Olive You

This restaurant is now closed.
won’t let me post without including a star.

I find most reviews on Unilocal to be too long and not critical enough, so if you are reading this on a mobile device like i usually do then here is what you need to know:
the good: its uncrowded when everything else in Mac is busy!
the bad: its uncrowded when everything else in Mac is busy! Also, expect to pay premium for flavorless food and awkward service. Prepare to be cold and feel like a hummingbird feeder, constantly being watched and hovered over by the only other two people in the restaurant, the owners.
If you want details, more follows below:
In today’s economy there is no room for average restaurants that charge as much or more than other, much better places. Unfortunately Olive You falls in the wake of so many other cheaper, better restaurants. If you eat here you will only feel regret. Picture yourself as lovely blade of self-​aware grass, slowly being eaten by a dying wildebeest. As you enter the doomed animal, you are left with an overwhelming sense of regret, wishing you were somewhere else.
When you see the name olive you, what kind of food do you expect? Italian?
wrong. They offer northwest-​ish dishes. The name, then, is confusing, which is fitting since this is really just a catering company that is confused and has opened a restaurant with its boring wedding food.
Olive you is obviously struggling to live. You could compare it to a 3 legged spider; still alive, but having a hard time.. .
The service was awkward. Our waiter (an owner i assume) seemed uncomfortable and inexperienced and the chef spent half the time we were there oddly watching us (there wasn’t anything else for him to do apparently). When we arrived there was only one other couple inside. Both owners came to greet us and take us to our seats. We were offered to sit RIGHT next to the other couple, or by the fake «fire» heater, that didn’t put off heat.
the food was overpriced for what it was. It had quality ingredients, but was very bland and not very hot. Our cocktails were not good and had no alcohol.
The restaurant was very cold inside and smelled like my grandmother’s closet. You know the smell.. .
When everywhere else in town is busy, my recommendation is to wait for a seat, or eat at home and save your money for something worth spending it on.

best kept secret in town…
started off with grilled caesar salad, mushroom tartlets, and crab cakes
had both chicken and rack-​of-​lamb dishes this evening
ended with fruit tart and chocolate crème brule.
I love the cheese muffins that come with each entrée.
all excellent
wonderful owners/​hosts

(Pun for «I love you», but I prefer the more oblique ‘Olive View’.)
I stopped in for a somewhat early dinner, and found the place empty. No other customers showed up until I was almost ready to leave. As you might expect, the service was excellent.
The dinner was very good, roasted chicken with vegetables and rice pilaf. Nicely prepared and full of flavor. If you have a big appetite you might go away a little empty, but most folks will find a satisfying dinner.
This being a wine town they have various vino options, but they also have a nice selection of beers from Oregon brewers,

Barely 3 stars. Let’s just say it’s 3 in deference to my dinner companions, who were more enthusiastic than I was.
The concept is simple: take a catering operation, and then open a restaurant around it – without changing anything. What you will order and eat are, fundamentally, catering-​style plates. Close your eyes, and you’re at someone’s wedding.
The results are foods that LOOK exciting, SOUND exciting, can be produced in quantity and on budget, and TASTE… common. Clearly, the target palate likes sweet, because sweet sauces are the order of the day at Olive You. Take a nice piece of tuna, give it a quick sear, then plate it around a dazzlingly-​colored sticky-​sweet sauce that overwhelms any actual tuna flavor. That’s Olive You in a nutshell.
The prices are low ($ 12 for «entrée» plates) which is appropriate for the quantities, which are small – just like you’d expect at an event. As a result of the low prices, small quantities, and the lowest-​common-​denominator crowd-​pleasing sweet dishes, I expect Olive You to become very popular, especially among a crowd of a certain age.
That same crowd might also love the limited selection of cocktails, which again feature popular and recognizable names, and which seem to feature a very, ahem, affordable amount of actual alcohol.
I’d hire them as caterers, but as far as the restaurant goes: high cuisine it ain’t.