Olive Cafe

Our realtor told us about Olive Café when we moved here last spring. It’s our favorite place to go eat. The staff is friendly and the portions are large. Visiting during the lunch time buffet is awesome, and it gives you the chance to try different dishes. Some of the best Middle eastern favorites and is a must visit in my book, don’t let the market throw you off as it has the tastiest food around.

Today, I experienced a new favorite for middle-​eastern deliciousness, here in KC. In addition to KC, I’ve tried places in columbus, oh as well as chicago. Olive Café certainly falls in rank above the majority of numerous ( Unilocal-​worthy) restaurants I’ve visited. My friends in KC told me on several occasions that their pita bread is what draws them by the market/​café, and they said I would enjoy olive more than I would jerusalem café (either spots down in westport). They were correct! Besides the ground chicken patties (i apologize, i don’t recall the name. rather dry patties though), their meats and cooked veggies were great. Their tialpia, for those of you who enjoy fish, were great. They were soft, flavorful and juicy. If you go through the buffet line (which is what I did), do take a look at the condition of the meats before you pick. Granted, it is a buffet-​style service so there will be meats that are of less favorable qualities (i.e. dry). Salad has been sitting out a while, but their roasted veggies definitely made up for it. I know I will visit again, and certainly with friends. Check out their market on your way out! They offer an array of goods.

Go for the lunch buffets ~!!! All you can mediterranean food for a real good price! But if you can’t make it for lunch, bring a friend or two and share food! Their portions are pretty big. I went with my parents for dinner once and shared a gyro & chicken shawarma and we walked out FULL. Their hummus is THE best I’ve had yet! And if you go for lunch try some of the tilapia! It’s delish!

The strip mall this place is in looks sketchy, but so far it is the best tasting and most authentic Mediterranean food I’ve found in KC.

This place is amazing. Huge portions and wonderful food. I wish they would get a second location.

Nobody said it was clean, we all said that the food tastes really good. Get it to go and eat it! Get back in your car later, let the smells take you away and have pleasant memories of how good it was all over again.

Tasty, friendly, right price… What more is there to want? Plus you can pick up your grocieries while you’re there!

This review is for the housemade pita bread, which I stumbled upon at Patel’s Market on 119^th. I’ve never been to the Olive Café restaurant but that’s gonna change and here is why.
This bread is awesome! I do not say this lightly. My husband is Persian and you know how there are wine snobs and coffee snobs? That’s how it is with Persians and bread: they turn up their nose at anything but the absolute best.
Just like pita bread is a stand-​in for Indians who can’t get naan, it’s the same for Persians who can’t get their traditional flatbread, sangak. So suffice it to say, we have tried a LOT of pita bread over the years, in CA where we’ve mostly lived, in Albuquerque (grad school), Denver (road trip), and now in KC. We have tried them from everywhere: mainstream supermarkets (ALL of ‘em), Whole Foods, TJ’s, Sprouts, and tons of mom n pop stores.
And the verdict? The Olive Café’s pita bread ROCKS, period. It is right up there with the hand-​tossed sangak made at the Persian bakery in San Jose that’s trucked to all the Persian markets in the Bay Area. And that’s saying a lot.
This pita’s a little puffy but when you toast it, it has the outside-​crisp, inside-​soft thing happening. It also has excellent flavor, which is sometimes difficult to find with pita bread. It has the right amount of air bubbles so it’s light but doesn’t fall apart. The texture’s not too limp nor too hard… uh, ix-​nay that yikes. I mean, it’s not floppy, nor could it stand in for a Frisbee on a disc golf course. It’s perfect. And it comes in a large size, and an even larger size… sigh. Nix that, too.
It’s perfect, take my word for it. And take my hubby’s: he tossed an entire 12″ pita into the toaster oven just now to chow it down «au naturel»: no humuus, no cheese, no falafel, no butter n jam, no nada. Let’s just say the pita proof is in the Persian pudding.
Next up, we pilgrimage to the actual restaurant! If it’s even half as good as that bread, we’re gold! Where the heck is Raytown, Siri?

This place is a hidden gem. If you like middle-​eastern food this is the place to be. Everything is fresh and cooked to order. A little pricy but the portions are huge. You can easily get two meals out of one order. The pita is always fresh. The grocery store is a surprise with quite a bit of variety.

