Olive's Mediterranean Cafe — Restaurant in Lancaster

I went with my husband to have lunch, accessed from the back door, from what it was a horrible parking site. The restaurant looked clean, with tv on playing music. The server was not interested in my allergies, when I requested no white or black pepper on my food, also did not have Persian tea but offered me a different option. Things I liked were the tea and the hummus. The rest of the food was not good at all. Rice was mashed, not long grain and had a weird noodle type of onion all over. Shawarma meat was overcooked and very oily, the lulekh kabob had too much seasoning and it was dry. Not even once the server asked if we needed anything. At the end, the server asked us if we liked the food, to what we said no. She responded, “Mediterranean food can be different”, assuming we did not know anything about the type of food we ordered, wrongly assuming our culture as well. And she talked over us so she had no interest in what we had to say. My husband grew up eating Assyrian food at his home, here in America, we enjoy mostly Persian food as often we can. Loving places like Shiraz, in Glendale, I can assure no ignorance on the subject. Based on our bad experience, not...

Disgusting, the hummus was bland and gritty, I've had better store bought hummus. The baba ganoush was overwhelmingly seasoned with smoked paprika to the point that it was all I tasted. The tabouli salad if I can describe it in one word it would be "YUCK" it reminded me of the pulp that is left over when I make my green juice. The falafel was cause for more disappointment as it was void of flavor and lacking in texture. The dolma was absolutely disgusting I would have been more satisfied with a Vlasic dill pickle the brined flavor was offensive and overshadowed any other flavors that was present. The most disappointing of all was ordering what appeared to be "based on the pictures on the menu" hand cut seasoned fries and receiving store bought frozen crinkle cut fries under cooked and unseasoned. If I didn't have to drive across town I would've got my money back for this poorly executed meal, considering the fact it ended up being thrown in the trash. On a positive note the rice was light and fluffy and rather tasty that's the one good thing I have to say about my visit to...

Excellent food. Spanikopita is great as an appetizer. The layers are nice and crisp. With a wonderful cheese and spinach crunch. Hungry yet? Dolma has a hot and cold version, and both are excellent. The cold one is soft and they cooked the grape leaves right so they are smooth when you chew. This is a good sign that they take care to add the extra prep time needed for the grape leaves to come out right. The hot version adds beef which has a hint of spice. The smoothness and prep time were attended with the same detail and care as the cold version. Chicken swarma is also a favorite. Truth be told, it was the weakest of the bunch. Not to say it wasn't excellent, but that this area had room to improve. It wasn't made in the classical style, and the spices were weaker than I'd prefer. Which is to say improvement here would make this a world class selection. And this is just Lancaster California. All in all, this place exceeds...