The Olive Tree Mediterranean Cafe Review

We enjoyed our dinners tonight. The soup was especially good after spending time outside on this chilly night.

The food was incredible. We had a long wait, but I think they're making everything from scratch. Portions were large. Service seemed to be slow considering the limited seating.

I had an amazing experience here . Really good food , great atmosphere, and great service . Victoria knew all about the menu and helped me dearly . I ll be sure to come back !

We love to eat here. The food is always tremendous. The owners and employees treat you like family. Every single time!

Their shawarma has nothing to do with the real shawarma it tastes and looks like fajita , their fries was over fried and has a plastic taste and I suppose that it s because they fried it long time ago perhaps yesterday, the Hummus didn t taste that good either. But to be fair their bread is really good. Do i Recommend it ? No , especially for the traditional shawarma tasters

They have some really good vegan options. I really enjoyed the hummus, lentil soup, Mujadara, and Vegetable couscous. The hummus ful was good, but had too much oil for my taste. I didn't care for the vegetarian grape leaves, which came with a non vegan sauce on the side. The number of options is impressive for a restaurant that serves animal products.

A local place under new management, it hasn't skipped a beat. We recently went there with a larger party of 8. One of the kids in our group has severe food allergies, and it's often tiring or difficult to explain the exceptional sensitivity to wait-staff. Our waitress was amazing, and almost over-accommodating in taking the order and overseeing the special preparation. Additionally, the hostess, and manager each introduced themselves and reassured us every precaution was being taken. In the end, delicious food was enjoyed by all. We will be going back soon!

Great place to eat Mediterranean-Inspired food. The fire fries were delicious. The falafel wrap was a little dry but still tasty. The hummus ful was amazing and a meal in itself. The ambience of the restaurant is nice, clean and very bright. The down side was that we were told that a soup and salad came with the meal but were charged for it. I also ordered a warm rice but pudding but got a cold one - which actually tasted really good. A bit more attention to service would get this fantastic restaurant 5 stars.

This place is awesome. Food is great and our waitress Rachel is always so friendly and great.

Well... this was a place that we once loved. The original owner has moved on and the caretakers aren't taking care of the details. Salad clearly out of a bag. The humus that was once the best\creamiest is now gritty and no longer finished with a drizzling of olive oil as the menu describes (now swimming in lemon juice instead). Everything is in decline and that just makes me sad. Mexican music blaring the whole time (I'm a Mediterranean restaurant) didn't improve the experience.

Great food and great staff!
Bethany was on the spot with whatever I needed.

Outrageously good food at a great price! The service was professional, warm and friendly. We stopped on our way back home to St. Louis. This awesome little restaurant did not disappoint!

SO FREAKIN AWESOME! Outstanding lunch today! Chicken Shawarma was amazing!

This has to be one of our favorite restaurants in Hilliard. Everyone who works there is super friendly and helpful. We were warmly welcomed and the service is fast. The food is also great. Overall, would definitely recommend.

Sarah did a fantastic job today with my eat in lunch and take home order. Everything tastes great, as usual. But the timeliness made everything great. Most restaurants can t pull of that combo very efficiently. Sarah did!!!
Thank you!

We absolutely love the food from this place! Its always our go-to for ordering when we have guests from out of town. We mostly have ordered from Grubhub to have delivered. The hummus and chicken and rice our our favorites.

Been here before but had brunch on Sunday. Hearty and delicious. Serve was slow in the beginning but then it picked up

Fun place, staff is trained and has a good menu to have a nice Mediterranean meal at an inexpensive price at a clean facility.

Bought a Groupon and tried this place! Not gonna lie it was hands down the best meal I ve ever ordered out at a restaurant. Don t trust me, go try the Gyro and fire fries! We will be back over and over again! Awesome staff. Cozy atmosphere! A tad pricey but seriously worth it!

The most friendly staff (Bethany and Liz). I grew up on this type of cuisine and this by far the best I have ever had. Even their side salad is amazing.

Amazing!!! Especially for a smaller resteraunt. The humus was good, and the lamp is out of this world.

Used to be a solid 5 and one of the best places to eat in Hilliard. In the last 6 months or so the food quality has fallen tremendously as well as the service. Used to have the owner come around to your table during your meal to chat and seemed to genuinely know and care for each person he spoke to. Recent visits he has not been there and the food quality isn't the same. Our favorite server, Alejandra, is no longer around and the wait staff, while pleasant, just doesn't feel the same. On several recent carry out orders the food has been of very low quality and either missing items or having wrong items in the order. Now I hear they may be opening on Mondays now makes me believe that they are in fact not making the same revenue as before and looking for ways to help boost income.

Edited on 4/8/17 to add:
Olive tree is back!! Food quality is backy, wait staff is on point. Glad to see them back to the high standards the original owner set.

A very unique change up from the traditional fast food restaurants. Very fresh options, very professional staff. Very clean establishment.

