- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
The Green Olive
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- None
7 reviews for The Green Olive
like others have written, there are two main detracting factors to this joint:
1. location (city of commerce is not exactly a pedestrian-friendly culinary/shopping/culture zone)
2. subpar pita
then again, the positives FAR outweigh the negs.
1. first of all, the food, which ultimately is the raison d'etre of ANY place above all other criteria (combined with great ambience and great company, you've got a 'holy trinity' of sorts, that's my idea of religion, at least!)--the food is excellent, especially for a lunchtime foodcourt in culinary wastelandsville.
my personal recommendation is the veggie platter (hummous, tahini, baba ghannoush, falafel, grape leaves, mid eastern pickles (you know, the neon pink ones), rice, and pita (we'll get to that in a moment).
2. location is not a negative factor at all if you happen to work in or near commerce, or you have the misfortune of being marooned there for hours at a time while your car broke down or something and you happen to be starving for some decent food to dull the pain ;)
3. the pita, tha pita! yes it's rubbery and they make no bones about the fact it's clearly not homemade, but then again, one of my ultimate fave mid eastern dives (Al Wazir Chicken in Hollywood) has killer food on the menu from top to bottom, yet even their pita sucks ass.
anywhoozers, happy culinary adventures at the 'Olive,' and remember to avoid some of the more dastardly food court choices should you be so lucky to stumble upon the corner of eastern and bandini when your stomach is a' grumblin' for some decent grub.
I love Hummous!!!
So first off Gabe is a very nice man.. I love it that he remembers my bf's name and what we order..
I always get the chicken kabob and its the best!
I love their green sauce and their rice..
He once gave me extra pita bread because i ordered an extra side of hummous... he told me "you cant say no to my hummous" love this place everyone should try it.. the only thing i HATE is that it closes for the weekend and weekdays it closes at 3! ugh
if this was a reg restaurant i would go everyday. maybe not everyday but atleast on weekends.
Good enough food. Great green sauce. The meat is a little tough but the potatoes are great! Yeah.. I would go again and order just chicken.
My office just moved to Commerce, so you imagine my excitement when I found out that there's a place nearby that isn't Mexican (a girl can only have so many tacos for lunch). This Mediterranean place is located inside a "business" food court that's randomly located by a bunch of office buildings. I call it a business food court because everyone eating there is dressed in slacks, a button-down and tie...and the guy to girl ratio is about 10 to 1.
I ordered the gyro sandwich that comes with your choice of salad or potatoes. The sandwich was stuffed generously and had plenty of tzatziki sauce (I could swim in that stuff). If they ask if you want hot sauce with your meal, say yes, it's pretty damn good. I tried some of my friend's hummus and that was yummy as well.
This place is obviously the favorite in this food court. The poor other places were pretty dead, with the employees looking like they were the last to get picked for dodge ball teams.
i did not know what to expect when i rolled into the food court where The Green Olive is located. I figured I'd give this place a try and got the gyros meal. I was pleasantly surprised. The meat wasn't overly dry (tho it was a bit greasy) and had a nice flavor. A big portion with good rice and some nice hummus as well as their special Olive sauce and tzatziki. The weak point was the pita...really quite a sad showing, especially compared to everything else.
i'd go back for more tho.
I've been going to this place for lunch regularly since their second week in operation. Gabe, the owner is usually working the register, and remembers the name of everyone he meets after only one introduction. Being addressed by name is just such a nice touch.
As for the food.. the Gyros are the best I have ever had. The meat is sliced off the spit in nice, thick slabs, and then made extra delicious by finishing it off on the flat top. The bread they use for the Gyros are thankfully a different kind of flat bread than the pita they use for everything else.
The falafel are great too, but only if you get them fresh. When they first opened, the falafel were always dropped fresh, but this would result in waiting several minutes for your order. In the last year or so, they have started making a dozen or so at a time, and while this does improve turn-over of orders, if the falafel have been sitting there for more than 20 min, they can get a little soggy from condensation inside the bin where they are kept.
I love the chicken too, but the shrimp are just out of this world. And the green hot sauce, which is home-made, is unlike anything I have ever had.
Now that I work from home 99% of the time, I haven't gotten to frequent TGO as much as I used too, but I make it a point to stop in anytime I am at the office.
GREAT place to eat for lunch! First timers be warned - do not get the falaffel patties as you will be overwhelmed with flavor and it will distort your overall opinion of this place. I give every place a benefit of a doubt so i went again but tried something else on the menu, i had the shrimp kabobs platter which was shrimp skewers, rice pilaf, homnous (humus), salad with a very awesome dressing and some pita bread. Was really nice, in time, i would gradually buy one falaffel patty until you can learn to love it!
