The Black Olive Restaurant

We had family come in from out of town in February and decided to take them to our FAVORITE restaurant The Black Olive. When we pulled up, my husband and I were soooo devastated to see that it was closed for business! Today on our anniversary I’m totally craving their food and wish we could go like we do every year. So I decided to come on Unilocal and try to investigate and see if they have decided to re-​open or simply see if they relocated! I really wish there was a way to contact the owner and let them know just how much we loved this restaurant. If anyone has any information or knows of a new location please be sure to let me know! I appreciate it! Thank you =D

I love this place.
My friends took me to dinner for my birthday and this restaurant is spot on AMAZING. The place was small but very cozy. We got seated very quickly. Our server was very polite and extremely helpful. Our meal was taking a bit long so they gave us salads on the house and to top it all off Everything we ordered was DELICIOUS. Very satisfied. The owner also came out after dinner to see how we were doing which I thought was a nice touch, it all felt genuine. I will be returning for sure.

The food here tastes absolutely DELICIOUS. I had the chicken a la vodka and it was really really good! I went with a party of about 12 people The food itself was definitely ⁵⁄₅. Every one of us loved our dish.
The service could be a little bit better. We were really the only party there and the waiters weren’t very attentive. There were a lot of time when someone would ask for water and the waiters wouldn’t remember who to give it to so that was a little annoying. Also, I know the food is made to order but we waited more than an hour to get our food.

I not much for Italian food, but The Black Olive was pretty good and I enjoyed my dish that had there last week. My party were all pleased with what they had and the place was very cute and we were able to enjoy each other company. My son is a very picky eater and I was surprised that he finished his dish !!! The price is reasonable, our server is very helpful and did a great job waiting our table. I did enjoyed what I had, but it was a little sweet and they told me that the next time I can asked to have it be adjusted to my liking. Over all I liked the place and the food and plan to make this my Italian restaurant go to …

I’m an Italian food snob that grew up on the east coast. This place has it right.
The pasta, had penne vodka, fettuccine Alfredo and spaghetti marinara. Each one was delicious and tasted completely different. The pasta itself was cooked perfect ala dente style. Very impressed!
I had the eggplant parm and it was one of the best I ever had. Went with a party of four and we took most of our food home. Because the portions were huge. I love it!
We ordered a margarita Sicilian pizza for an appetizer and it was so dang good, thick crust tasty sauce fresh basil and good mozzarella not the cheap kind. This pizza weight about 30lbs. It’s ginormous.
Alaster, our server was super friendly and wonderful. The vibe of the place was laid back. This is a good date place and family night place. The amount of food you get for the price is more than appropriate. Think home style.
We all loved our meals and all had a lot left over to take home for lunch tomorrow!
The owner David was really cool and gave honesty feedback on the menu and catered to our vegetarian preferences. The chef knows what he’s doing. This place is legit Italian. Represent!!!
Tiramisu was excellent! Guess that’s the exclamation point on a fabulous dining experience.
Peace out!

GO HERE!
We just had a great experience in this little Italian restaurant. Don’t let the little strip mall deter you, it’s worth it.
First, David the owner greeted us and talked about how hard he is working to make this restaurant. I really respect that he took the time to talk about his business and recommend his favorites (an help those of us who didn’t eat meat).
Second, hands down, Alastair was an awesome waiter. Extremely attentive, positive, an eager to please (I wish all waiters were as good as him).
Food: Excellent. We’ve been to Lou’s on the Hill recently and this not only had true Italian sized portions, it rated much better! Save your dollars and go here…
Sicilian pizza — amazing. Being from the east coast, we know our Sicilian. I can’t say it’s better than PA/​NY, but it certainly is close and reminds me of home. Their red sauce is very tasty.
Penne vodka. The sauce is really l, really good. They need to bottle it. If you go, I highly recommend the penne vodka. Honestly, the best I’ve ever had.
Another plus — they are willing to make you what you want or need. Oh, and it’s BYOB!
Atmosphere: casual. Good for families and date nights. Good, fair pricing. Doesn’t look like your typical Italian restaurant on the inside, but it’s very clean.
Tiramisu. Yes. Yes. Yes.
I hope this place does well. We will be back to our new go-​to Italian place.

Delicious food — quiet atmosphere and easy parking. You can bring your own wine– no corkage fee! The owner knows a lot about wine and is hopeful to get his license in the future. The bread and Olive oil dipping sauce is very tasty– just ask for it. We adds the side salad to our meal — very good size and awesome Italian dressing.
We would go back for sure!

