Oliver’s Cafe

Oliver’s Café is CLOSED. Being replaced by «Rock N Brew,» scheduled to be opened in Spring 2013.

A very cozy place. Small menu which could be bad and good. Somewhat expansive. As we were getting ready to order we found out that those meals exactly were taken off the menue.
I really enjoyed the theme atmosphere of the place. Come and see for yourself.
PS: restaurant is now closed

Closed… BUMMER…since 04-​Nov-​2012. Location may re-​open in March 2013, as a Rock & Brew (one is in El Segundo), serving Beer-and-Wine…and Videos for Rock Concerts.
Hopefully? they will be successful… good location.

My wife and I first came here when it opened back in 2010. We used to frequent the previous restaurant that used to be here (Chicago Ribs), so we thought we’d give this new joint a try since we live down the street.
BIG MISTAKE
The manager literally just took the same layout as Chicago Ribs, took down all the decorations, only to replace them with Oliver Twist stuff mind you without a lot of effort going into it. I’m guessing the manager/​owner was opening the restaurant and thought, «Oh shit, we need to have a theme since we’re not a chain. I know! Let’s do Oliver Twist!» Then they cut out every Oliver Twist poster they acquired and framed them. Oh, and they made all the employees dress like adult versions of Oliver Twist. Good job there guys.
The food was terribad at best. I ordered the shrimp scampi. I don’t know about the rest of you, but shrimp scampi at every other restaurant I’ve ordered at has some sort of pasta or mashed potatoes in it. You know what I got? Four pieces of rubbery shrimp and half an artichoke. The best part was that this «dish» cost $ 24. Freakin awesome… I’m sure the owner/​manager thought that since the location was near Palos Verdes (upscale neighborhood), that the residents are used to paying top dollar for shitty food or they simply won’t care.
The only shining star (s) of this place during my visit was the waitress. She was an African American girl who was nothing short of awesome. I hope she no longer works at that sinking ship. I felt bad for her because she was the messenger for all the bad news. What bad news? Oh, that we had to wait 40 minutes for our food because two of the cooks called out. That they didn’t have any rice to go with my shrimp. To any employees working at that restaurant, I hope you guys get off that failboat for your own good. If you still want to work in the food services industry, there are a lot of fine restaurants one block over at the Riviera Village.
Suffice to say, my wife and I have never been back there, but we always mention how fail it is every week we drive past there.
TL;DR
Stay away. Terrible food with outrageous prices and an owner that doesn’t give a shit.

Only good part of our $ 75.00 dinner for 3 was our server was cute, smiley and sweet. :(We were greeted well. got our table, waited for 45 min. to get our drinks which was out of syrup and had to wait another 10 minutes to be told they are out of it. :(Food was so so. Nothing to rave about and seriously come back for! For $ 75 for three meals, no dessert, we could’ve gone somewhere better and probably cheaper! Very disappointed.
Prime Rib was blah
Chicken was ok but not for $ 28.00!
Fish and Chips — my hubby enjoyed but just ok for $ 14.00
All in all… eh!!!

This is one of my favorite restaurants. I love the comfortable atmosphere and the Oliver theme. I think that the food is comforting, Satisfying and FULL of flavor.
The service staff is warm, quick and helpful. I love the specials and they always know what to recommend.
There is live music on Saturday night. It was easy going and great for date night!
I have never had a bad meal. My favorite dish is the Fried Jidori Chicken but the roasted version is great and probably healthier. I have tried mostly everything and love it.