Great little market and bakery with a lunch buffet that cannot be beat. the Falafel is one of the best in the city and for a 7.99 buffet price, its a lunch steal as well as a coma. Check out the market for some interesting spices and some great teas if your interested and as always the bread. Cheers!

Nice hole in wall café. Food was fresh and delicious, the guy greeted us when we walked in. The food was well season. I was surprised by the quality of the food this is one of the best Mediterranean food in KC. I will recommend it to my friends.

Amazing fresh baked pita, still warm. Delicious hummus and chicken plate and it’s beautiful. Delicious falafel. I wasn’t a fan of the huge pickled vegetables in the falafel gyro but you can get it without. Nice selection of middle eastern and mediterranean shelf food.

This place is the holy grail of Mediterranean food.
They have a buffet Monday through Friday during lunch that is incredible. I have yet to find a place that compares. Everything they make is not only cheap for the portion for amazingly delicious. I come here on the weekends sometimes to get a chicken shawarma or falafel sandwich. Cheaper than fast food and sooooo much better.
They also make baklava which is really good more cinnamon than most, but in a great way.
I will continue to come here about once a fortnight.

Thus place was awesome. I would recommend the buffet for 8.99 you can get all of your favorite medeterranian foods for less than 10 bucks all u can eat too. I gave these guys 5 stars because they deserve it.

Epic chicken shawerma, yep you could bring me here on a date here for this. Dingy middle eastern market but it’s got some of the most intensely tasting stuff coming out of their kitchen.
Lunch buffet during the week is really good but the chicken shawerma, which I have kinda put together using the goods the buffet provides is so tasty. They always have the more recognized by the american palette of middle eastern offerings but also put out a couple of their own favorites. Might I suggest also picking up a bottle of the yogurt (ayran) drink to go with the meal and ending with traditional hot tea.
Their market is interest peaking, I grab whatever looks interesting and google at home what to do with it. Seriously some of my best meals happen this way. They also have a good selection of hookah stuff to take home, which is amazing after a meal.
Wish they were closer.

You know they say the best food is from hole in the wall places and this one does not disappoint on those stereotypes! Since it’s just down the road from work I maybe come here once month. They have a buffet which is perfect so you can sample everything that they have. There’s also a menu to order off of but why bother.
The falafel is good, the chicken is good, the fish is good, the lamb is good… Pretty much can’t go wrong with anything. You walk in… Ignore the grocery store, make a left and there’s the buffet. You grab a styrofoam plate and pile it on! Grab a seat cause it gets busy durning lunch. Don’t forget to grab a drink at the fountain. No one seats you and it’s pretty much the honor system when it comes to paying at the end.

My husband and I found this place just surfing around on Unilocal.We were so excited that we made dinner plans that evening.
We ordered to go and while we waited for our food, we explored the small grocery store. We bought a ton of things, candy, etc.
Our dinner was delicious. He got a gyro salad and I got a meat combo with chicken, beef, and like a burger patty thing. It was all delicious.
We know we will become regulars in there!

Good food, but over priced.
I ordered the #6 with a side of humus. The kofta was a pretty bland paddy, the lamb was tasty but way over cooked little morsels, the chicken were really nice and flavorful chunks, and the humus was very good. The humus was brought out looking like a real work of art. Why didn’t I get a picture of THAT??? The accompanying bread was like store bought flat bread. Definitely NOT what I expect from a good restaurant.
The place was real mom and pops, but appeared clean. The store that the café is inside of is outstanding. LOTS of items to choose from.
The service was very friendly and helpful. The service is part counter-​service and part full service.

Olive Café is hands down the best Mediterranean food in KC. Monday — Friday they have a killer lunch buffet (11am-​2pm). Best humus, falafel, gyro, chicken shawarma, and baklava I’ve had. I’ll try and stop in as often as I can. Do yourself a favor and make this place a regular on your eating out list.

Olive Café (and middle eastern grocery store) is tucked away in a small strip mall in Eastern Kansas City. The television in the dining room is always tuned to Al Jazeera’s news network, and the bright orange booths are not particularly comfortable, but what Olive Café lacks in ambiance it easily makes up for in good, inexpensive middle eastern cuisine.
Olive Café offers a great little lunch buffet for around $ 10. The buffet offers the usual middle eastern fare including falafel, stuffed grape leaves, and spit roasted beef and lamb. It’s one of our favorite dives.