Olive or Twist Restaurant - Downtown Pittsburgh Reviews

We just stopped in for a drink, so I don't know how the food is, but the drinks were good. I recommend the Bulleit Rye Old Fashioned, in particular. Nice atmosphere, too.

Local pub with love music and decent menu although prices are a bit high but food is high quality.

Food was excellent. Staff was friendly and service was great.

Erin from Sweet Memories PGH about to have some great times with great vibes with Kelly on NYE!!! Olive or Twist rocks!!

Great live music. Nice smiling bar-mates. Great deco. What s not to like.

I have been to this "bar" a few times...I have never been impressed but this weekend was the last straw! We were there for a private birthday party...first off, the service was horrible. We had to wait 15+ minutes for drinks...the obnoxious hipster bartender was more concerned with waiting on Halloween kids with drink tickets than tipping customers? She was rude, patronizing, slow and messed up our orders. The prices are a joke and the food is sub-par at best. I am really shocked they are in business still...Avoid like the plague! 1 star!

Quaint bar and restaurant, delicious appetizer and entree offerings, tasty soups, nice tap selection , enjoyable atmosphere, close to theaters, visit often

Professional & Helpful!! My husband and I recently had our cocktail wedding reception in the upstairs lounge at Olive or Twist for about 115 people. It was great working with Brandon, the event coordinator. He was very professional and made suggestions that made our reception spectacular! We had a lot of flexibility to do what we wanted, normally most reception venues charge you for every little thing but they worked with us. My aunt made our wedding cakes and we wanted to bring in our bottle of vintage dom that we got for our engagement- no problem! No upcharge or anything. The staff was great, they were quick and quiet and just worked away making sure every guest had what they needed and allowed us to enjoy our night. The atmosphere was perfect for our cocktail, rustic, elegant theme. We were just treated so well in the whole process, wish we could do it all over again because everything was just perfect! Thanks again!

I had an awesome smores martini and the decor was very trendy!

I went here on a Thursday night with my friends, and had a wonderful time! Overall, I would definitely recommend this for artful cocktails.
The ambiance: It was a lucky find, as we really enjoyed the brick-walled, older English character-filled setting. There was live music, and the guitarist was very good, it was not too loud, yet entertaining. Would work great for anything from date nights to post work dinners.
The cocktails: Delightfully made, with unique flavors and combinations. My favorite was called "The Perfect Pear", which was on the sweeter side, but subtle. My friends each had Lavendar Lemon Drop and Garden of Eden, and both enjoyed the burst of fresh flavors.
The food: Surprisingly delicious with several options, unlike other cocktail bars I have been to, who usually only carry smaller bites. My favorite was the Cajun Tortellini pasta, which was made vegetarian for me upon request.

Great live music, hospitable staff. Very laid back overall atmosphere.

Wife and I go here a lot before shows. Over the years things have been tailing off a bit, from making a reservation to the variety on the menu(s) food drink dessert. Like I said we keep going back, I think it's more because we want it to be more like it was. Probably won't go back with the variety of excellent restaurants downtown.

Menu is boring. I was excited about the kalettes (fried and seasoned kale) however they were soaked with grease and the stem was not cut off making it difficult to eat.

This review is all about the martinis. In town for a Cubs game - and a rain delay. I love the Cubs - but I'm not going to stand around PNC Park for over two hours waiting for the rain to subside. One hour is about my limit. And while chatting with friendly Pirates fans and ushers made that hour fly by

Don t waste your time on this trash bar. GM is an egomaniac.

good cocktails, pretty good service, too-high prices. but we were able to get tables for the 8 of us, on a sat night, post-show, so kind of worth it.

Amazing atmosphere with awesome food. Highly recommend the Lobster cake sandwich paired with a bulleit rye old fashioned. The sandwich was something to come back for with robust flavor complimented by the perfectly cooked and seasoned fries.

This is an amazing place with complex flavor profile throughout the menu. The hard part is figuring out which dish you are going to please your tasts buds with.

we had an excellent time. We were seated right away. The service was great. Our sevrer was Mike, he gave us some recommendations for site seeing and spoke highly of the new Whiskey Bar. The Food truely was excellent, I order a Casear Salad topped with salmon and Buffalo Wings. The Food was filling and plenty.

Great Food!!! and really cool delicious drinks!!! This is a ' The city of light' drink was very good!.