Reminds me why I don’t visit England.
Okay… this converted Tony Roma’s restaurant has hokey posters everywhere of the movie Oliver… which is good reason enough to avoid the place. But you really go to a restaurant for the food and I am willing to overlook the movie poster décor if the food or service made up for it… Unfortunately it didn’t.
Let’s start with the menu…
Hard to screw up a New York Steak. Really, almost $ 45 and you under season it? There was a garlic butter and almost no pepper on the meat. You could cook a better steak at home. It was bland and tasteless. No excuses for that.
The Fish and Chips? I had the misfortune of having good fish and chips so I know what passes as bad fish and chips. The chips were soggy the fish batter was doughy and not crisp. How you can screw up Fish and Chips in a England theme restaurant is beyond me.
Now to the English Stout Stew… I know Londoners love their stews but this stew really was hard to swallow. I took a bite and I choked on the salt. They need to seriously look at this recipe and cut the salt measurement back by 70% or more. Less you think it is just me, another dinner felt the same thing and couldn’t finish her stew as well.
Now let’s look at the service…
I try to understand everyone has bad days but our waiter had to be asked numerous times if we could have some water. Our table was cluttered with clean wine glasses that I asked be removed so we would have space for our dinner but he never removed them. When dessert came, he had to ask for silverware and then he only brought enough for 2 people, I had 6 guests.
Finally… Shaved Ice? You are a English themed, white linen restaurant and you have signs in the parking lot stating you serve shaved ice?
They are suffering from an identity crisis and need a culinary intervention.

I found Oliver’s through
. It is located in Redondo right on PCH. We were in the area, so I wanted to check out something local.
Although I enjoyed the food, this place seems to have a bit of an identity crisis. It is nicely decorated, with an Oliver Twist theme; but the place itself reminded me of a redecorated TGI Fridays or similar chain. That being said the prices are very high. Without a coupon, the prices would’ve offended me. Steaks were in the between 25 & 30 bucks, and chicken dishes were around 20. The ambience doesn’t equal the cost.
My $ 15 burger was cooked well and enjoyable. If I were to go back I would buy the $ 50 coupon and spend $ 100. I enjoyed Oliver’s, but wasnt blown away.

3 of us went for a birthday. This was our first time. The Décor was nice, the Oliver Twist theme was muted, so it didn’t bother me much. It was actually decorated well.
However, for such a nice restaurant, in an upscale area, the menu was just a printed piece of paper.
There were about 8 appetizers and about 10 entrees, 3 of which we were told they were out of. Everything was a la carte. I ordered a 5oz filet, which was delicious, but that is all that was on the plate– a tiny piece of meat. I had to order a bowl of mashed potatoes for $ 6. extra to make this a meal. My husband did better with his seared tuna — it was served over potatoes that came with it and a few vegetables. It was delicious, also. Our 3^rd entrée was shrimp scampi over a grilled artichoke. Wonderful! But, when we asked for rice to go with it we were told that they didn’t have any rice.
We tried to order a non-​alcoholic beer and was told that they didn’t have those as of yet, either.
Gratuity was added already-​even for just 3 people. Glad that I noticed that on the bill.
So, it was rather pricey, being all al la carte. The food, what they had, was really really good, they just didn’t have much of a selection. I’m hoping this place stays, but they really need to extend their menu a bit.

Huge improvements since my last visit. Server’s name was Coy? Cay?
Picked up a
certificate and came on a Monday night for their beef filet stew and butter lettuce salad w bleu cheese and a side.
Only a couple of other customers — quiet.
Quick, friendly service with thorough explanation of available menu options.
Tip was already charged into the tab, which I found to be unusual.

Yum!
Very pleasantly surprised with my meal here, especially after reading so so many mixed reviews.
The décor is a little hokey with ALL the Oliver Twist posters, but overall I think it’s also kind of cute. I like that there is a theme and I do love the outfits that the wait staff wears.
Came here last night with my family and we soon realized that they only had a prix-​fixe menu since it was Valentine’s Day. It was the first time we’d ever been here so we had to have a little discussion on whether this was ok or not. The choices looked good though, so we figured why not?
The starter salad was absolutely delicious, perfectly dressed and I loved the corn bread croutons. The onion soup was also good, but mine could have been a touch hotter. Calling it soup feels a little wrong though because it was more bread than soup… sort of like a soaked onion bread soup… or something. I enjoyed it though!
For the entrée I chose the steak which was a nicely portioned little filet, cooked to a perfect medium rare and came on a bed of mashed potatoes with a few nicely cooked veggies.
Everyone was very pleased and quite impressed with their meals. Pretty sure we all cleaned our plates… well, except for me. But that’s only because I’m not really the biggest fan of mashed potatoes… I know, I’m a heathen.
Dessert was just a choice of chocolate, which was alright but a *little* disappointing at the same time. Chocolate mousse cake or chocolate crème brûlée. For some reason I missed the chocolate part and expected regular crème brûlée so that’s the only reason I was a little sad. It was still delicious though, very smooth and creamy with a nice, thick sugary crust.
Overall for a first experience, Oliver’s definitely delivered!
Food was great, service was friendly, and there was even live music which I’m guessing was just for V-​Day.
The décor is a little weird though, I must admit. They are more of steakhouse type restaurant yet the colors are very diner-​esque.
A strange contradiction, but it probably wouldn’t keep me away.

