Olives and Oil — Restaurant in New Haven

My wife and I met another couple on Friday night for dinner and drinks. We arrived early and decided to sit at the bar catch up and enjoy a drink together. To my surprise my vodka martini on the rocks came with Kalamata olives 2 with out pits and 1 with pits just floating in the glass under the ice, and 1 of the draft beers was on the warm side. After conversation we decided to go to the hostess and ask if we could be seated early 6:15pm we had reservations for 6:30pm, not a problem happy to seat you. She decided to sit us at a hightop table, as we asked quickly to have 1 of the open booths ( only 1 booth at the time was seated with 2 customers the rest were all open ) she stated due to reservations and spacing she could only give us a hightop table and walked away… When our waitress arrived we asked again and she went out of her way to accommodate and we relocated to an open booth. Service was substandard, pressured to order, 1/2 the appraisers arrived, bussed out by someone other than our waitress and just dropped on the table ??? Sausage Pizza and Veal Meatballs were awesome; the Calamari was like someone threw it on the plate along with some of the sauce that was spilled out on the Calamari plate. Main entries followed 2 Salmons on salad for the wife’s which had “NO” flavor just grilled and “NO” dressing on the Salads. Rigatoni Bolognese was plentiful in size the Homemade macaroni had great texture and taste but the “Sauce” seemed watered down and I could hardly find any taste or pieces of Pork to call it Bolognese Sauce. The 4th choice was the Meatball Salad, Veal Meatballs were awesome but just placed over 2 whole baby romaines not much of a presentation. We finished up and decided to order Expresso Martinis for deserts which ended up being the best experience for our visit. We paid our bill and thanked our waitress for “Her” service, after all none of the issues had anything to be reflected on her. One last note upon leaving 3 booths were still unseated and available for customers. On the way out we did say good night to your Hostess who originally sat us, but she never look up at us or thanked us for coming, just a “Yea Goodnight”. Maybe she had an attitude because we chose to ask for another table against her choice.. Not sure if we would ever come back for another visit or even recommend to friends. We chose not to ask for the Manager or Owner to express our dinning experience that night, we understand it is hard to find employees to work or who may care about your business as much as you would like them too. But attention to your service staff should be reviewed and training adjusted for a better...

If disappointment had a flavor, I found it on my second bout with this restaurant. This meal wasn’t just bad—it was culinary sabotage. My main corse was tonight’s special: I had Seabass Picatta, it’s a dish where seabass is cooked in a sauce made from butter, lemon, capers, and white wine, often with a touch of garlic and fresh herbs. It’s supposed to have a tangy and savory flavor. It was seabass, maybe 4 ounces over damn yellow grits. Definitely loaded with capers as if the top fell off the bottle. Not a taste of white wine, nor garlic flavoring. It was all that got ate completely due to the 32$ charge. Had to enjoy some part of the meal. The broccoli … Two big pieces, charred relics of a once-green vegetable, now crispier than week-old newspaper and just as appetizing. The side of small plate paste ordered couldn’t fill up a 3yr old child, though the actual plate it arrived in was sized for a shared salad for three. That was probably the best, though having to ask for extra dressing twice as if the bottle was coming to its bottoming in the kitchen. Back to that pasta: A tragic paradox—stiff yet somehow mushy, as if boiled by someone waging war against texture. The sauce; I guess was just salty, it was a chemical mystery. Every bite was a betrayal. It somehow managed the impossible: both hard and overcooked as stated, like someone boiled it in confusion and forgot why. I came hungry and left with regret, damnit again. Tried to give Olive & Oil here in New Haven, Connecticut another shot. Whoever’s running the kitchen might want to switch to microwaving frozen dinners… assuming they can handle that. This wasn’t dinner. This was a hostile takeover of my taste buds. I did still leave a 15$ tip. The waitress was an innocent participant. Wish I had a portable printer to print on the rear of the receipt. ( the second picture is circled on the menu in the...

Recently, my party and I visited Olives and Oil, looking forward to a pleasant dining experience. Unfortunately, the evening did not meet our expectations. Despite making a reservation for nine, we were provided a table for eight and encountered an unwelcoming attitude when we mentioned the discrepancy. The staff's reluctance to accommodate an extra guest was our first disappointment.

The wait to be seated further dampened our evening, as we were left standing for a half-hour past our reservation time. Once we finally began our meal, the presentation of the Chicken Parmesan in a bowl was peculiar and impractical, complicating what should have been a straightforward dish to enjoy.

Regarding the food's quality, it was disappointingly mediocre and lacked seasoning, particularly salt, which was surprising given the restaurant's prices that I'd classify as overpriced for what was offered. To add to the frustration, a request for pink sauce on the chicken parm resulted in an unexpected $3 surcharge that was not mentioned in the menu. When this was contested, the establishment's offer of a drink ticket as compensation felt dismissive, and especially redundant since I have no intention of returning. They did propose to reverse and redo the transaction, a solution that seemed unnecessarily complex and time-consuming.

In light of these experiences, I advise future patrons to scrutinize their receipts carefully for any unwarranted charges. It's disheartening to report that Olives and Oil seems to engage in questionable practices that could be perceived as untrustworthy, perhaps leveraging hidden fees to increase their profit at the customer's expense. Diners looking for a reliable and customer-friendly dining experience might want to consider...