Oliva

I have a group of male retirees who meet for lunch about once a month, and Oliva was chosen for January. We arrived at 11:30 not exactly sure if we’d have 6 or 7, but Luis (our waiter) told us that he could move a table over to accommodate the last to arrive.
Luis was just great and we all seemed to enjoy the food. I had the vegetable stew and the hummus appetizer. We’ve got some real carnivores among us as well, and they all said they were satisfied. The prices were reasonable and the servings were plentiful– just what people on fixed incomes need. I highly recommend this gem of a restaurant and will surely go back sometime very soon.

Great middle eastern and Italian restaurant with Turkish flares and delicious appetizers soups and entrees to choose from. Greatest I’ve found of this cuisine in Madison so far. Flexible carry out and nice dine in options.

Wow!
This used to be a favorite.
What happened?
Host rude.
Waitress worse.
She came alive & complained about staffing problems when it came time to tip!
Portions scanty & special order made incorrectly. With no apology.
Too bad.
Our last visit.

The service is ok. He informed us about the special of the day, my husband n our friend ordered it, lamb delight… something. I ordered lamb kebab n hummus. The house bread was good very light inside and crispy outside. Hummus came with nothing and tasteless. When I asked he said he will bring more house bread which long after that. When their special came they turned out that around the plate was hummus which we thought he should have told us for we did not have to order it. My husband said there nothing special and they should have put more lamb. I was served with 3 small pieces of lamb, rice and salad which i quite agreed it should be more. The taste is ok, kebab usaully is only skewered n grilled. You cannot be wrong. So i give them 2 stars cuz the taste is just ok. The portion is less for the price. And some other points of the service.

The service was lousy all around. The hostess was very unfriendly. There were no bussers so service by our waiter (#53) was slow. He messed up the order. He didn’t bring the correct number of plates for our food, didn’t offer us refills on our drinks until the meal was over. The waiter didn’t know what the desserts were without bringing us a menu. When he charged our credit card and brought the bill back he didn’t return our credit card, and I had to go looking for him. The hostess who seated us said she couldn’t help me find him because she did not know who our waiter was. The credit card had fallen out of the bill into his apron but he seemed apathetic about the situation. Apathy best describes the attitude of the staff, followed by cold and unfriendly. We were just visiting Madison from out of town but if we ever visit here in the future we will not be eating at Oliva because we vote with our wallets. Money talks; people walk. I don’t recommend this restaurant!

My sister and I went to lunch here for her birthday. The food was great and the service was friendly. The reason why I am only giving this an okay is because the waiter kept leaning over the booth I was sitting in to place food/​drinks/​bill on our table. The first time it happened, we thought, it’s just a bread refill. When he continued to do this the remainder of our meal, we couldn’t believe it. Was it too much trouble to walk around the other tables to stand next to our table?

Our server stole from us.
He felt he deserved additional tip and added $ 10 to the bill after we left. We needed to contact the bank to cancel payment. Also, he was inattentive even though we were the only ones in his section.
Food was very oily, basically oozed out of my vegetarian plate. Took it home and had to use 5 paper towels to soak up the excess oil. Ordered tea and got a single ⁶⁄₈ oz glass instead of a pot. Dessert portions were a bit on the small side (3 triangles of baklava) and did not taste much better than store bought.
We won’t be back.
Update:
Talked to the owner/​manager about the theft. He was aware of it and had talked to the bank on his end. Unfortunately he said that he would talk to the server about this, which was appalling to me as now knowingly employing someone who steals from their customers.
If you do decide to dine here, pay in cash or verify that your card isn’t being overcharged. I likely wasn’t the first person server #53 stole from, and I probably won’t be the last.

Not good italian food. Chicken Parm seems to be frozen chicken patties. Same with the pre-​breaded calamari.

Excellent service and food! My Gyro plate was super and the pizza was very good and the lamb kebab was memorable: rare and tender. Overall very happy.

Food is outstanding here! Also, excellent and professional service. Everyone at our table left very happy. Without a doubt, I WILL be back!

First impression, server was rude. He didn’t know the menu, tried to correct us on the menu items, and told us that they don’t have any Turkish wine (a quarter of the menu).
The hummus was unexceptional. The salad came with store bought dressing. My wife did not get a water refill by the ambivalent waiter until after the main course arrived.
Our dinners were relatively bland. The gyro, and it is generic gyro not Turkish doner, is kronos. The tzatziki is store bought. My wife’s shish kabob came with four chunks for $ 15.
Overall, uninspired cuisine, an inaccurate menu, and shoddy service will not bring us back.