I had dinner at Oliver’s a few weeks ago, and I had a great experience.
I admit, the décor is terrible. Like, TERRIBLE. Looks like the inside of a retirement home or something.
But the food was phenomenal – albeit expensive.
First of all, their complimentary bread: It’s addicting. Fresh and herby, with a crispy crust. Very delicious with their whipped butter.
I had the petite filet mignon. It was tiny – about the size of a small fist. That’s good for me, because I don’t eat a lot of steak. But some might be put off by the fact that it’s both tiny, and $ 16 – ouch!
It was cooked perfectly though (med. rare) and was served with a beautiful veal reduction sauce and herb butter.
I also got the potato gratin: very, very good, but insanely rich. And way too large! The portion could feed about 4 – 6 people. I think they could cut down on the portion size and save a lot of food and money in the process.
Great food though, will definitely be back.

Ok, I did my best to really like this place, but it is caught between two types of restaurants. It’s food was good but the prices were the same as a steakhouse and the atmosphere more like a diner with a tribute to the Dickins classic play.
The big problem was the menu, poorly laid out. The waitress explained that there was a children’s menu, but it was memorized in her head, not on paper. Then later she told us that it was the same choices as some of the items on the menu, but smaller portions, which was fine. Then later she told us that she would be charging us the same price that was on the adults menu, so I said then keep the adult size portions and we would take the rest home. This was a strange experience for our party of six.
Like I said before, I wanted to give this place the benefit of the doubt, but it is stuck in a restaurant twilight zone. I would give the food a three and a half stars, but the service, décor and prices affect the dining experience too much.

Disappointing. The restaurant is a mixed bag, but overall disappoints.
Atmosphere Let’s start with the odd name «Oliver’s Café». Believe it or not but they are trying to offer an Oliver Twist «theme». Why? The waiters are dressed like grown up Oliver people and it’s looks ridiculous. The walls are covered with Oliver Twist movie posters. It simply makes no sense and detracts from the whole dining experience. They should dump the Disney theme non-​sense. More lighting and some heat would help too. The small fruit fly buzzing us at the end of the meal didn’t help.
Service. We only saw our waiter twice the whole time. I’m serious. He took our order and brought us our bill. Everything else was done by other staff. It was simply bizarre. We had at least 7 different people come by to «serve» us. For a $ 100 meal for two people, you would think the waiter would at least «try». But then again, he was too busy with the party of 10 just 15 feet away. What a joke. Oh, and yes we had to ask for utensils twice. And when the main meal arrived, we had to wait several more minutes for our side dishes.
Food. We ordered two «Firsts» which were their appetizers. The carbonara was as bland as can be and lacked any seasoning whatsoever. The beef stew was OK but could be improved by adding more veggies. The Main meal was two petite filets and two sides (seasonal veggies and mac & cheese). The petite fillet was only 5 ounces and they charged $ 18 for it! This was the one and only good part of the experience. The filet was tender and tasty. The side dishes were disappointing. The veggies were a VERY small plate of carrots and broccolini. And they had the audacity to charge $ 6 for it. But I’ve left the worst for last, the mac & cheese. It was awful. I kid you not in that this was made on the stove top (not baked), was runny and had no discernible flavor of cheese. A 5 year old could have made it better from a box. We couldn’t stomach the junk.
Price. Simply way over priced for the overall quality of the meal. It is outrageous to charge $ 18 for a 5 ounces filet.
Summary. Stay away from this place and spend your hard earned money elsewhere. There is no way this restaurant will survive.