We happened upon this place by chance after visiting the Arts Festival.
We were pleasantly surprised by the service and the food. Our waitress was first rate. She checked on us several times and was very pleasant and knowledgeable about the menu.
The food was excellent. We ordered steaks and they were done perfectly and were delicious.
We will definitely be going there again.

Bartenders had a bad attitude. Their website said happy hour was until seven. The bartender told us to take a table and wait for a server to take our order. The server told us happy hour was until seven, then when the bill came they told us it was until 6...I have previously really enjoyed this location, but honestly will probably never return after that . It's not even about the few bucks, but the way they treated us was like nothing I've ever experienced before at a restaurant. Working In the industry myself made it even more shocking that a bartender would talk to guests like they are such a huge inconvenience....dont waste your time, there are so many drink locations in this city with outstanding service.

A bit on the pricey side for drinks but it is a decent establishment.

Great place, atmosphere, drinks and food! Calamari and scallops were so yummy! It's not a cheap South Side bar which I love. It's pleasant to be at O/O.

Used to be so much better.... The drinks arnt as good, the food isn't as good either... This used to be our go to place in town, however not anymore :(

Nice bartenders, good live music. My martini was made quickly and a fun spin on a manhattan. Honestly, not the most amazing experience I've had, but the price was right and the drinks strong. Hard to ask for more.

They have a great drink menu that is both creative and true to form!

Foot was good , Matt the bartender was entertaining

The bar is for people who work in offices. At least it had that type of vibe to it. Not some place I would go to have a couple of drinks again.

Good entertainment, decent service, price points are high.

Fun atmosphere! We had a great time. Bartenders were super friendly and not pretentious. The food was great too. We'll be back for dinner and drinks.

The owner is such a nice guy. Makes you feel very welcomed.

Had a choice selection of martinis, I had one shaken, not stirred obviously. Did grab some hummus which was amazing. I shall return after my next mission.

Over priced. Overrated. Small portions. Less than stellar flavor.

This place is amazing to grab a quick salad, but their wait-times can be a little long.

Excellent dinner with an upscale atmosphere. The 14 oz ribeye was tender and perfectly cooked. 12/2018

Update: Dec 2019. The menu is drastically different with a new chef. Unfortunately, you have an extremely limited menu now. You can't even find a steak on it. The menu is so limited we all kept trying to decide if it was a lunch menu. That's unfortunate because the restaurant had really great food and atmosphere. Now, you're limited to a few sandwiches and I think we counted only 3 main dinners. What was a great place to eat prior to a nice evening out has become more of a bar and less of a restaurant. Unless you're looking to eat the same 4 or 5 sandwiches every time you eat there. Sad .

Great service, friendly atmosphere, food delivered quickly to both me and my date. The salad I ordered was a nice size and delicious (then again I'm a sucker for any salad with goat cheese and candied walnuts).

Wife and i loved the fried clams appetizer, large golden brown clams. Food was above average and atmosphere was very nice.

Had a great time amd was treated well by the staff.

Decent food and okay drinks but not a typical happy hour spot I would go to often.

Not enough martinis on the menu for a martini bar. Service was good. Drinks we had were also very good

First time here I'm a tourist and service was amazing great service and food was good as well I will return here always when I'm town

Great place, good music. I will come again for second impression.

Great bar, conveniently located to sports facilities.

The food was excellent. Really enjoyed the upstairs bar atmosphere.

My favorite bar in Pittsburgh, overall. They do solid appetizer specials during Happy Hours (which run for three hours most days). I love the ambiance, the long, narrow bi-level setting, and great service. If I had a complaint, it would be certain live musicians that are too loud.

Friends of mine had their wedding reception in the private upstairs space. I was essentially playing the role of producer, so I was intimately involved in the goings-on that day. Although the event went off very well, this had nothing to do with Olive Or Twist. The event was starting at 8. They offered to let us in to set up as early as noon-we asked to get in at 6. We were not let in until after 7, which was the contracted time. We had been told that they would plate all the cookies for us. My wife was barely able to get them plated by 815. Their pop lines had broken the night before, and they were bringing in 2L bottles as we were being let in. The sound system was completely unworkable, after numerous promises that it would simply be plug-and-play, until a guest was able to work around their terrible system. There were only three people working the event for ~150 people, so the bar was incredibly slow, especially at the beginning of the night when all these other problems were being addressed. The dance floor, specifically promised, was non-existent. To be fair, the people who were working there did their utmost to help us, but they were somewhat hamstrung, AS OLIVE OR TWIST HAD FORGOTTEN THE EVENT WAS HAPPENING. This was the crux of all of the problems-the fact that somewhere along the line, after multiple meetings and the taking of a deposit, the venue straight-up was unaware that there was an event scheduled. We managed to pull it off, but if you're looking to host something there, I'd call them every day to make sure it's still on their calendar.

