Just got back from dinner and drinks here tonight and I am hooked! This was such a great time, especially because we paid for some of this with a Groupon I bought in December.
The restaurant is in the little downtown area of Richmond, which looked like it would be a really nice time in the summer when you could walk around. We started with drinks, the Barbie-tini, a peach martini, and a glass of red wine suggested by our waiter. Everyone was really impressed (I'm not a fan of martinis, nor was my mom, but we both loved ours!) and we loved all of the items on the menu. We settled with two small plates, a flatbread, and a meat dish. Our small plates were warmed pitas with three spreads- tzatiki, olive tapenade, & roasted red pepper hummus. This stole the show, the hummus was awesome and the tapenade was out of this world! We also had the signature plate with marinated olives, which was also excellent. The plates were brought to us directly from the chef, which was a nice touch. The Cajun Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin justifies the drive up to Richmond in itself. Pork medallions wrapped with bacon and a bleu cheese sauce drizzled on top... ah-mazing. Paired with the Pissaladiere flatbread pizza, we were in heaven. Everything was delicious!
The atmosphere was really great here, not to be expected in Richmond but a really nice ambiance! I immediately texted some of my girl friends after we left to let them know that a girls night here needed to happen and soon.
Overall I really enjoyed our night here, I was very impressed with the quality of food for what we paid!
My wife and I went there with a $30 Groupon and for that we got two martinis, an appetizer and dessert. We totally disliked the place. The accoustics are awful. Everyone is talking as loudly as they can, just to be heard. In reviewing the drink menu, my wife questioned the waitress concerning the two numbers appearing above each of the martinis listed. She said the numbers pertained to the drink size (which also corresponded to the price). My wife ordered a "regular" martini (chocolate rasberry) and I ordered a  "large" tequilla martini. When the drinks came, I noticed they were the same size. When questioned about this, the waitress explained the  "regular" size was, in fact, actually the bigger or "larger" size. So, although my wife wanted the smaller (i.e. less expensive) size, she received the larger "regular" size. I wonder how many patrons get scammed on this play on words? As for service, it was too much. Being there for the first time, I wanted to study the varied martini choices, so I was not quick in deciding. However, the waitress stopped by our table five times within 5 minutes to ask if we were ready to order. If you like to be rushed, this is your place. The martini drinks were mainly sweet or fruity offerings. My wife's "regular" size chocolate rasberry martini was good, but my tequila choice tasted like a margarita. The appetizer and dessert were average, at best. Overall, a wasted evening out and overpriced even with the half-price Groupon.
Review Source:Great Food, Service and Cocktails. Good Atmosphere. Why 1 star? An owner that can't communicate effectively with his staff when it comes to larger parties and blames his customers for problems that arise. What's more, the man doesn't follow through on promises he made once the money is in his hands. Poor form sir. Hope you enjoyed the $80 you swindled from my friends. I will not be back
Review Source:Have been here a couple of times now and feel able to rate it. First, as far as decor it is really first rate, nicely done. Very comfortable seating, tastefully decorated (except the "icicle" lights in the front window) and looks true to theme. Although occasionally too loud when they throw a live concert in the music is well chosen and matches the atmosphere. I'm an audio snob and could see they put a lot of money into sound and the venue works, no complaints here.
Their drink selection is rather good, many different options available but more focused on martinis than wine. The wine list is short and not distinguished. An establishment that claims to be a wine bar should have a longer wine list and a full wine name and vintage at a bare minimum. They are saved by having my favorite rum and it's one of two Jamaicans available (bonus). Always give props to bars that know there is much more to rum than Captain and Bacardi.
I am an admitted picky eater and usually go easy on on food rating but I can't let it slide that I couldn't find a single thing I was enthused about on the menu. They seem more interested in showing how metro they can be out in Richmond over tasty and appealing dishes. Competition is stiffening at wine and martini bars and, again, if you are going to claim to be a Tapas bar a nice varied selection of Tapas would be expected. There should also be "safe" selections for people that may have dietary restrictions (i.e. burger flights or simple beef items), I could find little that would work for me. There's a decent number of items though, what was served looked pretty well prepared and presented.
Hence, we get to the rub about Olive Black both times I've been there: service that is marginal at best and outright rude at some times. The first time I went I joined a group that had been there for a bit, it was large, loud and I was the only male. It was clear the waitress had lost it a while before I got there. I ordered a glass of wine and had to go and retrieve it myself after about 20 minutes. When commenting about waiting for my wine the entire table began complaining about her. This last time I went, again, joining friends who were ordering as I walked in. I was asked if I was ready to order, I explained I would like to take my coat off first. We were pretty well attended to (albeit by three different servers) and outside of our server catching a few smokes out the front door it wasn't terrible but not what I would expect based on the rest of the presentation. All in all it feels like a martini bar with a dive bar staff and that's a problem. I have no problems with dive bars, when I'm in a dive bar! In this venue and paying these prices I expect more.
