Olive’s Restaurant and Bar

Onward with my GR adventures and of course stumbled upon this little bistro on near Reed’s Lake. This seems to be happening area for fine dinning, so bookmarks… gets ready!
My co-​worker and I came for an after dinner meal after having worked a full day. Free parking! I can’t get over this guys… us being Miami natives, you can tell that we appreciate the little things lol
We walked in and were greeted by the hostess and taken to our table. Wait what? Happy hour half off wine for glass and bottle! Yassss! I sampled a few and selected the Pinor Noir and a Malbec. Both very good!
My friend ordered sliders and fries (typical dude psshhh) and I opted for the Kale salad and the empanadas. Why not give them a try and see what GR can do with Latin flavors. I wouldn’t say they hit the nail on the head, but they came very close with the empanadas. Textures were all there, not too greasy. And the spices, well onions, garlic, olives, peppers were apparent but there was something missing… it was still pretty good. The Kale salad was DELICIous! My favorite things of the night. See my server schooled me a bit on their kale salad. They massage it so it doesn’t have the tough texture we are all used too. I was so pleased with this. Of course you’ve got your cheese and bacon which was creeping up on me all day!
I will return for some more of that happy hour delight and of course sample some of their other menu items.

My home away from home. Love the food, the vibe, the martinis. Kane is the nicest bartender on the planet.

Great olive burger and fries here. Small and well selected craft beer menu. It’s a small and cozy location, the staff was very attentive. The kids enjoyed the sliders and fresh cut pineapple. We will be back soon!

I have never been disappointed. It’s hard to describe their style. Upscale but not pretentious comfort food but not as in a diner

Best dining experience in Grand Rapids since relocating to the area from Los Angeles nearly 2 years ago. First, had the pear pomegranate martini which was different in a good way and delicious! We ordered 3 starters. We had the mushroom crostini which made my eyes roll back in my head I’m sure. Flavor bomb good. We had the arancini (fried risotto balls) and garlic knots served with an olive compound butter. All wonderful and full of flavor. I had the olive burger, my ex-​husband had the same and his wife (we were celebrating her birthday) had the salmon offering. We even shared the crème brûlée and cheesecake. We ate too much and savored every bite! Highly recommend. Compliments to the chef and our wonderful waitress, Jen.

My wife and I came here for a late snack on a Saturday night after a painting class next door. We sat at the bar and ordered some cocktails. I started with the half moon, a gin based cocktail and it was strong but tasty. My wife had a Chardonnay that was absolutely top notch and it was actually on recommendation from the bar tender.
We started with the edamame, and the Arancini balls with honey. Both had good flavor, and were decently light.
We then split the kale salad which was seriously amazing. The flavors popped but it was light at the same time. There were a variety of other dishes on the menu we wanted to try but were stuffed. We will be back again soon.

It was my first time here even though I’ve lived close to EGR my whole life. My parents and I came during Happy Hour and all ordered drafts, and we got them in a timely manner. We also ordered three starters: the shrimp hush puppies, the lettuce wraps, and the garlic knots. Loved the carrot/​horseradish dip for the hush puppies (and I normally hate carrots), lots of horseradish. Garlic knots were fresh and good, but they’re basically rolls and not worth the price. The lettuce wraps were tasty, and while the presentation looked beautiful, you had to construct your wrap on your own, which was a bit messy and difficult.
For entrees, I got the Cuban sandwich and French fries. French fries were amazing. Very fresh. My sandwich was also very good. I actually couldn’t finish it, it was so big! My only issue with it was the pickle slices were paper thin. I would’ve preferred some crunch. The pork in the sandwich had flavorful seasonings, though. Also great bread. My mom got the turkey burger. She loved the chipotle mayo. My stepdad got the French roast, and he basically inhaled it. Our server was good. Attentive when it came to beer refills!

What a great place to come in and feel welcomed, have a great meal and a great cocktail or glass of wine. A great location setting… friendly and accommodating this place does things right from the food to atmosphere. Thank you for a lovely time, as usual.

Quite a unique dining experience, 2 floors in the heart of Gaslight Village. I recommend the french roast dish or the stuffed chicken, both are very good. Service is great and the menu is interesting, give Olive’s a try.

Went last night with 6 of us. They were out of 3 things we asked about. My kids chocolate milk was white. 2 burgers ordered medium came out practically mooing. The gremlin was ice cold. The short ribs ordered had something hard like a nut shell or a piece of plastic in it. We mentioned it was my daughters birthday but as soon as we told the server we were done with dinner she said ok I’ll get the check. With plates still in front of us and no dessert offered we got the bill. It probably was smart anyway. If dinner was any indication.

Olive’s was my favorite on this trip; we stopped there for lunch on my first day in town. It was in an adorable district of town (I love East Grand Rapids), had a light interior and cute décor, and the menu, while small, appeared to be fresh and varied. I decided to order the Crab Cakes off of the small plate menu, with a side of fries added. This turned out to be the perfect casual lunch! The crab cakes were perfect and very tasty. The fries were just as crispy as I like them, with a soft inside. It took a little while to get our food, but I’m assuming it’s because everything was made to order. All of my coworkers’ meals looked just as fresh and delicious! I’d definitely come back here again in a heartbeat.

Cool place and great lettuce wraps app and meatloaf. Very relaxed atmosphere and excellent staff.