Great location. Great parking. Service fine. Food was not at $19 entree level at all....

Beautiful event spaces. Service and good were solid, nothing over the top though. Drinks were very disappointing though. Example- my old fashioned was missing bitters and the use of ice chips, that melt way too fast for an elegant cocktail or sorts as opposed to one sphere or cube. Within minutes it was very watered down. Lack of parking and having to pay to park in a garage is a bummer. I would come back though.

Great cocktails and wine bar. Good atmosphere. Upstairs is ideal for private parties

Atmosphere is excellent. Drinks and food are great. Service is always decent. A little high end for me, but good once in a while!

Visited for late night. Surprised by Billy, who was singing, and quite enjoyable. Had martinis. Don't miss the S'mores martini.

*PRE-COVID Review*Came here before a Liberty Magic show to watch the Belmont Stakes, great location, excellent food (the pork tenderloin was to die for), awesome drink menu. We will definitely be back.

I'm a regular and I luv the place, atmosphere, people and clientele. Linda is the best bartender in the world and the live entertainment Thurs.-Saturday is the best-kept secret in Pittsburgh. The food rates generally well for the price. Although the recent change to the ahi tuna salad item, which is my favorite item on the menu, downgraded this item. My only issue is the cold draft that comes in the first floor front bar area every time the entrance door is opened, which becomes uncomfortably cold when the temperature outside gets below 30F. The workers and patrons have complained, but the owners simply refuse to do anything about it. The single door entrance remains because the owners are too cheap to install an outer door. The Olive and Twist owners should take note to the Catcher and Rye restaurant just a half block away, who installed a plastic compartment with heat in front of the main entrance door. That's thinking about your paying customers.

We've loved going to Olive or Twist for years, especially before catching a show at the many theaters nearby. They have some great unique martinis and solid food selections to fit any appetite or craving. Great fries! We will be back soon!

A great place to go to hang out with friends downtown, especially on the weekend! A little bit pricey but the food is incredible and the atmosphere is great.

Upscale cocktail bar in downtown specializing in martinis. Food menu is small and less than inventive. Typical bar fair. I'd say skip the meal focus on the drinks.

Head a really good Manhattan and some tasty pierogies at the bar. Friendly bartender and nice ambiance. I'll definitely visit again!

This place rocks. Thanks Ray for the great Monday night.

Happy hour changed here for the worse. Our group used to do a lot of Happy Hours and Olive or Twist was in the rotations. Times changed, we didn't do as much and a 4 - 6 Happy Hour stopped as we all started working till 5. Good news. We were off early. Let's try somewhere we haven't been for awhile.

I arrived shortly before my friend at a little before 4. I picked a table and waited for her and planned to have some wine while I waited. I saw the Happy Hour specials and wasn't really interested in staying so browsed my phone. My friend arrived 30 minutes later while I was looking for other places to go and no one even acknowledged I was there.

Combo of Buffalo Chicken dip taken off the menu and being completely ignored by the entire staff sent us away. And by entire staff I mean entire staff.

Nice ambiance, though small building. Live music, very cozy

Place is small. Even on a weeknight we would have needed a reservation for a normal table. This might have been due to there being a show at the Benedum, not sure. Luckily, they have a bar and high-top tables you can use if you don't have a reservation. The high-top tables are a little small but we were able to for our food, drinks and silverware on them without much issue.
Our waiter was very friendly though service was a tiny bit slow though it seemed like they only had 2 waiters working that I could count. We both got drinks which were made quickly and tasted great, food was quick to arrive and was nice and warm,tasted excellent.
Definitely recommend but check about a reservation if you want a real/full-sized table.

Worst martini ever!!
The martinis are salty af, dive bars would make better martinis on a Saturday night.
I would have assumed from its name it would make an awesome martini, I was wrong.

Cozy little place stuck between two buildings. Service is normally great but, last time we were there, there was nobody but we still got snow service. Dessert is horrible. Do not order it. Cake tasted like it was in the freezer for three months then let out to thaw for two weeks.