The Olive Tree Restaurant - Hiram — Restaurant in Hiram

I typically do not leave reviews but I feel that my experiences the last two times I have gone to the Olive Tree in Hiram need to be documented. If I could give it less than one star I would because against my better judgement I went to the restaurant yesterday to grab something to go. As soon as I walked in the young man behind the podium at the front door looked at me and stared at me for a few moments before finally asking what could he do for me. I stated that I would like to place an order to go and he just looked dumbfounded as if I was speaking a foreign language. After I stood there for about fifteen seconds with nothing but silence a woman came over and told me that the wait time for a to go order was at least and hour to an hour and a half. Now I recognize that wait times can be long, especially when a restaurant is busy but I did not see many customers being served and close to two hours for a pizza seems excessive.

Normally I would chalk this up to the place perhaps being short staffed or it being busy but let me explain why I earlier stated "against my better judgement" About a three weeks ago I went to the same restaurant for dinner (this place is unfortunately the only Italian restaurant close to my house) and was told that the wait for a table was about ten minutes. Nearly half an hour later I was finally sat at a table in the rear of the restaurant in a cramped corner. I sat and I sat and I sat as all of the other tables around me were either being serviced, approached, or at least being acknowledge. After now being in this place for nearly an hour a man who I have to assume is a supervisor walked by me with a confused look on his face. He kindly asked me if I had been seen by anyone and I replied that I had not, that i felt offended and was about to leave. He apologized, asked me to stay and he immediately went to the back and I could hear someone being ordered to come out and help me.

I do not want to attribute my poor service on now two occasions to the fact that I am a little browner then the other people who were being served. I detest people who immediately make that leap but it is hard to not have that assumption when all of the other people being diligently served did not look like me.

I am saying all of this to say that I will NEVER go back to this restaurant. If anyone asks me about if they should go to this restaurant I will advise them of my experiences and tell them that they should be the judge of if they want to go. I have never been made to feel more uncomfortable or unwelcome in a restaurant and I will NEVER go back and be made to feel that way again. I will much rather drive forty five minutes to a place in either Cobb County or Douglas county that will make me feel welcome than...

The dinner experience started off really strong. The appetizers were a hit. We tried the crab cakes and the cheese saganaki.

The crab cakes were absolutely delicious. We loved how moist, seasoned, piping hot, and true to crab they were. The remolaude sauce served with them was perfect, tangy, and tart with just a hint of sweetness.

The cheese saganaki was a really fun experience. They brought out a crispy melty cheese slab, poured brandy on it, had us yell “opa!”, lit it on fire, then squeezed a fresh lemon over it. We did have to pick out the seeds though lol. Served with warm pita bread and having a very rounded oaky, lemony cheese flavor, made it very delicious overall.

My wife had a Caesar salad and she said it was pretty good. I had the Greek salad, which was all right. I remember having to pick out a big butt of lettuce stock. The house dressing they gave me with the Greek salad was a little weird, as I was really hoping for a Greek vinaigrette. The house dressing was kind of like an 1000 island, and the sweetness made the Greek salad way less authentic.

When we were given our entrées, it went from a great dinner to a very mediocre dinner.

I had the chicken parmesan. I always get that at a place that claims they have Italian food because a great chicken parmesan is (in my opinion) a staple of any Italian restaurant.

My spaghetti was cooked perfectly, but the sauce was not fresh and did not taste very good; it was watery and a little bland. The chicken was interesting because it wasn’t breaded, but it was very well seasoned. In addition they did not put enough cheese on top to make it a true chicken parmesan. The sauce definitely killed the experience because a freshly made and great tasting sauce is fundamental to any pasta dish. But with the appetizers being so great, I still thought that my dinner experience was pretty good…until I tried my wife’s entrée.

My wife could only eat a couple bites of her salmon piccata. She let me know she could not eat anymore or she was going to feel sick. We could kind of tell something was off because the sauce looked slimy, and when I tried it, it was gross. The flavor was alright, but the huge disappointment was how slimy and goopy the texture of the sauce was. You could taste the preservatives in it. It was obvious that it was frozen, then heated up, and poured over the dish. A dish like piccata should always have a fresh sauce; it’s not even that hard to make.

We did not try any desserts, and we don’t think we will be back unless we know that they are making fresh sauces in the kitchen from now on.

Service was great, and atmosphere was great as well! We hope this review will help this restaurant get back to its roots, because it has such...

2020 has been by far the worst year of my 63 years on this earth so far. It started with health challenges for the first time in my life that has made everything in life more difficult, then this conaravirus and the hysteria it has caused has taken away everything I love to go do (theater plays, movies and even most restaurants) All these hard hits have left me very depressed. It has left me looking all over for restaurants that I could go sit down in and eat at. I found one shining light in this desert of gloom, the Olive Tree Restaurant in Hiram. Thankfully Paulding County allowed it to be open to dine-in this long. I drove up there tonight from Atlanta and this place is a dream come true. it is amazing! I went up there for lasagna, one of my favorite things to eat. Everything I had to eat was totally wonderful, the service was fantastic, and the ambience of the over 100 year old building was fascinating to me, since I absolutely love old buildings!

The meal started with vegetable soup, which was wonderful, and a totally delicious yummy bread roll which melted in my mouth it was so good. Then came the fabulous hot tasty wonderful lasagna. It was so good I was sad when it was all gone. I thought that was it but there was more, a wonderful yummy cheesecake to top it all off. Then I was really sad when it was all over because everything was so good.

Peyton, my server, couldn't have been better. Her service was as exceptional as the food also was from beginning to end.

This conaravirus thing and what it has taken from me has been the worst thing I have ever had to live through and it figures to get even worse for me as everything I love to do is now closed to me. The one good thing that has happened to my life as a result of this conaravirus thing has been discovering the Olive Tree Restaurant. If I don't get to make it back before they close too, I will definitely be back when they reopen. One way or another I will definitely be back and I would recommend this place to anyone. Thank you Olive Tree Restaurant for being my shining light in the increasing gloom of closings and being my shining light...