Went here for dinner with my wife, and we were both let down. Although the place was not busy, the service was slow. Our waiter seemed more interested in hanging out at the bar and chatting with his friends and coworkers than in providing decent service. Although he was our waiter, a different person brought us our food, and someone else checked up on us throughout the meal. Despite this cavalcade of waiters, we still had a long wait to get our check.
The food itself was good, although the portion sizes were on the small size. My pork and risotto was quite tasty, and my wife enjoyed her kale caesar salad.
Overall, an underwhelming experience.

So. In the intetest of fairness, my pork shoulder/​polenta dish was really good. BUT, my wife had a tempeh curry that was possibly the worst dish I’ve ever had from a restaurant in my life. Absolutely insane amounts of lemongrass, to the point that it tasted like dish soap.
The service was okay initially, but somehow when it came time for bills she had not tracked what any of us had, so we had to mark up the receipt ourselves with who had what. Furthermore, a 20% gratuity was added to our bill, which is fine (we had 6 people in our party), but she didn’t tell us when the bills were delivered, nor at the beginning of the meal for that matter.
To top it all off, when the final receipts were delivered our waitress said nothing by way of thank you or good night, even when we said the same to her.

Emily cleared the muddy waters and re assured me it was an isolated incident. Good beer selection and they have VM! The whimpy burgers are a great share plate. We will be back to try the quinoa cakes

We chose Olive’s for lunch on a weekday and almost immediately regretted it; we had our preschooler in tow and this joint is definitely a «Ladies Who Lunch» spot. I never really was able to relax and enjoy the food because I was overly worried that my kid might disrupt the EGR gentry and their 2 martini lunches. (She actually was very quiet and well-​behaved throughout ;)
Hits– Delicious salad & burgers, decent service
Misses– My martini was poured at the table, so gosh darn full that I was unable to sip it without spilling it on the table. The French Onion soup had a lovely broth but suffered from poor execution and presentation.
We’ll be back– without the kid.

Lobster roll, killer especially when you take half home. Sooooo ono!
Service on the other hand was unbalanced. The waitress was upbeat and efficient. Although, absent quite a bit.
Hence, the 3 instead of four stars.

Olive’s seems like one of those places that all of the neighbors claim to «looooooove», but always grumble about.
There is nothing special about this place. Every time I am here the service is… Fine… Nothing special and not horrid. The food seems costly for small portions. We keep going because it is close to home, but we are consistently annoyed with how much we pay for food we’re not excited about.
Actually writing this review makes me wonder why we do keep coming… The drinks are strong and we walk home, that’s right… Strong drinks!

I just had lunch here today with my mom (Friday afternoon). They weren’t crowded, but definitely not empty; we got one of the little 2-​person hi top tables by the window. Such a great atmosphere!
The waitress was friendly, got our waters right away and was on top of the refills. I had the soup of the day which was a chorizo corn chowder, and wow, was it good! I love corn chowder anyway, but they had some extra herbs and spices in theirs which made it really amazing! I also opted for the bowl instead of the cup. I didn’t see the price for the bowl on the menu, so I was a little worried it would be like twice as much. Turns out it’s only $ 1 up charge from the cup, so that was a nice surprise! My mom had the baby kale salad and really enjoyed it also. We asked about bread since we were ordering smaller items, and they have crostinis for $ 2, so we split an order of that.
They also have a really cute bar that we didn’t try out, but my mom is likely going to go back for a glass of wine with her girlfriends. Overall it was a great spot and I’m really glad we decided to try it out!

I stopped in on a Friday night around 8pm for drinks with some friends. Even though we were in the midst of a snowstorm, the restaurant had a warm, friendly camaraderie about it with several people at the bar drinking and laughing.
I ordered their Buttered Bourbon which is Butterscotch liqueur and Jack Daniel’s Honey on ice. It tasted just like a Werther’s Butterscotch candy and warmed me right up! Now I have an idea of how to use Jack Daniel’s Honey too.
My friend ordered a Chi Martini but could barley take three sips of it because it was so syrupy. Yes, it tasted like a Chi Latte but in the way that the bar tender must have simply opened a carton of store bought Chi Latte and mixed it with some Starbucks Liqueur. It was missing that extra bit of love (and creativity) to balance it out. I
My second drink was the ‘Olives’ Martini. It was a solid martini but I have to admit I was more into the blue cheese stuffed olives more then the actual drink. mmmm… cheesy olives… Keep em’ coming.
This seems like a great place for a date night or dinner with friends. In checking out their menu, they have various happy hour specials and week night specials to keep you coming back.
The food menu looked tasty and I vowed to come back to try out their main dishes. I especially liked their rotating menu selections with a commitment to local, to keep their meals varied and seasonal.
Next to me was a family with some adorable, well behaved children and I noticed that they had a children’s section on the menu too. Feel free to bring the whole family on your visit.
My one recommendation (besides staying away from the Chi Martini until it gets revised) would be to ask for a table on the main floor when you go.
When we arrived our friends weren’t there yet and we were initially offered a two top table upstairs by mistake. Fortunately, we were seated on the main floor by the bar at a larger table for all of us. The main downstairs area had a better energy then the upstairs area, with low lights, candles on the table and big picture windows to look out onto the charming Gas Light Village neighborhood. Whereas the upstairs felt disjointed from the restaurant and had brighter lights, a few dated features, and tables that were scattered somewhat randomly.
A friend joked once that this is the place to ‘see and be seen’ in East Grand Rapids and she wasn’t kidding! Upon walking in on our first visit, we immediately saw two people we know. Apparently this is the place to see old friends and maybe make a new friend!