Olive’s

Not a fan. The place looks cute but…
A chicken sandwich cost $ 11.43 after tax?!? The mayo is sprinkled with gold or something. Sandwich is cold and tastes rather mediocre.

The absolute most rude service I’ve ever experience. The food at Olive is good but mostly just convenient lunch and breakfast food in Soho.
I’ve been ordering from Olives for years and have gotten used to the extremely rude service on the phone. Two days ago I placed a breakfast order for the following morning. The total came to $ 55 and I was charged twice– the night I placed the order and the following morning when the order was delivered. When I called to let them know this happened the manager (the very rude lady who always answers the phone) refused to look into it, asked me to call the accountant bc she didn’t have time for it, and rudely hung up the phone on me. I called back and asked for her name the girl on the phone tells me the woman I just spoke to is Tony. The following day I called the «accountant», «this is Tony», she answers, I tell her I had spoken to her last night she rudely yells it wasn’t her I spoke to. W/​o looking into the matter she tells me I was only charged once (although I know it’s not true bc. I was looking at my statement as we were speaking and called my bank to ask if one of the charges was voided) I asked to please look into it first before just assuming and if it was voided to please provide me with a void slip. As she’s looking through she finds the charge from the night and says I was only changed once. I ask her to keep looking, she finds the second charge and then tells me the first charge was voided but she could not provide me with proof of the void. I ask to speak to someone else bc at this point I’m in disbelief of how rude this person is and the fact that she can’t even get her story straight, she tells me she is the only person I can speak to and I either speak to her or she will hang up on me.
I honestly don’t have the time nor care to write a bad review but this experience was just so unbelievable I felt like I had to, perhaps even if just to vent. Obliviously never ordering from Olive’s again.

An ok place for a quick bite. A little dirty inside and lacking the cute vibe of their original location on Prince Street.

I had a great experience here today — had a nice conversation with the owner about coffee and he handed over a «golden ticket» of sorts for the new Stumptown on Macdougal for a free beverage. We spoke about bagels and how they get theirs from a local spot in Greenpoint, how they grind fresh ginger for their ginger cookies, as well as the other quality ingredients they use for pastries.
The coffee is good and the bagels and pastries are fresh — it’s a solid little neighborhood spot that’s been there for 22 years and has an adorable open kitchen. I really like this spot a lot — very NYC and owned by a super nice guy.

This places looks cute from the outside but has a bit unorganized and dirty feel on the inside. I just ordered a coffee and cookie today and they were both a waste of money. The coffee was stale and the cookie had no taste to it.

I think I technically shouldn’t like this place because I’ve had multiple bad experiences with service here (many times a bunch of us at my work have put in large orders and received the order: wrong, too late, or some combination of both with no apology — in fact with some rudeness and dismissal.)
And yet, everytime I eat here, I put down my utensils fully satisfied. The food in general is a bit overpriced (but what isn’t, in this area?) so satisfying because the ingredients are always fresh — nice cheese, good meat, crusty bread, creative vegetables. If you order a soup or salad or even have the ½ sandwich + soup combo you’ll also always get a sourdough roll with a pat of butter… which makes the $ 13+ combo mostly worth it. There are a number of permanent sandwiches (the mushroom sandwich is my favorite) and the Olive’s Mixed Green salad which is always yummy, but then a daily rotation of special sandwich (Thursday is a particularly popular avocado cheddar and sprouts sandwich), couple of special soups, a «grain» (a $ 6, mini plastic cups worth of vegetable or noodles… I never buy this) and a «market» plate ($ 16) which basically means huge honkin’ salad with protein and carbs on top.
The only thing to watch out for is the crowd at lunch time… because people love this place so much they’ll put up with the stress and intensity of craning to see the chalkboard of specials around the corner as the line snakes out the door. You will have to too.

Oh yeah! The sandwiches here at Olive’s are to die for. Literally. During a busy day of shopping in SoHo, you’re probably thinking, «Where am I going to grab a meal, but still have enough time to get my shop on?» Well, look no further, Olive’s will satisfy your craving, and at the same time, leave you pleasantly satisfied. Over here in SoHo, there are tons of places to eat. You have Dean & Deluca, salad shops, Ben’s Pizza, etc, so it’s not like there isn’t anywhere to go. So why Olive’s?
Well first of all, they serve Stumptown Coffee. That in itself, should make you not search any further for a cup of coffee. If coffee isn’t your favorite, then they do have fresh squeezed lemonade and orange juice. Second, their sandwiches are just amazing. There are a plethora of choices, ranging from the hero, smoked turkey, chicken breast, and more. Sure, they all sound pretty run of the mill normal, but trust me, these bad boys are pretty good. Topped with fresh ingredients and made fresh, you really can’t go wrong here. My personal favorite is their hero. You have: sweet and spicy coppa, Genoa salami, aged provolone, olive tapenade, marinated onions, romaine and tomatoes on sourdough. That in itself sounds pretty amazing right? You bet.
If you’re looking for a sit down spot, then Olive’s is probably not your best bet. There is a bench inside and outside, but that really only seats 3 per bench. Pretty much, if you’re coming here to get some food, you’re getting it to go. On top of that, the sandwiches are a little on the pricier side, but c’mon now, let’s be real. You’re in SoHo, so that shouldn’t even be a factor. This place, time after time, has given me a great lunch so it must be a good sign if I keep coming back.