Seems new still and developing so I hope they can get things to work together better, it is a lovely venue in a great location, if they can pull it together some more it should do well. Would give it 2.5 stars at present.
This was our Friday night out......... and I have to be honest that I had purchased a "Living Social" deal awhile back, kinda forgot about it and via a reminder realized the deal was expiring soon. Â
Liked the look of the bar, small tables and leather seating. Â Immediately did not care for the huge TV.... especially the particular concert airing, but this is about food and drinks.
We were greeted upon walking in - seated at a cozy table by the fireplace and waited on very quickly. Â Waitress was great with giving info on the small plates and the less obvious martini names. Â We each had 2 martinis and shared two small plates. Â I was glad the martinis were their smaller size ones. Â You know... helps avoid the one martini, two martini, three martini, FLOOR. Â :)
The mixed olives we had were amazing. Â The goat cheese balls okay but not much difference in whatever they were "rolled" in. Â But in the end we felt plenty "satisfied" and left saying we definately want to go back. Â
Outside of the dairy overload with the mountatin of whip cream, the Key Lime Pie martini was delish but definately more of a desert. Â Hubby had a couple dirties - first one abit too dirty, but adjusted on the second. Â My second martini was a bourbon side car...who knew I'd like bourbon that much. Â
I look forward to going back to sample more. Â Good to see that they have survived where so many places have not.
My wife and I went to Olive Black on Saturday for a few drinks and small plates. Â We had been before and bought a groupon because we thought we could take her parents, who live in Richmond. Â We decided to go on our own and use the groupon, but we were told no since it was for 3 it more people. Â But we decided to stay since we were there already...we should have left! Â The service was slow, only 1 bartender working hard the other 2 not really paying attention to what was going on. Â We got our drinks after waiting awhile and were not asked if we wanted any food. Â After my wife ordered her second drink I had to ask if we could order some food. Â It came and was very bland with not much flavor (pretzels with cheddar and the olive flatbread). Â My drink was empty when the food was delivered and not offered to get me another. Â By the time my good was gone I finally got a new drink. Â We thought we each would have 1 more drink after our meal and this is when the unthinkable happened. Â The owner (I think) came behind the bar to get a bottle down from the top shelf. Â But when he couldn't reach it he used a white Ace Hardware bucket as a step ladder. Â The bucket then was replaced under the ice well by the other bucket. Â Not 5 minutes later did a bartender use the same bucket to fill the ice well with ice! Â The same ice that gets used in all of the drinks made at the bar. Â So this same bucket was just upside-down on the floor behind the bar and now it has ice in it for the customers drinks. Â We couldn't finish our drinks after we saw this and we had to leave.
It is unbelievable to us that anyone never mind the owner could let this happen! Â If I could I would give this place negative stars! Â I will be calling groupon to get my money back and maybe the health department.
Do not go here unless you want to drink dirty ice from the floor of the bar!
i bought a living social deal for this place knowing it wasn't located too far from a friend who i seldom see. Â we made plans to meet up here and i was so happily surprised.
the decor is adorable. Â although i'll admit, i'm NOT a fan of the giant TV in the center after a while it does blend into the ambiance.
the martini flights were AMAZING and so beyond the cost of the living social deal. we each had the seasonal flight consisting of: white cake, mint meltaway, some kind of apple and pumpkin martini. Â YUM! Â each was better than the next. Â my favorite was the cake - it LITERALLY TASTED LIKE CAKE! Â trouble! Â
the staff here is friendly, inviting, informative and like-able. Â i wish i lived closer as this is somewhere i would definitely hang out.
our deal also allowed us two small plates. Â we ordered the pretzels with cheese and my friend ordered something he thought was pepperoni and turned out to be pepperoncini (too much WHITE CAKE). the small plates were not very good - i found my cheese to be inedible, but the pretzels were amazing and therefore all was good.
i love this place and i will definitely come back if the opportunity ever rises.
Been here twice now, it's a great little place to visit for a martini or two before heading over to Paisano's for dinner. My husband and I think we may make a habit of visiting this place. The martini's are excellent.. our fave is the chocolate martini. Other faves are the pomegranite, dirty, and the panty dropper lol. The appetizers are just so-so... hence the 4 stars. But if you are coming for just martini's to unwind.. it's a great little spot.
