Olive Tree — Restaurant in Pasadena

We were excited to try a new Mediterranean restaurant as we have enjoyed several of them around the Houston area. We found the Olive Tree with little difficulty and were pleased to see that it was fairly clean. Our waitress was friendly, and service was quick.

I ordered the Eggplant Mediterranean, and my wife the Okra with Tenderloin. Each came with a salad, and it was all downhill from there.

The salads were lettuce, old tomatoes, and a few radish slices drowned in an oil and mystery flake dressing. Our meals came out quickly, in fact, almost with our salads.

My first impression was that we had inadvertently been served the lunch portion, from the child's menu, of the diet menu. Oh well, Bon Appetit any way.

I tucked into my eggplant which was OK in a kind of TV dinner sort of way, but my wife's okra kept catching my eye. It was only after I speared a couple of pods that were hanging out too close to the edge of her plate that I realized there was an issue, no beef! What? The menu called it okra with tenderloin. That's beef, right?

I quietly flagged down our waitress and asked, (yes I did), "Where's the beef?" She quickly stated that she would ask the manager, which she did. The manager came to our table, and on hearing our concern, resolved the problem rapidly by saying that the tenderloin, which they put in at the start of the day, is all cooked down so tender that it "goes away" by the end of the day. We stared in dumbfounded silence. So... the beef is in there; we just can't see it? He went to verify this info with the "cook."

While he was gone, I became obsessed with finding any evidence of meat mixed in with the okra and semi-tomatoish sauce. Finding none, I was understandably surprised when the manager returned to let us know that his hunch was right, the beef was there, just trapped in an alternate dimension.

This time he offered to toss a couple of tenderloins on the grill for us. We demurred, and when he left, I began a clinical dissection of the okra, etc. Careful work eventually yielded four small pieces of meat-like substance, each approximately the size of a grain of rice. I'm not kidding, the size of rice and only four of them!

Everyone was sweet about it, and the manager did mark our meal down by $2.00, so all in all, not a bad deal, right?

In summary - relatively clean, nice and attentive wait staff, a bit pricey at $15 for mine and $13 for my wife's, inexplicably bad food, no beef, and the capper (responsible for the low star count) blatant lying to the customers you're trying to cheat. Really, just bad form on...

My honest assessment:

Appetizer- Grape Leaves Exhibits a sharp citrus flavor initially; followed by a savory flavor of meat and rice filling. A pleasant appetizer small enough to leave you wanting more, but leaving you with room for your main course.

Salad: The salad has great flavor without the need to be saturated in any additional dressing.

Main Course Shish Kabob Well plated on rice with kabob meat and vegetables. The meat was exceptionally tender with excellent herbal flavor. Truly an palatable experience.

Dessert: Rice pudding was served cold topped with cinnamon and other seasonings. Creamy texture with not and overly powerful sweetness. The occasional hints of cinnamon and subtle floral traces of rose water were also a nice change on the palate.

To Go Order: Placed To Go Order for Same meal It came out rather quickly, almost as I finished my desert. It should be noted that I ordered it at the same time I ordered the dessert. The To Go Meal was curated with equal care as the plating meal was.

Observations: I sat separate from the "party room," which appeared to be the main bar area. There was a glaringly different focus and service between the two areas. However, as a casual observer, I noticed whom I believe is the owner of the establishment, truly caring for patrons and the experience. I also witness who I believe to be the co-owner and son of the owner personally see people to the door.

The owner approached me as he was leaving for the night, introduced himself, and expressed a sincerity rarely found in restaurants today. I could feel he was truly appreciative to have me come in and enjoy his food and service. The refreshing kindness accenting an already exquisite meal. Numerous patrons were treated like family, whether it was their first time or they were long-time friends/patrons.

Overall, the establishment shows a true talent for hospitality despite my feeling overlooked at times. It is likely due to my separation from the crowd.

My waitress was very friendly; but not overly attentive, allowing me to truly enjoy the meal.

Overall, I give this place an excellent rating. If you love Greek, this is a place to go. It feels like family. I was just the black sheep of the family, so I quietly left full and happy. Specific message to the owner: You have an amazing pure energy that permeates through the whole...

We wanted something different...not a chain restaurant. A good mom and pop type of place to eat and we were NOT disappointed! We had the hummus for an appetizer. Wow! It was so fresh and flavorful! My son (16) even enjoyed it! My husband and son shared the mix grill. It's $30.00 for that plate which they split into two plates for them so they each had their own. It had chicken kabob, beef kabob, and kefta kabob On a plate of this rice that was absolutely fabulous! It also had a chunk of char grilled onions, tomatoes and bell pepper. Oh then there's the salad. So in one other review they complained about the dressing. If you are not used to a real lemon style dressing, then u may ask them to hold that.but I LOVE sour/tangy so I found it rather fresh. My husband and son enjoyed the salad too. Now for what I had...I ordered the lamb chops. I wanted to eat only half the platter and save the rest for my lunch the next day but it was SO good, I just devoured the whole thing! I honestly don't think I left any meat on them chops! It came with 3 meaty chops perfectly seasoned and grilled to perfection! Served with that flavorful rice with grilled veggies (onion, green bell pepper and tomato) I don't even think they needed to wash my plate when I was done! We then shared the rice pudding. It was so good! You definitely taste the rose water! Please try this place out! We need to support more of our smaller businesses in the area. It's rare to find such a wonderful and and quaint place to eat that's really good!! We will definitely go back! And to the young man that waited on us. He...