Good food and great service.
I had the chicken vodka and my husband had the eggplant parmigiana. David the owner and cook came out to say hi and thank you.
The spumoni was great!

Top of the line Italian cuisine with Asian fusion that comes with exquisite flavored. Spice up your dinner with the Salmon pasta that is only available in the secret menu.
I am glad my friend recommend me to this place. It’s delicious.

YUMMY! !! Omg that Seafood Pizza is my new favorite, not on the menu, but it’s amazing!!! Cod Roe, Calamari, Shrimp, purple onions, basil, etc!!!

Excellent service with thoughtful and attentive servers, from the front door to the table. Hot, freshly baked bread and flavored olive oil start your juices flowing, followed by antipasto that stands apart.
First visit, tried the tri-​color gnocchi, and the marsala chicken — and both were excellent, with tender and deep flavors. I’d likely come back several times.
Dessert is Tiramisu, with fine ciffee, strongly recommend this place.

Starting off our evening, we had an expired groupon, and David (the manager/​owner) accepted the groupon.
The service was the top notch (keep in mind there is only two parties), but still good. The atmosphere is still quiet, but very romantic for my aunt and uncles anniversary.
The food was very decent, but the bread is AMAZING as always. I ordered the ravioli, and it was covered in tomato sauce (I LOVE tomatoes). The fetechini had a odd order, but tasty. Re pizza again was burnt around the edges, again very good still. Also their best and my favorite their chicken parm top notch. Drinks stayed full, and we all overall were happy.
In the end they have improved, although still not the best food. I would come back defiantly usually with a groupon. Thank you David for helping us out, and we will see you soon.

I was pleasantly surprised by the food & service from The Black Olive. I’ve driving by this restaurant for years but never had the interest to stop in until j purchased the groupon. I ordered the lobster ravioli based on reviews from previous Unilocalers and my husband had the penne with vodka sauce. Both dishes were delicious! And focaccia bread for starters were really good too! We had 2 helpings. Great service from Allester. Will definitely dine here again.
Atmosphere was ok. Windows need cleaning and the ceilings should be replaced. I didn’t use the restroom so can’t comment on that. Other than that, it’s a nice Italian restaurant.

Hmmm, was a little concerned looking at the place from the outside and the location is definitely not doing this business any favors… But! But, this was another one of my wife’s groupon buys that turned out to be pretty tasty.
The service was excellent. The server was extremely friendly and attentive. The food was quite good. Everything was fresh and crisp. We split a chopped Anti-​pasta salad and a pizza. The salad had generous portions of fresh veggies (lots of black olives hehe) and meats with a tasty vinagrette dressing. Pizza also had great flavor with a lot of toppings. The meatballs on it were really good.
If you’re in the area and in the mood for some homemade style Italian I’d recommend stopping bye.

Excellent dining experience with the family. David was very kind, professional and answered all our questions. We ordered the Lobster Ravioli, Pasta Pescatore, pepperoni pizza for my kid, and fried calamari’s for appetizer.
Again, amazing food and service. Will definitely be back again after the renovation

Black olive is a restaurant that I have frequented many times over the years and overall I enjoy it and will continue to return! I have enjoyed several entrees like baked rigatoni, chicken parm, lobster and shrimp ravioli, chicken fettuccine, mozzarella wedges and they all are good! I usually do take out and have found there service has continued to improve over the years. They still forget things like the yummy olive oil dip for the bread, but they have a wonderful, friendly staff that makes up for the little mistakes :). I will keep coming back!

I don’t Unilocal much — usually through my husband’s account and only when it’s really bad or really good. My friend wanted Italian — found this gem through groupon. My go to Italian is a place in Hermosa beach. I have to say I enjoyed the food here better!
We ordered:
Seafood pescatore
Penne alla vodka
Tri-​colored gnocchi
Lasagne
Fettuccine Alfredo
I can actually say everything we ordered was delicious. Will definitely be going back. The waiter suggested the seafood pescatore with red sauce — so glad he did. The linguine was amazingly flavorful. like it had been marinating in the seafood red sauce. If you love penne alla vodka like I do — you will not be disappointed. Theirs is great! The Alfredo sauce is very rich — the way I like it and the gnocchi dish… I’d get it while you can. The owner said he may discontinue it but the sauces in the dish are in other dishes so they aren’t going anywhere. I don’t eat meat but my friend said their meat lasagne was delish. And like other Unilocalers wrote — bread is fantastic. Even the decaf coffee was just right!
Had leftovers for the next day — the food was even better!
This place was fantastic! Always good to find a yummy Italian place!