Review Source:I really wanted to like this place. I gave one star for the decor, because it was an amazing looking place, great lighting, good setup, giant t.v. in the center where everyone could see it, I loved the whole look. I gave another star because the drinks were well made. plenty of alcohol and a nice mix of other flavors. I left off three stars because the service was absolutely the worst I've had in years. Our server seemed really rushed, even though the place wasnt packed. Everytime anyone at my table asked for anything they included pleases and thank-yous, but were met with largely audible sighs and never a smile. We were there for well over 3 hours and the server did not once smile or say your welcome when we said thank you. Never did she ask if we needed anything else, not another round, or more food, we had to bus our own table, twice! There were periods of over 30 minutes where everyone at the table had an empty drink and I just dont think thats hospitable, and it certainly isnt smart business. We were obviously out celebrating, we spent plenty of money and would have been happy to spend more, but our server simply didnt give us the chance to. Everything I asked for from the server included a please. That should be enough to "earn" good service from the waitress, but it was obviously not. I would think Olive Black's goal, like everyother in the hospitality industry would be to give the customers a wonderful experience so they cant wait to come back and bring more friends. Clearly, this doesnt matter to them in the least.
Review Source:Cool little place in an unsuspecting area. Very class decor, hardwood floors with some tables and couch seating as well as seating at the bar. Good drinks at good prices and they have live bands on the weekends. They also have a limited food menu although I haven't had the chance to try any of it.
The bartenders are very friendly and are great at recommending drinks for you tastes if you don't know what to get. Great place to start the evening meeting up with friends or you could end up staying there all night because some of those martini's are pretty intense!
Class Class Class! What else can I say? This is one of our favorite places in the northern burbs to go for cocktails.
They have a modest food menu and a large martini menu. My favorite part about their drinks is that the can make two different size martini's a small and a large. The nice thing about that is if you order a small, you can have a few more and they shave a few bucks off the price.
The atmosphere is very trendy and urban. It's the closest thing you'll get to a 'Chicago' bar in the area.
I've been to Olive Black a few times now. Â It's cute, quaint, and the closest thing to 'urban' in the Wisconsin border town of Richmond. Â I am not a sweet, fruity martini fan so this review is only supportive of the dirty martini offered. Â It's good. Â And I like that I can stop in for a 'mini' martini if I'm only meeting a friend for a quick drink. Â Wednesdays are half price (always good). Â And I like the fact I can grab an appetizer while chatting and sipping. Â I took away a star because they could really play better music. Â Lame is the only way to describe it unless they have a band and then it's just too loud and obnoxious. Â I try to stay away on those days. Â I took away another star because the last time I went, I ordered my regular dirty martini and it looked like one, but had a sweet icky taste to it like it was made in the shaker which is used for cosmos or something. Â Probably a one time thing, but I haven't been back since because every time I think about going there, my mind immediately fleets to that disgusting taste. Â I know I'll get over it.
UPDATE 11/20/11: Â I've been back here a few more times. Â It's still everything that I mentioned in my last review except the ONE time my dirty martini was sweet. Â I knew it was a one time fluke. Â I will continue to frequent. Â It's the perfect place to meet with friends, bring an out of town guest out for low key drinks, or get an appetizer and drinks with my husband. Â Check it out if you're in the area.
Olive Black Martini and Wine Lounge is one of the best places to go! General Manager Jeff Popp not only makes the best martini's anywhere but he can make one up just for YOU right on the spot! The staff their is excellent and make it an enjoyable time all around. Â The food is wonderful, I personally LOVE their pizza's! Â You walk in and suddenly you just feel like your at home. Â The selection of live entertainment on the weekends is awesome! There is always something for everyone! Â On Wednesdays they have half price martini's, wine and chocolate fondue, and to top that, they have different vendors that sell things from Jewelry to purses to health drinks and the topper, personal massage for $1 a minute! Â Nobody has what Olive Black has!
Review Source:Richmond, a sleepy little town near the border of Wisconsin up in McHenry County, apparently is going upscale: Â known for its many antique shops, their downtown area is now seeing the opening of several upscale little restaurants. Â My friend, who is from that area, and I stopped in for a martini at this sleek black and hardwood martini bar; although it was fairly empty for a Thursday night, it had a lot of potential: Â a comfortable bar, plenty of lounge and chair seatings, and a cozy fireplace. Â And they feature live jazz on the weekends. Â Wish I had a place like this in my suburb!
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