Black Olive Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Louisville

In a moment of indecision between fajitas and veal parmigiana I asked Google Maps for Italian or Mexican restaurants near me. Perhaps something there would help me choose. I was pleasantly and curiously surprised to find both cuisines, under two restaurant names, under one roof.

Greeted, just inside the out-of-order revolving door and next to the gum-ball machines, by a non-smiling girl dressed appropriately for lounging on a sofa and watching TV… I was then asked, in a tone that made feel like an interruption, “Italian or Mexican?”

With the complete absence of any enticing or interesting aromas to help me choose, and knowing I will be in Mexico in about two weeks, I chose Italian. She led me to a table in the Italian side of the building where the staff, all in professional black uniforms, were purposefully working. She tossed a menu and wine list on the table and silently returned to her post.

Now I may be mistaken but I do believe that veal parmigiana is supposed to have flavor and be neither crusty nor crunchy. The marinara on the side of spaghetti was too watery to cling to the pasta as sauce is intended. I was longing for fajitas.

The cheerfulness and positive attitude of Elly, and the other servers was the best part of the experience… while what I think was third-party focaccia bread and the coke were...

I stopped here for lunch and was originally going to the Mexican restaurant at the address. I was surprised to find this Italian restaurant sharing the building.

I was seated right away. My order of, I believe it was called tour of Italy, was placed. This plate included fettuccine Alfredo, lasagna, and chicken parm. The food came out incredibly fast. I immediately took a picture of the plate, knowing that there was no way the pasta was made fresh with the little amount of time it took to teach the table.

I'll start with the chicken. Zero taste. This seemed to be frozen prepared and not made at all in-house. There is no seasoning on the chicken. No sauce or cheese on the bottom pieces. The lasagna had a very strange texture to it and seemed tough. This was well undercooked. Again, there is no taste. The Alfredo was at least warm, unlike the rest of the dish. The taste was all from the Alfredo sauce and nothing else.

I needed to ask for grated cheese as it was not offered. The entire meal was overpriced and lacked taste and quality. I do not recommend this restaurant at all. Fazoli's has better food and is far less expensive. Save yourself time and money and...

This isn’t close to authentic Italian food. The food is very hit or miss.

Wait staff were prompt and seated us right away. Our waiter however could not remember anything. He brought us bread and sat it on the table behind him and forgot he sat it there. The bread was good but has powdered parmesan from a can. Everything has powdered parmesan on it. The marinara that comes with the bread is really good.

We each ordered a salad with our meal and despite the name there were no olives in the salad. The salad also wasn’t drained. We each had about a 1/4 cup of water in the bottom.

My wife ordered the spaghetti with meatballs. The marinara on that is different and tastes like it’s from a jar. The meatballs are definitely frozen and the pasta was rubbery.

I ordered the rack of lamb. The sauce that comes on them is very good. The lamb was tough and chewy. You also don’t get much lamb. Rack of lamb is usually cut 2 ribs per piece, theres is 1 rib per piece making it thin. The fettuccini that came with it was rubbery and not edible.

It was $60 for the two of us and for that price I expect better then frozen food. It’s seams like they have some good recipes but not...