We go to the Olive Tree often and love it! The moussaka and creme brulee are a couple of our favorites. Yum!

REPEAT CRITICAL HEALTH VIOLATIONS!!!

Eating here will probably make you sick. This place continually has the same critical health department violations. Owners do not care to provide safe food. It is dirty and unsafe to eat here.

We have been here a couple of times both the food and the service are spot on.

Sarah is an excellent waitress! Very prompt and attentive! We enjoyed our experience and will be back!

Food was very tasty. Appetizer trio with spicy feta was delicious. The gyro platter as my main course was a little disappointing. The meat was room temperature, as if it were sitting around bit. Waitress was polite and interactive.

My first time there, such great food and service I would give it more then 2 thumbs up!!!

Great food, great service. Definitely a place to check out. Our waitress Bethany helped make the dining experience one to remember.

Pretty solid. Bethany was a good host and good food as well.

This is one of our favorite restaurants! Very casual atmosphere with great food. Everything I have ever ordered has been really good. The spanakopita and burekas are fantastic! They also offer many vegetarian dishes.
Highly recommended!

Thanks, Rachel - your service was just as great as the food. Your recommendation of the Mushroom & Barley Soup was spot on!

Outstanding cold dips and food. Great service. Best baklava I've had in recent memory.

Great food and service. Olivia is great. Loved the Saganaki and Israel style schnitzel.

I really enjoyed my meal. The people are also really nice. We had a slight mishap with our order and was proactively taken care of in a very professional manner.

Delicious food. Friendly staff. Great service. Would recommend Olive Tree to anyone.

I've been a fan of this place since it first opened. It has since changed ownership, but I didn't notice a slip in quality. Very fresh, quality, and healthy ingredients. This is one place I can eat a lot and not feel terrible afterwards.

Outstanding meal, super nice people, will be a regular stop from here on out.

Hands down the best Mediterranean food in Columbus try the Hummus Ful and the Fire Fries. Had them cater for my birthday, food is fresh and healthy and tastes amazing.

We had an absolutely lovely dinner tonight. we dined with our adorable grandchildren. The grandkids loved their grilled cheese and fries. My wife and I had chicken Shawarma. The chicken was so moist and flavorful. The vegetables were really fresh plentiful. That homemade hummus I was very smooth And tasty. The food is always so good. Bethany did a great job serving us. The managers stopped by our table to make sure everything was OK. He s always so pleasant. I highly recommend in the Olive Tree.

I love this place because it is close to my house! It has amazing food made by such nice people that care about being a part of our community. The spicy gyros with the fire fries are what I love. Thank you for being part of our community.

As great as I remembered! I used to live in the area but moved about three years ago. Today we made the 45 minute trip just to eat here and it didn t disappoint! We got the hot grape leaves, hummus and spicy chicken and mushrooms. The food was amazing and fresh, and the service was great! Definitely the best Lebanese in the Columbus area.

Simply the best Food we have eaten since visiting Turkey and Greece 8 years ago.

Yum! This is such a hidden gem. My husband and I LOVE going here. Falafel, hummus, baklava, shawarma, greek salad, pizza there is nothing that I don't love. Their flatbread pizza is unique and a must try.

A great dining experience from start to finish! Our server, Rachel, was very friendly and attentive. The manager visited a few times as well and accommodated a special request without batting an eye. We will be back!

I like it here, great food & service. There was fast and courteous service. It has a great interior. This place has many great reviews for a reason.

Sarah was AMAZING !! Great personality & service (: Definitely coming back & asking for her!

The Olive Tree is by far my favorite restaurant in Hilliard. I live closer to downtown Columbus now but still make the drive about once a month. The fire fries/falafel pita are a winning lunch order and the shakshuka at Sunday brunch is not to be missed, though it seems like everything on the menu is delicious--I recently ordered the Turkish coffee and loved it! The wait staff is also super friendly and very attentive. Can't recommend this place enough!

Small, casual place with excellent food, and the best servers. Especially Rachel!

3 stars is being generous, but I thought I might have just gone on an off day and I haven't ate at very many places with this kind of food. I didn't really know what to expect, but it seemed very overpriced for the quality. The Tzatziki and kafta were pretty good, but not worth the price. The Hummus Ful was more like a chili with some humus on the side of the bowl and I wasn't a big fan. My wife and I went with some family that came into town and they really like Mediterranean food, but they were not impressed with what they got here. So, I trust their judgment and don't think it was just a lack of me not having had Mediterranean food before.

Food is fantastic here. A little slow but, worth the wait!

Corey was our servers and it could not have been a dinner first-time experience.

The atmosphere is great, the food is fantastic!

If you are a gyro lover then you will fall in love with their spicy Gyro.

Always fresh and flavorful. Staff very accommodating. Sarah was terrific.