I went here for lunch today with my mother-​in-​law. The décor was nice and the service was pretty good, but a little slow considering the restaurant wasn’t that crowded. The turkish bread that they keep refilling was delicious.
I got the Mediterranean salad with falafel and it was delicious. The homemade dressing had a very tasty flavor. The falafel was crispy, had a good taste, but I’ve had better falafels.
My mother-​in-​law got the veggie stew. I didn’t try it, but she said it was flavorful and the portion size was good.
Overall, we enjoyed this restaurant and it was worth the price. I will definitely come back here.

Just a quick review of their pizzas. We often order an extra large veggie pizza with pepperoni added. They are consistently outstanding, the crust is light and flaky (really one of the best I have had), and they are generous with the ingredients which are always very fresh. It is a great pizza that actually seems pretty healthy when we don’t feel like cooking.

I ate here with a couple of friends on Saturday. I mistakenly got the lamb shank instead of the kebabs, but it must have been some good karma, because that lamb was some of most tender and tasty that I have ever had, in a delicious and rich sauce.
My friend raved equally about the baked eggplant. My other friend had the tortellini, and really liked it, although she’d had better at restaurants with a primary focus on Italian.
The décor was quite nice and the owners and staff very friendly. Pricing was reasonable. Since Oliva is close to my home on the West Side, I will definitely be coming here often!

This place serves and eats like a much more expensive restaurant; I stopped by here with a coworker for lunch and was thoroughly impressed.
The in-​house bread we were started with was fresh, steaming with warmth, and just a delight with the olive oil and grated parmesan provided.
I had the Turkish coffee as well, which was excellent. Great body, strong flavor, yet not overly muddy or gritty like I have had in the past.
The special today was the veggie stew, which was phenomenal. The cauliflower, carrots, potatoes and celery were saturated with flavor, and were very tender but not mushy; perfect. The chickpeas added a hummus vibe to the dish as well. The whole deal was joined with rice presented in a dome shape, a nice touch. All in all a beautiful and tasty dish.
Our server Nick was very informed about the menu items, and able to use very colorful descriptors about any items we asked about. I could almost taste the flavors he was describing. Quite impressive and refreshing, much nicer than being told «it’s good,» as I’m used to.
All this for just over $ 10? Wow, I am sold. I will most certainly return.

A group of friends and I visited Oliva last friday. We ordered a few appetizers. I think Baba Ganoush, Kalamari and Charman. Kalamari was a little bland but the other two were great and very flavorful.
I ordered the Beef Kebab and we shared a chocolate cheesecake, both of these dishes were delicious. We had a great time, our waitstaff was gracious and attentive. Will definitely be back!

Great restaurant. Food is fresh and service is excellent. Their strengths are the mediterranean dishes. Kebabs, eggplant dishes, all good. Their salmon weekend special is pretty wonderful too.
Never been disappointed with a meal here, go try it!

Came here on a Friday night for dinner! Arrived here with a party of 3 and wait wasn’t too bad, perhaps 30 minutes. There was a great couch and fireplace to sit and wait!
The lambrosa wine from Italy is nice and bubbly! Very fruity like a fruit juice!
Bread was amazing! Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside! Olive oil was great!
Fried calamari was alright.
Chicken kebab was great! Grilled to awesome flavor but was a little dry for my taste.
Imam Fainted. eggplant with pine nuts! The sauce was basically tomato, but if you’re a vegetarian fan, this is great!
Lasagna was great! Light and cheesy.
Side note: the waiter misunderstood our order and kindly offered to replace our dish. When we refused as there would be another 15 minutes wait, he was so thoughtful and sent us a chocolate hazelnut cake!
I’m not sure if I would be back although the food was great. But there are other places in town for more authentic mediterranean (greek) and italian food.

Hands down the best calzone I’ve had in the Madison area. It was a nice atmosphere and there vice was great. My wife had the gyro platter which was also delicious.
If you’re in the mood for some good food from the Mediterranean area, this is a great place.

It was interesting to see both Mediterranean and Italian offerings at Oliva.
I’m not sure if specializing in two ethnic foods was necessarily a good idea because both sides were just average. The deluxe pizza was good as it’s hard to mess up pizza in my eyes (I’m a pizza lover). The gyro platter was okay, but I’ve definitely had better and definitely for cheaper as well. I probably liked the stuffed eggplant the most. As for dessert, the baklava wasn’t bad.
I’ve only been here once because like I mentioned, you can get both better Mediterranean and better Italian food elsewhere. Nonetheless, if you and a friend want to get dinner together and can’t decide on one or the other, then that would be a call for Oliva.