Arms and eat there as both the food, price and service are in my opinion, leagues ahead of the Fat Olive. And if that sounds harsh, I'm just being honest, as what we were expecting to be a tasty and enjoyable meal with decent service - something this place used to excel at - ended up being a truly...

(Management please read this review) This review is by no means a reflection on how this wonderful restaurant was pre-covid (this is one of my favourite places to eat). The service is always excellent and done with a smile. The food is good value and always delicious (especially the cheese cake) and normally I would have given this restaurant 5 stars (I think I have in the past) as the food and service again was great on my latest visit also. However what concerned me greatly was the distinct lack of social distancing and lack of awareness of the danger posed by covid 19 shown by the staff. Firstly, my information was not recorded with regards to track and trace. Yes I know they have signs at the door and hand gel, and yes as far as I can tell the customers were socially distant. However the staff made no attempt to keep out of each others way, chatting at way less than one metre (never mind two) with each other and customers, and when at the pass they where stood right next to each other with not one mask or visor in sight and at no point did I see any member of staff use hand gel between dealing with different customers. I witnessed staff touching customers and the waiters stood right next to customers when taking orders (again with no masks). I know it must be difficult working as usual in a restaurant, but you need to realise nothing is 'usual' right now! Please please please learn to work in a socially distant way and make this your new 'usual'. Although I enjoyed my food I felt very uncomfortable with what I witnessed on my last visit and was glad to get out of the place by the time I'd finished my meal. I know this is the last thing the management won't as they always go out of their way to make people feel welcome. However I will not be returning to this restaurant until they can prove they have become more covid secure. I understand people want to get back to 'usual' but in order to achieve this people need to feel confident that they are safe, on my visit I did not! Please, please invest some time in this part of your customer service for your sake and your customers sake. Please do this soon because I really look forward to my next visit and I hope it's not when covid is over. On reflection I do regret not voicing my concern at the time (I apologize for this) but it has bothered me so much since I felt I needed to write this review. I hope you...

A surprise meal for my partner 21st birthday. Organised via booking form on the website.

Got there to be greeted by a manger and taken to the table where others had already arrived. At no point did we get told drink were being billed separate to food so sat down and waited to get a drinks order taken. No one came, went to the bar and got served.

Took a long time to come and take our food order ( table of 14) none the less the restaurant was empty.

Starters came, while the person was serving he was trying to carry multiple meals at a time and dropped one all over my partner and myself. This has stained his brand new white polo shirt and my jeans. This meal was replaced but still shouldn’t have been dropped in the first place as the person who had to wait for there starter was eating when the rest of the table was finished.

Main meals came and to say I was disappointed was an understatement. The chicken in both the carbonara and chicken and chorizo pasta tasted and looked like it had just been bought ready cooked from Asda ( such as what you’d find on a sandwich) Desert menus came and not only had they given us a menu with a child’s drawing all over the back, the deserts were very limited. When the deserts came they looked as though they had been thrown onto the plate. Half 9 came and the restaurant was empty and we felt as though they was rushing us to pay and leave.

When paying the bill I refused to pay for the spilt food and the manger made a comment on “we did get you a fresh one”. And told me they had taken it off the bill and the desert for my partner. They have stated they will pay for the dry cleaning, but the incident should never have happened in the first place. The manner of the staff wasn’t very welcoming asked for water and the jug got banged on the table and no glasses brought as this was too much effort for them.

To add to the horrible experience when getting home most of our party felt unwell throughout the night and can only put this down to the food at the restaurant we had eaten.

Would not recommend, this used to be one of the best in town but not anymore we shall not...