Olive Express

5 stars for lunchtime in this part of South Reston, don’t get it twisted and think it’s worth driving here from anywhere else. The food is hot, cheap, fast, and it’s easy to park. Around here, that’s ⁵⁄₅.

Their lunch meals are made with great consistently, which is a good thing. I like their Bacon, Turkey, Avocado Panini — highly recommend it.

Tucked away in the bottom of a corporate office block.
Lebanese/​American food. Stick to one or the other. Falafel balls fried too much, dry and hard. Shawarma chicken sliced too thin dry. No you cannot coat it with spices and pretend it is a shawarma. Hummus very good.

The good? the enviorment is clean so that’s good. Lot of places feel like a dirty cramped closet. This is roomy, quiet, and very clean.
Now the not so good. I am not one to find not finishing a meal. Especially a burger.
I’ll break it down.
So the bun, they tried to toast bun but the point of a toasted bun is to protect it from liquids and juices so it dosent get soggy. This is not what happened. The bun was pretty under toasted leaving me a soggyish burger bun.
The mayo. I love mayo. But not a ¼ inch patty of it. I had mayo dripping out of the burger and soaking my under toasted bun. Lettuce was good and crunchy not wet. The patty itself… nice and big, thick, very juicy, all good. Now the juice of course, became an issue with the said bun. Add the amount of mayo… things got very liquidy. But I liked I didn’t get skimped with a wimpy little burger patty.
Overall, I think they could have gotten at least another star from me if the first ingridient in the burger was not salt… so salty… I had to toss the last ¼ of the burger. I could not finish my food. It was crazy salty. As were the fries which is very good to me. I love my fries nice and salty. So that was good… IF they hadent been frozen type fries from the grocery store.
I did get a brownie, which was absolutely delicious. Best thing I ate there though sadly.
At just shy of $ 12 I have definitely had much better meals, served much faster, and more of it.
All in all I may eat here again only because I’m here anyway for a couple days and it’s convenient. Won’t get the burger. I don’t know what I will get seen as they’re menu is a bit small. But I sure wouldn’t go out of my way for this place.

This place is fine, but I wouldn’t get in my car to drive over here for lunch or anything. Has a dentist office feel to it. Had a gyro and it was ok. Nothing that I would ever rave about.

I’m a person who loves Middle Eastern food and prides myself on being quite picky with what I like and don’t like. In fact, a few years ago I traveled to the Middle East and sampled a wide variety of excellent food there, giving me an idea of what the natives think is good, which is usually the best in any particular genre. I can say that the food at Olive Express is just as good as anything that I sampled there. The beef shawarma platter was incredible, featuring a wide variety of excellent flavors that reminded me of how things are supposed to taste. I recommend that anyone who enjoys Middle Eastern food try Olive Express. You won’t regret it.

During the summer when I was a kid I would go to my dads restaurant and hang out with him while he was cooking. (He was a exec chef for a place in DC. I dont remember which but I know it was owned by Augers which also owned Blackies House of Beef.) My dad was a master at his craft, cooking amazing dishes from all over the world.
When lunch time came I had his world of knowledge at my disposal and palate. Problem was, I was 8. I didn’t care about any of that stuff. All I cared about was one thing. A sandwich. One he made for me countless times for lunch over many summers. When I was old enough to care I asked him what It was; It was a Reuben.
I remember it like it was yesterday. That first bite into that hot corned beef, while simultaneously tasting the sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and thousand island dressing. A classic juxtaposition of savory and sweet, while adding salty and tangy to keep you in awe. All wrapped up in mouth watering butter toasted rye bread. Its one of my favorite memories as a kid. Getting have that, everyday. All I had to do is say when.
My dad died in 2000. Leaving behind a legacy of great cooking and me with a fond memory of summers spent in his kitchen eating what now is my favorite sandwich of all time.
I have few regrets in life. One is that I didn’t learn how to make it the way he did. Since my teenage years I’ve been on a «Quest» if you will, to find the perfect Reuben. I’ve probably had hundreds over the years. A few have been pretty good but none have been my dads. Today, that changed. Today at Olive Express, after that first bite, I was 8 years old again, sitting on the prep table in my dads kitchen eating the best sandwich I’ve ever had.
Dad, they make the second best Reuben I’ve ever had, I wish you were here to try it.

I had the chicken cordon bleu and it tasted nothing like a chicken cordon bleu sandwich. There were strips of the grill chicken they use for their platters melted with swiss cheese, tomato and mayo. No ham. No breaded chicken or mustard.
I wouldnt order this again.

This place is a gem if the following applies to you:
a) you seek out good, cheap eats
b) you demand to be satisfied by one lunch, not two
c) you work in the South Lakes area of Reston
d) you like foods with a Greek twist
e) you know how to use
to your best advantage
f) all the above
If you can’t check off at least three of those things, keep it movin. Otherwise, I recommend the steak bassal kabob platter with a side of eggplant. Delicious and a great deal with the $ 5
voucher.