Traditional delicious foods. Great variety on the menu. Very clean environment. They cook the food out in the open so you can listen to the grill sizzle in the background while you eat. The spicy chicken mushroom entre was wonderful and the chicken was super juicy! The fire fries were a combination of cruncy and soft and covered in fets cheese and rich with flavor! The owners are super nice people and make you feel very welcomed. You won't be disappointed!

Food is always great! Staff is friendly and attentive! Sunday brunch is my favorite. Would like to see full menu on Sunday before 2:00, simply because the food is that good! Bethany was our latest server and was great! As ALWAYS, Korey is welcoming and friendly!

RACHEL DOES A GREAT JOB GIVING US THE AUTHENTIC MEDITERRANEAN INSPIRED DINING EXPERIENCE. SERVICE IS PROMPT AND OUR NEEDS ARE NOT LEFT UNATTENDED. WE VISIT WEEKLY.

T A S T Y

Great food, great service. Fast and friendly staff.

Tasty food and friendly, attentive service. The lamb shank, gyro platter and mushroom hummus were wonderful. This was our first visit and we will definitely be back.

The most amazing Spanikopita I've ever had. The hubby's was superbly fresh and yummy. Go for the Seafood Soup. The lentil soup is missing garlic and salt. The lamb shank is extremely tender, just needs a bit of salt. However, it is still worth it! The staff are very kind. And the atmosphere is fun and worldly, even in the middle of Hilliard/Columbus Ohio.

Love this place. Just had the large Falafel Greek Salad and it was terrific...fresh, healthy and tasty. Our server Olivia was friendly, professional and made our experience there exceptional. Can't wait to come back.

No your average hummus. Authentic, but easy to appreciate. High quality ingredients. A real attention to freshness. Good for travelers. Attentive staff. Good for meat eaters, or vegetarians.

This is probably our favorite place to eat in Columbus. The food is excellent every time, and the service is great. We usually get beef schwarma (very savory, and I prefer it with the green pepper spice stuff) and the moussaka (super flavorful surprisingly so, like, I never knew eggplant actually had anything to offer to the world). Both are fantastic!

Delicious food!!! Clean..quiet. Our server Beth was very friendly. Will come again.

I am not sure why this place gets such rave reviews to be honest. This was our second time trying this restaurant, and both times we have been sadly underwhelmed. The service is great - dont get me wrong. The atmosphere is comfortable and friendly. The other reviews are spot on about that. But the food is not something I will be back for. The menu sounded delicious and photos looked promising, which is why we decided to give this place a try - not once but twice, just because we really wanted to give this place a chance. However the execution of the menu is sorely lacking. The flavor is just bland. I almost think if they just added a touch more salt to everything, it would be greatly improved. I ordered the chicken sandwich this time, and the sauce was perfect. But the chicken was so flavorless - I had to keep the salt shaker nearby. I also ordered the Israeli salad because it seemed simple enough that it would have been hard to mess up. But even that fell short. The ingredients were all there, but it tasted like detergent. Perhaps the dishes were not rinsed thoroughly enough, or the parsley was washed with soap, Im not sure. Needless to say, my experience with this place was disappointing and we will probably not be back :(

We come here every week. The restaurant has new ownership. The new owner is in the restaurant all the time, and is focusing on cooking Middle Eastern foods and desserts. She also caters Lebanese foods. The restaurant has some new staff and has an updated look. We highly recommend eating there.

Hands down one of my favorites in Hilliard. Chicken Swarma is Next best thing to having homemade.

If you love Mediterranean food this is the spot at least it is in West Columbus / Hilliard area. The restaurant staff are super friendly and fun and the food has always been phenomenal each time ive visited here. Sometimes it can be a little packed but either way they will find a way to accommodate you.

Wasnt really a memorable experience. It is NOT Italian, nor did i expect it to be. It is Mediterranean, namely Greek food.

Great food and service. We go there often. Family owned restaurant.

It's nothing special. I ordered the Beef Sharwarma and the meat was not tender enough for this type of dish. Service is slow considering the restaurant isn't busy. And the Baklava wasn't fresh. This is going to be a one timer for me. My overdue Turkish coffee was finally served after waiting for what seemed like forever. With salt in it mistaken for sugar. Never again.

Everything I've had here is delicious and very reasonably priced.

Do NOT eat here! My friend and I went a week ago and within an hour of eating his salad he was vomiting. They have had several health violations. I will never eat here again. This is sad because it's a very cute cafe and the staff is very nice.

Delicious Mediterranean food at a reasonable cost. Mg wife and I had the baba ganoush for a starter and both had bowls of shawarma. All of it was delicious and was enough food to fill us up for lunch and dinner. The wait staff was very friendly and tended to us regularly. The wait was a bit long sue to our group of 6 total but we enjoyed the time to talk in the nice atmosphere. I will definitely be coming back.

The service was great, but that's about it. The beef was chewy and the hummus was just awful - no flavor at all.