First off I just wanna say that the focaccia bread here is BOMB. I can come here and eat the bread all day lol. My parents and I came here around 5:30−6 on a Thursday and there was probably like two other parties seated in the restaurant. Our server was still a little slow.
I got the lobster ravioli with shrimp which was pretty good. My dad got the tri color gnocchi which comes with marinara, alfredo, and a creamy pesto sauce. My mom got the linguini with clams which I thought was basic and the noodles were a little soft. They were all good dishes, however the portion sizes were just way too small… especially for the price. I wouldn’t come here without a groupon (which is why we decided to come check this place out). It was just way too expensive for the amount of food they give you.

I love dining at the Black Olive for my Italian fix! I like how there is a fusion aspect mixed in with Classic Italian fare.
A few of the dishes we ordered:
Gnocchi– very creamy, soft, and loved the sauce! Definitely tastes homemade
Seafood Pizza– this is an item we tried from the «fusion menu» and it is definitely something I haven’t had before! It had a cream based sauce and toppings such as shrimp with the added bonus of a sunny side up egg on top. So good and I will DEFINITELY order that again
Classic Alfredo pasta– one of my favorite Italian staples, and this was definitely creamy and worthwhile.
One note about the bread basket: there’s a slight hint of spiciness due to the seasoning on it (which I personally like). Very unique and fresh!
The prices are reasonable ($ 12 – 18) for most entrees.
Italian is one of my favorite food categories, and the Black Olive does a delicious representation of classic dishes with a few fusion pieces here and there.

Been here twice. First for their regular menu, and second for their secret fusion menu.
For their regular menu, we tried a variety of dishes. A few were mediocre, but majority were on point.
We started the meal with the complimentary bread that’s was extremely tasty. It came with a saucer of balsamic/​olive oil for you to dip. I had to refrain myself from eating too much bread! (Then again I love hot fresh bread)
Anyway, next was fried breaded mozzarella sticks (which I can’t find on the menu anymore). I was actually quite surprised by them since the breading was perfectly crispy. Paired with the marinara sauce they were quite tasty.
Our party ordered a variety of pasta dishes and pizza. I tasted every single one of them to see how they were.
Majority were all well executed dishes. Can’t say too much about them, they’re all traditional Italian pasta dishes. However, what did stand out was the Tri-​Color Gnocchi and the Creamy Jambalaya Pasta.
First off, I wasn’t a big fan of the Gnocchi. I felt it was a bit over cooked, but when I think about it, I’ve only loved Gnocchi once and that was a $ 25 dish at a super fancy restaurant in New York. But I guess people do like it, so give it a try?
Second, the Creamy Jambalaya Pasta was amazing. I loved the burst of flavor from the dish. It has so much flavor going on, but just the right amount to make me want to eat it all. Sadly, I didn’t order this so… I was sad. Oh a note, this dish has a decent amount of heat.
For the secret menu, we had to make reservations. They actually told us about a few risotto dishes they were trying out that aren’t officially on the secret menu, so we ordered a few to try out. They told me not to talk about them either… But they were delicious and need to get them on the menu ;)
Ok this is getting long. The 2 dishes that were absolutely phenomenal and I want more of is their Creamy Yuzu Fettuccine with grilled chicken, and their fusion seafood pizza.
Creamy Yuzu Fettuccine
Honestly this dish is probably just the Fettuccine Alfredo with Yuzu, but however they put the yuzu in was perfect. With every bite you had the perfect amount of yuzu taste without it being overpowering. It complemented the pasta perfectly. I really need to try to make this dish myself.
Fusion Seafood Pizza
When this dish first came out I wasn’t impressed. It didn’t look like there was much seafood on it, and looked rather bland, but when you took a bite, there was a TON of seafood flavor. It’s like they made seafood juice from left over crab/​lobster/​seafood innards and poured it all over the pizza. It was so tasty that I grabbed for seconds right after it made the rounds around the table. (This was also the last piece, and per Asian custom you’re supposed to leave it there for a little at least)
They also had a Krn BBQ Bulgogi pizza and Popcorn chicken pizza, but both were unavailable this time around.
If you want to try things on the secret menu, be sure to call in to make a reservation and ask ahead!
Now to prices. I think most of these dishes went from 15−25~. Not the cheapest, but for something innovative, it’s def worth it to try at least once.
Now they just need a lunch special menu…