i wish i could give them five stars. but i just can’t. i went to olives after missing my daily breakfast of a fiber filled bowl of organic cereal. so i stop by olives and get overly excited so i end up buying a half of hero AND a shitake mushroom sandwich, instead of just the usual one sandwich that i buy.
i get back to my workplace, eat the hero which was delicious (little dry. minus one half star there!) and then start on my shitake mushroom sammy. half way through a small little roach falls out onto my packaging! DISGUSTED i wrapped it up and marched over. they acted like it was totally normal and just gave me my money back. i should have made a scene. instead i’m on here. wishing i could give them five stars.

the stumptown coffee from Brooklyn always makes me go to this place everytime i’m shopping in SOHO. I love there cute store. Extremely friendly staff and service…
must go when you’re thirsty for stumptown in SOHO.

This sandwich shop is over rated and over priced.
I came here for lunch. There was a large line outside this small and cramped lunch spot. People are always trying to get the highly sought after bench to eat out side the shop… since there is no where to sit.
I got a goat cheese salad. Needless to say the salad was not fresh and had basically a small spoonful of cheese and dressing for the whole salad. So, I basically just ate dry spinach leaves for lunch. Healthy? Yes. Delicious and worth the 16 something I paid in total for this experience? No.
With so many outstanding lunch spots in Soho do yourself a favor, save yourself a wait in line, and go some place else.

Although I grew up in NY, I live in CA so when I saw the Stumptown logo at Olive’s, I was stoked. Then I went in an ordered a latte. A random cook (e.g. not a barista) took my order and made a latte in 30 seconds. Accordingly, it tasted like water. I ordered a morning bun that managed to be stale at 9:00 am. This place is AWFUL and I will be letting Stumptown know because they are worried about brand dilution I suppose.

I had the shitake mushroom sandwich. It was just ok with cold, hard chewy bread, After eating halfway, I found a fly in my sandwich. I threw the rest out. Will be my first and last time going. there are definitely better sandwich places out there…

They serve Stumptown coffee which is amazing.
The Ancho chili rubbed steak with melted jalapeño jack and grilled onions on baguette is excellent but it was smaller than I thought it would be.
Small portions and pricy but it is quality food.

I came here for a quick breakfast. They didn’t have anything I ordered in the menu! No hot oatmeal, no soup.
They only had lots of cookies and coffee and they are overpriced. $ 3.75 for one simple cookie.
If you are in the neighborhood, go Dean & Delca, not here.

This review is based solely on breakfast from Olive’s, so might not be a good indicator of overall quality.
That said, I just ate a rubber tire for breakfast. I asked them to put a lot of cream cheese on that tire… Maybe they didn’t hear? It looked like someone threw a few glops on when I opened it up.
This has happened twice now. Maybe I thought they were having an off-​day the first time, thus tried again. I was wrong. Olive’s «bagels» are permanently shitty, and their cream cheese application is even worse.
This sucks. I guess Dunkin Donuts is the only choice on my way to work, now.

Came here midday on a Monday and MAN was it hectic. I was stressed out just standing in line. The staff did a decent job of cycling everyone in and out of the small space efficiently, and you could tell that they were working their tails off. Props to them.
All of the food was pre-​made and packaged to grab and go, but I didn’t once doubt the freshness of anything.
I ended up getting a mozzarella, spinach, and roasted red pepper sandwich, since I was hungover and didn’t want anything too heavy. The ingredients were fresh and the bread was tasty. It was satisfying, but nothing really stood out.
I sat and ate with a friend on the bench outside, it was quiet, shady, and lovely… enough to make me forget about the madhouse inside.

They do have very fresh sandwiches
But it always lacks flavors for some reason.

Olive’s is one of the best options for takeout lunch in Soho. As Veronique said, the California Special sandwich is not to be missed! The only slight downside is that there’s often a line and sometimes they’ll keep you waiting for your order, but the food is delicious. It’s slightly overpriced, in my opinion, but it’s always tasty.
It’s also a good place to go for a Terry Richardson sighting … I’ve seriously seen him at least 5 times on the bench out front, usually with an entourage.

3 Words: California Special Sandwich
That’s all you need from Olive’s. Only served on Thursdays, but probably the most delicious sandwich ever. Its completely vegetarian, but that doesn’t stop a carnivore like myself.
I’ve also tried many of their grains and soups which are all superb as well. Olive’s is always busy at lunch, but its worth the wait and even worth going out of your way to pick up lunch from here.

It’s busy. It is actually overwhelmed at lunch. It can be a little more money than one would normally want to spend on a sandwich.
BUT the lunch specials are amazingly good. Thursday’s, especially, is so beyond worth the wait. The daily menu is good too, and everything has just enough creativity to it to make it worth the wait and extra cost. This is the kind of lunch that makes you remember that you live in this city, where standards can occasionally be set high for a very good reason.
It’s a SOHO thing, and probably will always remain there, just as crazy busy and overpriced, but we’ll hope as tasty.
Also, the baked goods are excellent. And there is nothing wrong with a really great cookie.