Olive & Grill — Restaurant in Los Angeles

My friends and I came to Olive & Grill on a Friday night for dinner and it was a pleasant surprise at how good the food was. This is a Mediterranean restaurant that also serves hookah, but we just had dinner so I will not be addressing the quality of the hookah in this review.

We had a reservation for 5 people at around 7pm, the table was ready and waiting for us so we got seated immediately upon arriving. The ENTIRE time we had an amazing and attentive waitress who was on top of her game named Eva (sorry if I that is not how your name is spelled) and on top of that, very entertaining the whole time, we had a blast with her fun and witty banter, just left us with a great impression of the establishment.

The food was so good, I can’t wait to go back for more. We ordered Kibbeh nayeh (chi-kofta), Cheese fatayer (boreg), Beef lula plate with extra skewer, Combo beef plate, Chicken breast plate. The appetizer Kibbeh Nayeh came with a good sized portion we split with 5 people, doable if 5 large guys are being conservative and if you split with 2-3 people would be quite a hefty portion, flavor was good, texture was good, would order again. The appetizer Cheese Fatayer came hot and full of flavor, a bit light on portion, it was 6 pieces, but it was actually 3 of them cut in half, that could use a few more pieces, maybe, what can I say we like fried cheesy goods… the beef bbq plates were all a hit, the beef lula and the steak cuts were the highlights of my dinner, the steaks were marinated well and so perfectly tender I contemplated order another but the portion was so filling I could only wait until my next visit to have more. I did not personally try the chicken breast my friend ordered but for someone who likes chicken breast, he had a so-so opinion on it which I’ll take with a grain of salt since I’m already not a fan of chicken breast. All the entrees come with substitutable sides for an extra fee, there’s quite the list of things to choose from. As I mentioned, they also serve hookah, we didn’t have any but it also seemed very overpriced. They also had a full bar, we didn’t order drinks either.

The seating is semi-outdoor, it’s like a well covered patio with plants everything, like a very nicely organized and landscaped back yard. The tables included ones where you’d sit upright like an average dining table and others much like a booth table, I’m sure some people would see value in the options of choosing which they’d prefer.

The atmosphere was nice and chill, much like us, others were there with their friends just hanging out, having dinner and some have hookah as well.

The location is in studio city and there is always a parking issue there BUT this location has a dedicated parking structure which is so nice and a valet! The parking structure was actually so cost effective and pretty much unoccupied at the time of our visit.

Overall, loved our experience there and absolutely plan to go again...

Good but you can’t have it all!

When you enter Olive & Grill from the back, you see the beautiful lamps guiding your way. When you enter it: “Wow! What a beautiful place!”

The interior held in black & white colours, the lights on the swirling mirrored in the bar wall created a very romantic atmosphere! The cosy sofas and the outdoor rooftop feeling made you feel you are in a different word.

Unfortunately the first encounter and following service did not continue the romantic experience: 3 waiters seems busy, we had to ask multiple times for the same thing and repeat 4 times same order for them to write it down.

We got middle size plates served for us like you use for breakfast at home and in the end it felt more like a being full from snacks than a 100+$ dinner.

Hummus, tzatziki and baba ganush (my fav) - trio was delicious. Hummus could have had more garlic and character for my taste. Tabuleh was meh… just ok for me, for my partner too much lemon and too much parsley. Also, a little detail: after travelling to Middle East I’ve expected the parsley being the more the tasty ‘Italian flat leave’ one and not the ‘curly leave’ one that in other cuisines used more for decorations.. the bulgur was a bit too hard and it was too little of it in the salad. For Moussaka I already lured my partner into the main dish piece of { oven crispy layered ‘eggplant lasagna’ - look… keep dreaming girl }, but instead we got just a middle size bowl delicious but kind-of-tomato paste - garlic- onion rather dry sautéed veggies what was my sincere disappointment… I guess everyone does Moussaka own way here in Los Angeles? To be fair: Borek was crispy, cheese with herbs filling was really yummy and greatly served on a rectangular plate… but for my taste: a bit too over fried on one end. The fresh mint leaves tea and fantastic vanilla custard Napoleon (huge 16$ piece we ate the day after) balanced out the ‘meh’ food - experience.

The cool club music, the romantic Ambience and sweet desert happy ending made it up for just four stars.

It’s a great place for friends gatherings rather than a eat-well romantic dinner. Romantic tea, dessert & a private snuggle...

This is the second time we have come to dine here now. I genuinely love the food, the Lula is fantastic, and the starters and sides are great price as well with lost of flavor. The food here is by far the best part of the experience and is what brought me back the second time. Now, the service, on the other hand, is unfortunate. The first time me and my husband and I brought his brother for a special occasion. This I noted in the reservation, typically you would expect your host or server to read the reservation notes and acknowledge this. It didn't happen that's okay I chalked that one up. We just went somewhere else for that special dessert, no problem. But the food was so good despite the bad service we can back with my mother in law. This is when the bad service bothers me enough to review. Both times, we came on a Monday and had Gabrielle as our server. He won't refill water unless you waive him down. He doesn't make your stay stand out. He also clearly doesn't study your menu. I had ordered the yerevan both times and I loved it. I wanted to order a paperplane next he told me he didn't have the Amaro, and even though it's in the drink, I had already ordered twice.. It's not that big of a deal. The problem is when you're spending close to $500 for 4 people, and you can't even bother your server for water with out a attitude. I asked the other server I believe Henry as he walked by for a refill with water and he couldn't be bother he said let me find your server mind you we were 1 of 2 tables there at this period of time. They don't check in on you or ask how anything is. I recommend them for their food and their yerevan cocktail. If you want good service or attention to detail like you should have when paying these prices, you' better off somewhere down the street. The vibes of the decor and hookah are nice, not worth the 50 for a bowl either. I have got to say the fire presentation is great for their food, if only the service matched, they...