Olive Lebanese Eatery Express — Restaurant in Arlington

A friend and I sat outside on a Saturday and ordered 2 breakfast items. The pancakes were fine, but the French toast was raw inside. When the waitress, who already had a bad reaction to somebody trying to walk in with a cup of coffee (she assumed something was wrong with his coffee when all he wanted was more coffee) asked us how everything was, we showed her the French toast, which we're only able to eat about half of because it was undercooked and the egg was dripping out. She said that you should have just told me, let me give you an order that is cooked properly, which is a good response. I thought we were fine.

She came back from the kitchen, presumably after talking to somebody there, telling us that we had not eaten raw eggs, and the French toast is only dipped (not soaked) in the egg. We are sitting there looking at the over soaked item with raw egg dripping out of it, and asked her what is that coming out of the French toast then? She repeated herself about there being no raw egg added only being dipped in the French toast and not soaked. She got mad at my friend, said defensively that she wasn't being defensive, and told her that she should not be looking down on waitresses during covid-19 (something she was not doing anyway), and that she (waitress) makes more money on her other job than my friend does. Meanwhile, she has no idea what my friend does for a living and that's not somebody you tell anybody in any customer facing job.

Also, she gave us the wrong check, one from a larger party, but that's an honest mistake.

So, I could have written an actual review on my restaurant review website, and I still can, but at least here on google there is a chance of good reviews averaging out mine, if they improve service.

Will we ever go back? No.

Does Olive have potential? Yes, the pancakes were good, and the French toast would have been good if cooked all the way through. Let's just hope the waitress was just having a bad day, and from here on and everybody gets at least average service. In that case, this could be a restaurant for others to try out of the future. Their location is easy to miss, and it's new, so it definitely could use...

We come about once a month and all the food here is great. but this, this is a Is a story about a boy, his dad and a reuben.

During the summer when I was a kid I would go to my dads restaurant and hang out with him while he was cooking. (He was a exec chef for a place in DC. I dont remember which but I know it was owned by Augers which also owned Blackies House of Beef.) My dad was a master at his craft, cooking amazing dishes from all over the world.

When lunch time came I had his world of knowledge at my disposal and palate. Problem was, I was 8. I didn't care about any of that stuff. All I cared about was one thing. A sandwich. One he made for me countless times for lunch over many summers. When I was old enough to care I asked him what It was; It was a Reuben.

I remember it like it was yesterday. That first bite into that hot corned beef, while simultaneously tasting the sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and thousand island dressing. A classic juxtaposition of savory and sweet, while adding salty and tangy to keep you in awe. All wrapped up in mouth watering butter toasted rye bread. Its one of my favorite memories as a kid. Getting to have that, everyday. All I had to do is say when.

My dad died in 2000. Leaving behind a legacy of great cooking and me with a fond memory of summers spent in his kitchen eating what now is my favorite sandwich of all time.

I have few regrets in life. One is that I didn't learn how to make it the way he did. Since my teenage years I've been on a "Quest" if you will, to find the perfect Reuben. I've probably had hundreds over the years. A few have been pretty good but none have been my dads. Today, that changed. Today at Olive Express, after that first bite, I was 8 years old again, sitting on the prep table in my dads kitchen eating the best sandwich I've ever had.

Dad, they make the second best Reuben I've ever had, I wish you were...

I placed an order at this store, thinking it was the Lebanese place right next to my office. However, I realized that it was a different location far from me after seeing the pick-up address. I immediately called the store and informed the lady about my order. She acknowledged seeing my order but advised me to call DoorDash to cancel it, as the order was placed through DoorDash, even though it was for pick-up. I promptly contacted DoorDash to cancel the order, and they in turn called the store. Unfortunately, the store had already prepared the food and was unable to cancel the order, despite my efforts to notify them within a few minutes of placing the order.

Upon calling the store again, a lady answered and asked me to hold, engaging in casual conversation and laughter while I waited. When she returned to the phone, I explained the situation and mentioned that I had called twice before to cancel, but now I was unable to do so. In a rather mean manner, she responded that since the food had been prepared, I should not have placed the order if I couldn't pick it up. I am extremely disappointed with the way she handled the customer service. Now, I am left with the burden of paying for food that I am unable to pick up.

It would have been a different scenario if I had called the store 10 minutes later but I called immediately. I am thoroughly disappointed with the customer service provided by the lady, as it came across as mean, unprofessional, and ignorant.

Update/Reply to the owner’s comment:

Wow! What kind of customer service is that?

I immediately contacted you and DoorDash, and I have all the details in my call history. The entire conversation took place in under 10 minutes. It's unwise to lie about what happened in the review to the customer. You really need to improve your customer...