Olive Tree Restaurant — Restaurant in Crystal River

My husband and I took our two boys and my little brother who was staying with us to the Olive Tree for dinner one night. I had read good reviews about the restaurant and it's food. Prices were fair so we decided to try it out. Our server was great, very attentive, quick to bring refills and pleasant. The food was very good, portions were great and I LOVE that the kids meals are only a $1! We were very happy with our first experience. Our second experience, well that was not as good. Our service was not as good as before. We had to wait for drink refills and it wasn't as prompt. The rolls were hard but the portions were still good and three of the four meals were good. My mother ordered the Spinach Pie. She took one bite and it turned her stomach. She has ordered Spinach Pie at her local restaurant several times and love it. She said the Spinach Pie here was not good. I went to the register to ask for a menu so my mom could look to see if she wanted to order something else. It took our server a very long time to return to our table. In the time that it took her to return to the table my mother's stomach got very upset. My son had not finished his buttered spaghetti so I offered it to my mother so she would not get sick. When the server finally came back to our table I told her that my mother did not like her meal and that I would like her to remove it from our bill. She said she would have to talk to her manager. She returned a couple of minutes later and said that she could not remove it from the bill but that she could box it up for us to take home. I told her that we did not want to take it home and asked why her manager would not remove it from the bill. She just kind of shrugged so I asked to speak to her manager. The manager came to the table and informed us that she would not take the meal off because it was not prepared poorly my mother just did not like it. I have never in all of my time dining out ever had a manager act this way. It's good customer service to at least offer to make the customer something else. We had planned to each get dessert but when the manager was so rude we decided to forget dessert. My mother ended up being sick to her stomach the rest of the night and most of the next day from that one bite of Spinach Pie. I feel there was something wrong with it. I am sad that the manager we had on our second visit was so rude and did not appreciate our business because we really liked that restaurant but I will never step foot in their...

After finding out a "Authentic Greek" restaurant while in town I was excited! Unfortunately this is one of those rare moments that not only was it a total disaster but I felt like I was on a bad episode of Gordon Ramsey television show.

Upon arrival to the run down strip mall, I saw an old man smoking outside and excited asked himhow the was the food? His response "ok" (CLUE).

As I walked in the layout was very bland and awkward with old greek murals on the wall. We sat a what appeared to be a bar but with more a dinner mentality.

While looking at the menu, I ordered a Stella. Then I should have realized it was time to leave.

The waitress started to look in cabinets for a wine. Thankfully, the other waitress who held the counter up let her know it was a beer. But didn't tell her how to serve it and was served in a plastic mug. Ok strike one, no big deal.

I asked about some menu options and my waitress admitted she was new, so I ordered saganaki and a small spinach/feta filo pie that sounded amazing.

I was served my pie first as the saganaki was forgotten. After looking and tasting it, it was that of a wet diaper wrapped in toilet paper made more than a week ago. I asked when they made it and insisted it was today. It was reheated so much the bottom was burnt and the top was dry. My side Greek salad also looked like someone dumped a can of pepper all over it. Strike two...

As I sent it back, I heard the manager blame it on the waitress for getting a corner piece (it could have been the middle, it was days old!) We also noticed the dishwasher smoking a cigarette through the door washing dishes! Are you serious!!! And yet not one person offered me something else, including the manager. Now I'm getting ready to pay and leave.

Then my saganaki (cheese/oil substance) came out. The experience of that was when you make a grill cheese and some is on the pan. The cheese was a hard crusty substance that was served with stale "pita" which was more like a tortilla. Strike Three...

How this place has good reviews or is still in business can only be from senior citizens who dine here with no taste buds. There is nothing Greek or sanitary...

The previous week, I picked up a couple of gyros to go, so I decided to dine in this visit. Both times, Debbie took care of me, and she was a wonderful server. Very friendly and courteous, she answered my questions and made every attempt to ensure she took my order correctly. I decided to get the gyro deluxe - gyro with fries and a Greek salad. The Greek salad was actually very good, with lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, olives, and feta cheese crumbles and a little Greek seasoning sprinkled on top. It is served with Greek dressing, but tastes great without any dressing as well. The gyro and fries came out nice and hot. I like my gyros tomato only, add feta, and I must say there was plenty of gyro meat, tomato, and feta cheese on this gyro. I asked about the branding of the pita and meat, and was pleased with the answer provided, as the meat was definitely not lesser quality, pre-sliced that too many places carry these days. (There is good quality pre-sliced gyro meat out there but not too many places carry it.) The fries were pretty tasty as well. Not the usual fare found everywhere else. They had a nice outer crispness to them, while quite flavorful on the inside without being starchy. Good place to go for gyros and other Greek food in...