I’ve always been a fan of theme restaurants, so was excited to try this place. Unfortunately, as far as themes go… this one is lacking. There are some pictures and posters and the servers dress in costumes, but that’s it. Something is missing that would tie it all together. It felt like a slightly redecorated Chicago Ribs.
Food was hit or miss. Here’s a rundown of what I tried:
Wedge salad — good, nice size, too much dressing, ask for it on the side
Beef Stew — too salty, huge for a side dish
Spaghetti Bolognese — really good
Filet — very good
Scallops — very good, but only 3 of them
Veggie side — covered in butter/​oil
Cookies and milk — very good, milk tastes like melted vanilla ice cream, wish it they just gave you ice cream
Service was friendly. But, not in a rush to go back.

Oliver’s is in the old Chicago ribs location in RB– I’d say the overall verdict is pretty mediocre. Supposedly they have an Oliver Twist theme, but not sure what that means– a few movie posters, but otherwise I didn’t see it. The place was pretty deserted, service was good– I had half a salad (OK, loaded to excess with dressing) and the bolognese (good). But nothing was memorable enough to make me want to go back, me thinks this place will go the way of Chicago Ribs and go out of business…

Took the family here for dinner and it was good. Over all the place was nice inside. Service was great, food was good, clean place and a full bar. As far as the menu goes, i thought they could have a little more variety, but thats just me.
I had a bowl of tomato soup, it was very good, but $ 8, for a bowl of soup, my wife had a ceasar salad also $ 8. Kind of a lot for soup and pre dinner salad, but it was a big portion.
I had the fish and chips and it was good, fries were good, and the fish tasted good, maybe a little greasy. Probly would not hurt them to dry the fish off after it comes out of the fryer. But not bad.
My wife had the chicken, she didnt like it, said it was to covered in gravy, but i liked it. Presentation was good and over all, taste was good. Kind of pricy, seemed like most of the items were in the high teens to mid twentys. Expect to pay about 20 – 30 a person for food here, then add drinks and you could end up paying $ 80 for two for dinner. Its a nice place, the free bread is real good, had lots of that, but kind of a little $ for us. With soup and salad and meals and two drinks we paid over $ 75 for dinner including tip. A little more than we like to pay for a regular night out.
Can’t say enough about the service, they were great. I wish more places had good service like that.
We probly wont go here to often due to the prices and menu choices that we like. But over all not bad,

I went in to Oliver’s Café for happy hour to check out the new restaurant. New? Not really. It’s Chicago Ribs with pictures from various productions of Oliver Twist and steins on the wall. I don’t see how anything has changed. The layout is exactly the same (huge restaurant). And, they are trying a theme that may have had its day in 1980 but now seems tired.
The waitress was super attentive until we wanted to wait for the third in our party to get started. Then, she delivers wine and it is begging her to come back for things like water and taking our food order. We ate:
Macaroni & Cheese: Shells in a cheesy white sauce topped with bread crumbs and tons of fried sage. Super saucy and very tasty. I would definitely recommend this dish to someone who decided to come (or must be) here. $ 5 for cereal bowl of Mac — very good.
Bacon Salad: Fresh spinach with grape tomatoes tossed in a vinaigrette with applewood smoked bacon (whole — bad form, should be chopped) and crunchy onions. This salad was delicious, and for $ 5 at Happy Hour, it can’t be beat.
Pulled Pork Sliders — Delicious brioche. Period. What, no pork? Yah — there was 1 teaspoon of pork per bun with a 1 mm pickle and a spit of Dijon mustard. Pathetic.
I had the Guenoc Sauv Blanc and Cab, both of which were very good. For the ending, we splurged on the pear bread pudding with maker’s mark caramel and vanilla ice cream. They use inferior ice cream, but the bread pudding is awesome! I could have skipped the ice cream and had more of the delicious caramel. Too bad they don’t put some of the Haagen Dazs vanilla on this instead of the Smart & Final vanilla — it would have made the dessert.
Don’t worry folks. Oliver’s Café is not long for this world. Huge ill-​decorated space, overpriced food (on the regular menu, not happy hour), and no patrons means that this experiment will be shortlived.

