Olive or Twist — Restaurant in Baton Rouge

when Olive or Twist first opened, it absolutely blew up because it was a sophisticated, upscale bar with intimate lounge seats that were PERFECT for bringing a date. their drinks were fresh and creative. they also had a small food menu of maybe 5-10 items, and that’s all they needed. I and all my friends were in love with this special place.

a few years after opening, the owner made a decision to knock down a wall and expand into the adjacent space to create more room. now that would have been great if they had kept their same vibe, but for some reason, they decided to put in regular dining tables and added a lot more food to the menu, transforming it into more of a restaurant with a bar, rather than a bar with a food menu. the food went very noticeably downhill, and the overall cleanliness of the place went noticeably down hill. after they expanded, it was just consistently louder, dirtier, and too much like any other restaurant. the worst part is probably that it lost its unique, special, clean vibe. i am basing this off of at least 7-10 visits since they expanded.

i went a few weeks ago on a sunday at 3pm. it was packed. the dining room was absolutely wrecked with trash and food all over the floor. it was very warm in there like the A/C was playing on its phone instead of cooling the place. the sun was shining through the windows, so i could see the windows were totally covered in smudges (even high up where people can’t reach), like they hadn’t been cleaned in ages. we ordered a couple drinks and then asked for the check. i’m telling you, this place used to be one of THE MOST popular places in Baton Rouge. the drinks are still good, but the intimate vibe is lost, the upscale-but-reasonably-priced part is lost, and now it’s always dirty and has too much of a food smell.

i’m very forgiving and really don’t like leaving negative reviews, but i’m personally so disappointed about what Olive or Twist turned into, and again, this is based on 15-20 visits before their expansion and 7-10...

Several months ago, after leaving Olive or twist I noticed a little dog in a parked car with no ventilation whatsoever. Every window was up and all doors were locked.. I approached the dog, clearly he was struggling in our Louisiana heat. I then noticed the passenger door was unlocked. A young Caucasian man approached me, he was extremely rude. He asked why did I let his dog out the car. I told him that it’s illegal to leave your animal in your car with no ventilation.. He then told me I wasn’t welcome back at Olive or Twist. On Friday, 5/21 between the hours of 10ish pm & 11:00pm I sat at the bar at Olive or Twist, I order 1 glass of wine. After receiving my drink, the bartender tells me I have to leave because the cook said he doesn’t want me there. And that I can never come back to their establishment.. (mind you I’ve been to Olive several time after the incident). I asked why would I have to leave when this incident didn’t happen at Olive or Twist. I asked the head bartender to speak to the cook, he refused. The bartender took my full glass of wine, and dumped into a plastic cup, then told me I had to leave the premises. I felt attacked & bullied! I’m writing this because I would never want anyone else to go through this! Meanwhile I asked the Bartender for my money back because it’s unlawful to walk out of a restaurant with a alcohol beverage, meanwhile he was still being disrespectful to me and taking shots with his coworkers on the owners tab (I believe please see cameras). He was definitely under the influence, with a full bar..

The bartender gave me my money back and I left.

I hope the dog loving owner reads...

I came with my brother, 2 nephews and my child to get out the house and enjoy the day a little and it was slightly ruined by this experience. The restaurant was hot like the air was broken. The ladies room was filthy. The floors were dirty and sticky. My nephew had chicken and waffles and said his food was under seasoned and the waffle was nasty. My child enjoyed her burger. My brother said his food was overcooked. And my shrimp and grits came w more sauce than grits so I ordered more grits. However, when I went to put the extra grits in w the original dish served I found a bug in the bottom of them and could not eat any of it. They made another shrimp and grits to go for me. However, they packed the grits in one container, shrimp in another, and just put the sauce in the bottom of the box that two other containers set inside of. That’s unsanitary and I now can’t enjoy what’s left of the sauce which defeats the purpose of the dish a little bit. By the time I made it home, most of the sauce leaked into the bag and my car. Then the waiter added gratuity for 4 people who were wildly unpleased with the overall experience. Thing is I was going to tip him well for his efforts but that was a whole lot of audacity for him to do so himself. Ps the manager never came out to acknowledge or apologize for the bug in my food. Never coming back and...