Olive’s Fresh Pizza Bar Excelsior — Restaurant in Excelsior

This family owned business knows all about hospitality and making amazing pizzas in their wood fired oven! You can even watch your pizza being made! When we were last here our family ordered three 15" pizzas - The Alaskan (smoked salmon - $26.00), the Greek (lamb & feta - sadly no longer on the menu), the Chevrenth Heaven (goat cheese & Applewood smoked bacon - $24.50) & the Cecilia (sausage, pepperoni & gorgonzola - $24.00) - Everyone shared. They were all so tasty! Nicely done interior, the decor, tables & chairs suit the place. It's definitely family friendly but still supply adults with great local beers and a tasty wine list! The service is great, they know a lot about the menu and the food they are serving. You can even order take out. But if you're planning on eating there get a seat early the place fills up fast!

Update 2021: Since the Covid-19 Pandemic our family has ordered some great take out Pizzas from Olive's over the past year! We are so grateful & thankful for ya'll...you're awesome!! Here's some New Photos of new pizza tries as well as some good ole' reliable ones we love!

The 15" - Italian Farmer ($24.00) - It's Garlic & Olive Oil Based. Roasted Garlic Parmesan Chicken, Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, Sliced Zucchini, Mushrooms, Red Onion, Sweet Bell Peppers, the Signature Farmer's Sauce, Applewood Smoked Bacon & Shaved Parmesan. Very zesty refreshing flavors. You knew that the veggies used for this pizza were fresh and the roasted chicken was juicy & tender, not dried out.

The 15" - Half Fresno & Half Alaskan ($26.00) - Fresno Half - Garlic & Olive Oil Base, Shredded Mozzarella, Sliced Fig, Red Onion, Gorgonzola Cheese, Prosciutto, topped with Gourmet Greens, Aged Balsamic Glaze, Fresh Shaved Pear & Shaved Parmesan. One of my favorites! Bold, salty yet sweet flavors that pair so great together along with the use of the fresh greens to mellow it all out. The sweetness of the Balsamic Glaze really melds together the saltiness of the Prosciutto and strong flavor of the Gorgonzola Cheese. I always keep going back for more. Alaskan Half - Cream Cheese, Smoked Wild Caught Salmon, Sweet Onion, Capers, garnished with Fresh Dill, Shaved Parmesan & Sliced Lemon. Another one of my favorites! I love Salmon, especially when it's properly prepared. It's perfectly smoked, not dry at all and all the flavors come together with ease. The cream cheese compliments the smokiness of the salmon while mellowing out the saltiness of the capers. It's a heated up version of Lox & Bagels only better!

The 15" - Thai Chicken Crunch ($24.00) - Thai Chili Ginger Chicken, Daikon Radish, Shitake Mushroom, Napa & Red Cabbage, Green Onion, Carrot, Cilantro, Chopped Peanuts, Lime, Wanton Chips & Peanut Sauce. The chicken is tender and flavorful, the whole pizza screams yummy Thai flavors that work wonderfully on a wood fire pizza.

The 15" - Sausage & Pepperoni Pizza ($22.50) - This pizza is pretty self explanatory. We order this one for the kids. It has nice chunks of Sausage as well as many slices of Pepperoni with Mozzarella Cheese . It's a very tasty "go-to" pizza for those who like the basics on their pie.

10/23/21 - Mom (Grandma) & I were watching my nephews over the weekend while my brother and sister-in-law were out of town. So, after our afternoon at the MN Arboretum we decided to have dinner at Olive's! Our server (wished I would have gotten her name), immediately recognized my nephews! She was wonderful, teasing my oldest nephew and making them both laugh. The "boys" ordered a large sausage pizza while Mom & I ordered a large Half Alaskan & Half Italian Farmer...Yum! I took my nephews up to see our pizzas being made, while waiting for them to go into the wood fire oven we were able to chat with the pizzaiolo (pizza maker). He was a lot of fun, the kids loved watching him, the pizzaiolo even allowed my oldest nephew to carry their fresh baked Sausage pizza back to the table...He was thrilled. So.....of course I have to add some more new photos of our...

Second review- pictures are from 1st review Ordered online - two personal pizzas, neither were cooked thoroughly. On one the cheese was barely melted, cold mozzarella topped the pizza. The Buffalo pizza had very little Buffalo sauce and cheese, with an overwhelming amount of big chunks of celery. The Buffalo pizza had very little flavor other than celery. When we went in to pick up our order we were not asked if we wanted napkins, peppers or cheese. I had to ask. Also, as I am creating my online order I wondered why I was prompted to leave a tip? I am going online and creating my order then getting in my car, driving, getting out of my car and walking in to pick up my order. Olives doesn’t deliver, so that can’t be a reason to tip. Why would I tip? For doing your job?

Prior review - 4 Stars - Ordered the personal Buffalo Chicken and Hawaiian pizzas. Extra thin, cracker crust, baked perfectly in a pizza oven. The Buffalo Chicken Pizza had super good flavors Buffalo sauce, diced chicken, crunchy celery, arugula and blue cheese dressing topped a wonderful crust. The Hawaiian pizza included thin sliced prosciutto, pineapple, arugula, and other toppings with a drizzle of balsamic glaze and macadamia nuts pieces. Good pizza, although the moisture in the pineapple made the middle of the pizza soggy. NICE selection of craft tap beer. This is a restaurant we will visit...

We come here all the time for pizza. Lately it has been terrible and inconsistent. A couple weeks ago the pizza was uncooked and cold and way to sweet. When we said something to the guy bringing it to the table he said the crust was done. What about the rest of it? No melted cheese cold tomatoes etc. Last night the pizza was so sweet it was like they added 10lbs of sugar to the sauce. We could hardly even eat it. We left 3/4 of the pizza. There should be a recipe that they follow. It was so horrible. The salad had a 2 cups of sun dried tomatoes and feta. We ran out of greens and there was a bowl full of goods wasted!!!! On our pepperoni olive and mushroom pizza there were probably 5 small mushroom pieces. on a large!! What a waste of money. It has been so inconsistent we have no desire to go back and this was one of our go to places. One great thing is the wait staff. They are on top of it and really friendly and care...