Olivia

Recommends

Nicole C.

Joined 7 months ago

A south Austin staple whose food is as fabulous as its interior design. Have a casual meal at the bar or choose to dine in the main dining room with front row views into the open kitchen. The menu changes daily and the specials are to die for. Try the crudo and mussels. Wine list is wonderful too!

Doesn't Recommend

only the best

Joined 4 years ago

Profit oriented. I completely support Farm Delivery and restaurants that support local produce. So I was thrilled to try Olivias at hotel St. Cecilias for my husbands birthday dinner with a pre-dinner cocktail and wine pairings for a five course meal. When I asked if one of the dinner could be priced without the liquor, or if another chair could be added for a DD they said not possible. Considering the meal would come out to $160 per person, I think that is unreasonable. I will continue to drive to San Antonio to experience wine pairings with amazing food at Las Canarias and anywhere else that customer satisfaction is more important than their profit!

Doesn't Recommend

Sokol

Joined 2 years ago

Bad 6course meal. I love good food and i don't mind pay for it so i heard they are doing 6course meal on monday and it's foie gras 6 course for 150.00 per person. They said every course have foie gras even dessert. All the course is finished and i saw and tasteed one foie gras size of my thumb. And where was pairing wine? Cheap sparking wine after another...Oh glass of red. Anyway after 6 course meal, me and my husband had to go eat again. Food was not exciting i don't know where was foie gras and left with hunger.

Doesn't Recommend

bonnieplatt

Joined 9 years ago

Not too concerned with client satisfaction.. I was hoping to try Olivia at some point-any local restaurant who serves organic and local produce is worth trying at least once. I'd heard they were a little bit pricey and was excited I was able to purchase a Groupon for $15 for $30 of food. I acknowledge Groupon goofed by not putting into the coupon description that they only servce lunch on Friday and Saturday; most restaurants do so daily. With a very busy schedule working two jobs I realized I had just a week to use my Groupon. When I called Olivia they said because they only serve lunch two days a week the coupon would expire before I could use it. They were willing to allow me TWO DAYS more to use it but I would only get the original $15. paid. And as it turned out the only reservation they had available was a late afternoon on the second of the two days. As I could not make that time I basically lost out. I suggested rather than lose a potential customer, (the reason one would think they'd run a Groupon in the first place) they'd work with me a little bit more. They refused. Not impressive in my book and judging from the reviews here on Citysearch maybe it was for the best anyway. Good Luck, Olivia!

Doesn't Recommend

ciro1977

Joined 5 years ago

disappointing service. Food is alright, but the service was disappointing. I ordered a burger medium well and it came out rare. The waiter tried to convince me that because it was local beef it was going to look red even cooked medium well, and refused to fix the problem.

Doesn't Recommend

DShands

Joined 5 years ago

VERY disappointing. We visited Austin last summer & moved here in November. During our summer visit we ate at Olivia, with mixed reviews. Some friends hadn't tried it so we decided to give it one more shot, one year later.

While they do meat well, everything else was either "okay", bland or just plain tasteless. We had (2 orders) potato gnocchi that were heavy, dry & had, literally, no flavor. We had a beet salad that looked like they just plopped some lettuce on the plate & put slices of beets (looks & tasted like STRAIGHT from the can!?) on top. NO presentation & no unique flavors. And we LOVE beets! :(

Their menu "changes daily" -- hence they get no experience with anything?? It showed in their dishes.

We're foodies & eat out a LOT -- with all that Austin has to offer, Olivia needs to step it up or get out of the way.

Bottom line - we won't go back (either of the 5 of us).

Recommends

austinite100

Joined 3 years ago

Very good. Food was very good. A good place for true foodies. Had heard staff was rude, but did not experience this. Will definitely return soon.

Doesn't Recommend

doninaustin

Joined 6 years ago

Good for those who like massive amounts of salt. The chef does not trust you to salt your own food -- no salt or pepper shakers on the table. Rest assured they DO salt it for you. 24 hours later I am still feeling the effects of the huge sodium hit and I couldn't even eat the skirt steak. The potato frites were cooked in peanut oil and nice and crisp. You can get the same WITHOUT the excess salt at Mighty Fine Burgers for substantially less $$$. Use a lot of buzzwords about "local sourcing" etc. etc. and salt the living crap out of everything and you can fool most of the people most of the time. Glad we had a $100 gift certificate instead of using our own funds.

Recommends

lfit

Joined 5 years ago

Love this place!! Great date spot!!. My husband and I have been here several times and love it. It is one of our favorite date spots. We are very interested in sustainable farming and love to find restaurants that are too. We have yet to come and have a bad meal or a bad waiter! They have some interesting items on their menu, like lamb's tongue, but do not get discouraged....its actually delicious!! I highly recommend trying this place. Plus, their fried chicken on their brunch menu is fabulous!!

Doesn't Recommend

austinndlepter

Joined 4 years ago

Disappointing. Trying to be too Metro. The Menu is made up of items that just don't go together. Scallops and Fried Eggs? The Pate Plate seemed old. The Waiter was great but the delivery of the food was way too slow for the number of people in the restaurant. No bar. WAY OVER PRICED!