*Attention anyone reading the awful review by Mary C.*
I would like to preface this by saying that not only was I utterly astounded by the lack of class and tact Mary had, but was further appalled by her audacity to even post a negative review after her display at the restaurant.
I was present a this same party and would like to say that I had a completely different experience, which was nothing but pleasant aside from the presence of the cheap company at our party (she is an acquaintance of my friend and has no association with me).
Yes, we had asked for the banquette room, but the size that we had originally told the restaurant had reduced in number, and that is the sole reason why we were sat in the main dining room. Not because Oliver’s had somehow reneged on their promise, but because we showed up in fewer numbers than expected.
The server did the best that he could, which was as good as you can expect when you have a large party. He is only one person and can only bring out so many drinks at once. Never did I once feel that he was being neglectful, or that he was somehow inept as a server. Everything was brought out in a timely matter. We were there to socialize and have a pleasant time. If ever anyone expects to go out with a large party and your only intent is to eat as fast as you can, then I recommend you stick to your usual accustomed fast food chain restaurants.
Which brings me to my question for her, and this applies to anyone else lacking common sense: if you are with a large party, and everyone orders at once, why would you expect your food to come out right away? The food is made fresh to order and if 20+ orders come in at once, how in the world is everything going to magically appear within 10 minutes? The chefs can only do so much in a given time and mind you, we are not the only party there. There are other tables who need tending to and want to eat.
The only reason the check came out all together instead of broken up, was because I spoke with the server and the manager and thought it would be best since obviously some people at the party were cheap and dishonest and this would be the most efficient way to assure that everything would be paid for. So Mary should probably not have commented on something that she clearly lacked the facts on. And let me mention that her and her friend both refused to pay their portion of the tip, even after we explained that is she failed to do so the rest of us would have to pitch in extra on her behalf (at which her response was cavalier and indifferent). I would disregard her review and any others that she has made as I would confidently say, she is probably not used to fine dining, but more accustomed to low end restaurants like the Olive Garden or Red Lobster.
So in short, I thought the food was really good, I would definitely eat there again.
On a separate note, I was really impressed how Oliver’s emphasizes purchasing fresh and local food and ingredients. This not only reflects high standards and pride in the quality of their food, but also their concern for both environmental and socio-​economical issues.

Wow, what a great place!
The food quality here is excellent– from the burrata from Italy to the chorizo in the mussels and frites, Oliver’s clearly uses high-​quality ingredients, unlike some other restaurants down the street (I’m looking at you, H.T. Grill!)
The husband and I shared the tomato/​burrata salad and the mussels and frites for appetizers. Both were delicious and innovative– and the burrata was among the creamiest I’ve ever had. The slight broiling of the tomatoes was a nice touch. the mussels and frites were delicious as well, served in a spanish cream sauce with chorizo bits. Both dishes were winners!
For entrees, I had the special– pistachio-​encrusted sea bass on a greek salad with tzatzike, and the hubby had the surf and turf. Again, quality ingredients– both dishes had tons of flavor, and were visually appealing– the tiger prawns on hubby’s dish were full-​on in the shell with heads and everything. He declared them among the best he’s ever had! My sea bass was tender and flaky.. . simple and wonderful.
Dessert? Pear bread pudding and coffee. the coffee wasn’t anything wonderful, but the bread pudding was– I think it must have been made with challah, like most delicious and airy bread puddings. Definitely exceeded our expectations.
And then, as if it wasn’t enough food, our server comped us milk and cookies. Again, super-​delicious homemade ingredients.
We are definitely coming back next time we are vacationing in Redondo Beach. Unilocalers, this spot is a winner!