The Olive Tree — Restaurant in Maryland

My husband and I ate here on a Thursday evening for an early (4:30PM) dinner. They weren't too crowded and the atmosphere was very nice. Tables were spaced far apart and parties were seated away from each other when possible as opposed to seating parties right next to each other.

The food was very good. We were immediately impressed by the complimentary salad and breadsticks that they give out to every table. The bread sticks were nice and airy and were seasoned well. The salad had lots of ingredients. We ordered the bang bang shrimp egg rolls (off their specials menu), grilled shrimp naples, a southern platter (comes with a small piece of veal parm, lasagna, and manicotti), and a canoli. Most of the food was great. However, The canoli was a bit soggy and for $7.25, i'd expect to get at least two instead of just one. But the filling was delicious.

We were a bit disappointed that they had run out of their tiramisu. We were told that it is very popular and they often run out. However, we were there at the beginning of dinner time, so we felt they really should've made more if they run out so early in the day. Perhaps we'll get to try it another time. Our waitress also mentioned that they used to serve creme brule (for 25 years), but it was recently removed from the menu. I definitely would've ordered that if it were still available.

Overall we were very happy with our experience here. The food came out quickly (probably too quickly since we could barely touch our salad and egg rolls before the main courses arrived). The service was friendly and attentive, and the manager was very nice and fun to talk to. We will definitely be returning. Hopefully the tiramisu will be there. And hopefully someday they will even bring back their...

The food is phenomenal and the wait staff is usually the same. This is one of the best restaurants in town, and some great go-to selections include any of the stuffed pastas, the eggplant parmesan, the chicken parmesan, and the spaghetti marinara (try it with angel hair pasta instead!).

Good but less tasty things include the Alfredo sauce and the lasagna. The Alfredo sauce just doesn't have quite as good of a flavor as I've had elsewhere, and the meat in the lasagna detracts from the overall flavor (I think using sausage is not the best choice).

When ordering a spaghetti dish, I usually ask for more marinara sauce. I don't think they serve enough, but I think that's a preference that ought not count against the restaurant; there is a fair amount of sauce included which is probably enough for most people.

When this place gets super busy, every server is hopping. There are no employees standing around our sauntering to their destination--they all have pep and work like their speed and efficiency matters. I don't recall any time when my order wasn't correct, either.

My biggest complaint would be when they host parties. This seems to be the go-to spot for parties on Sunday afternoon, and the noise level becomes a bit too high for the best dining experience. I'm not sure there's any good way to combat that without diminishing the atmosphere with ugly sound absorption devices, but if there is, I suggest to the restaurant to...

Went to celebrate my mom’s 65th bday tonight. When seated the table behind us was giving our waiter a hard time. When he came to our table no introduction of himself, took drink orders (out of Guinness) and started to walk away. We asked to order app. The tuna app with wasabi and the salad/breadsticks came out and we were done eating these before he brought any other drinks beside a water to my mom (without lemon). I ordered ice tea. I went to the bar to ask for the manager and check on our drinks. The manager was making our lemon drop and the waiter was standing while they talked. When I asked why we still didn’t have drinks after receiving and eating the food we did I was told that the tea was brewing and they would bring our drinks. The waiter was very rude like I was wrong for even asking. While he was speaking to me the woman manager walked away. Service carried on and the manager finally came to our table at the end of meal and was kinda like drinks are 101 of waiting tables and walked away after offering a free dessert for my mom like it wasn’t a big deal. Turns out they charged us for the “free” dessert. What a waste of money and consistency. When we ordered another lemon drop martini it wasn’t made fancy like the first. This was 4p on a Monday!! Don’t go here save your money and go somewhere else. Horrible experience. They want to charge a fortune and your just supposed to except mediocre...