Olives, A Martini Bar

Now closed. Renovating… will become a sports bar soon. Try BuDa Lounge on e. Market St

Stopped in for a drink after the big Badger victory in the recent Big 10 championship game. Must have been high on adrenaline from the exciting game because didn’t realize until we had ordered a drink that the place is a VERY smoky cigar bar. We had our drink and left.

Olives, A Martini Bar had «bad idea» written all over it! First, it’s a hotel bar and often that’s not a good thing. Second, it’s also cigar bar and the smoking lamp was definitely lit. The GF and I are not smokers and tend to avoid places that allow smoking so there was a good chance we’d get our fill of second-​hand smoke in a hurry and not finish our drinks. Third, it touts itself as a martini bar which usually means an uninspired drink list filled with your generic Dirty Martini, Cosmopolitan, Apple-tini…you get the picture! Like the old saying «you can’t judge a book by its cover», suffice it to say, Olives turned out to be a very good idea that really made for an enjoyable evening!
It all started with service. Our bartender Corey was talented, but unpretentious. He was personable and also a font of knowledge on the Indy cocktail scene. My first round was a well-​made martini off the menu that was satisfying. However, my second drink is where Corey really showcased his talents. I asked for a bourbon-​based cocktail. What I got was a complex tasting concoction that he made on the fly that reminded me of a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios in milk even though no milk or cream was present in the drink. It was delicious! I like surprises. Olives, A Martini Bar was a very pleasant surprise!
Service: 4.5 stars
Drinks: 4 stars
Atmosphere: 2 stars (I still don’t like smoke-​filled rooms regardless of how good the drinks…)
Overall: 3.75 stars rounding up to 4

It was a pleasant surprise to find a Martini and Cigar bar adjacent to the Omni Hotel I was staying at. After a day of walking the convention floor I was ready to kick back with a nice cocktail and tasty cigar.
The place itself is pretty classy with a chic décor and sweet vibe. College football games were on the flatscreens above the bar. The smell of cigar smoke permeated the air. The bartenders here are great and mixed a delicious dirty martini. Friendly conversation at the bar with other patrons while enjoying a smooth Partega.
The one drawback of this place is the subpar ventilation system, if there even is one. It seems like the cigar smoke just sits in this place. Like putting one in was an afterthought. Maybe this was not originally meant to be a cigar bar. Still, if you are a cigar aficianado who enjoys a good smoke with your drink this is a nice spot to cap your evening off — especially if you are staying at the Omni for a convention.

Smooth. The way a martini should be.
This place is slick. Yeah, it’s tucked into the Omni hotel, but it has it’s own entrance, so it qualifies as it’s own place. It just so happens that after 3 martinis, you won’t have to drive anywhere.
And yes, I did order 3 martinis. A connoisseur of the vodka martini, I was putting this place to the test. 3 martinis, dry, all ordered at the same time. One was to be a Stoli, a vodka I consider good, but not top shelf. One was to be top shelf, and a third was to be a well vodka. The challenge: could I identify the vodkas, could the bartender maintain the same quality across 3 drinks (same minute amounts of vermouth, equally chilled), and would he cross contaminate, using the same shaker for the well and top shelf vodkas.
Olives is a short walk from the convention center, so if you are a conventioneer, this is a nice comfortable place to hang with your fellow con-​folks. It can be a little smokey, as it is also a cigar bar, but somehow cigar smoke offends me less than cigarette smoke.
As for the martini challenge, the bartender was all aces. I could tell you how I did on my end, but that would be called bragging.

Mimi is so right on with the key lime martini. Tart, sweet, creamy! So good I don’t really remember how many I ordered. Yikes! I do, however, remember how flippin smokey this place is on a Saturday night. You would think for a smoking bar, they would have better ventilation at least. I had to go outside on more than one occasion so I didn’t gag from all the smoke. Too bad too, because the bartenders were attentive and friendly even though it was rather busy.

Oilves is a great, quaint ‘lil Martini Bar located in the Omni. I’ve been coming here for years — not because I like the Omni (because I don’t), but because the bartenders are great, and they offer an extensive selection of top shelf Vodkas at reasonable prices.
While staying at this dirty dump of a hotel last Sat. night, Olives was the bright spot of our stay. Chris is still the main bartender — -he’s been there for years, and is the utmost professional, knows his Vodkas, and makes a damn good martini. Prices. Reasonable. Cool, upscale setting, with comfy couches and a few flat screens to watch the games.
I’d give Olives 5 strong stars, but it’s too smoky. Come on Indiana, it’s almost 2010 — get up to date with your smoking laws! Cough cough…

This is one of those places I can certainly live without, but I like the bartenders here and they are friendly folks.
The atmosphere is awesome. The bar has a cool feel about it and the multi level sunken and raised seating areas make it a pretty different looking place. They do sell cigars so the air can be a bit pungent. And like its neighbor across the Omni lobby, the clientel can be rather stuck up.

Actually, Olives was closing early so I went to the lobby bar, which has all the same special martinis. I’d read about their signature key lime martini and was psyched, and it was everything I’d hoped it would be! Totally smooth, tart yet sweet. So WHY did I move on to an orange martini next?! It was good but not remarkable, and $ 11 vs. $ 7 for the key lime. Methinks that’s WAAAAAY too expensive, even for a hotel bar.