Olivea

Visited Olivea on Monday night this past week and we were truly disappointed with the largely ignorant, inattentive staff. We were seated by the host near closing time — which we confirmed was okay, and were subsequently told that it indeed was. We were there for the $ 5 mojito deal, but at no point did the host or the server inform us that in order to qualify for that deal, we’d have to purchase an appetizer. Feel free to gauge our surprise when we all received our bills and they were astronomically higher than we’d expected. When we commented on the $$$ in the presence of the server, she subtly interjected that mojitos were only $ 5 with the purchase of an appetizer — otherwise, upwards of $ 8 per mojito. Not impressed with the service one bit — we should have been informed right when we sat down. We will not be returning as we do not care for subpar service from «established» restaurants like this.

I think it was alright, not overwhelmingly astounding. Service was okay but again, not anything extraordinary. The pasta we ordered was sized right, it was decent tasting and the tiramisu was alright too. I think we spent $ 130 for two with a couple of glasses of wine, probably on the higher side of a Kingston dinner. I’ll go there again but I’ll explore more to find a place I truly love eating Italian food at!

Outstanding food and service. Ages beef, fresh seafood, homemade pasta. Great location.

Ordered the mushroom risotto here. It was good but way too salty and also the portion size was pretty small. I’d say that there are other places that are probably better value for money as the prices here are kind of high for what you get.

We were there today and it was OK. I felt like a lot of our food needed salt badly (and the salt shakers we aquired were all empty) and the chicken that we each got was very, very burnt on the outside. My chicken also had a lot of fat, which made it unpleasant. The pasta was fantastic, despite the fact that the sauce lacked a lot of salt and was way too rich. My husband’s dinner had amazing vegetables that were cooked to perfection, but our proteins were just so bad I couldn’t give higher marks. The Kingston Olive Oil Co’s mission fig balsamic was easily the best thing I had all night (it was INCREDIBLE!!!) Our waitress was nice but seemed like she had too many tables to adequately take care of all of them. I’d probably go somewhere else in the future — for our $ 80 dinner I could have gotten something really fantastic elsewhere in the city.

The waitresses and staff are extremely friendly, and the food is delicious. The owner even comes to the table to say hi to the customers. If you want rustic Italian food, be sure to stop by Olivea!
I’ve had the chicken dish and few soups. All of which were delicious — very flavorful.

This is one of my favourite restaurants because I have yet to have a bad or even mediocre experience here. I have thoroughly enjoyed every visit and the people I bring always leave happy as well. They are pretty authentic when it comes to their dishes, if you’re thinking you will be getting a heavy cream sauce here you will not be. Their Arancini is to die for, everywhere I go in the GTA that has them, I hope and pray they are as good as Olivea’s but nope they never are *sigh*. The fresh pasta and appropriate portion sizes (aka not American sizes) is wonderful. The truffled frites are truly amazing. If you are in K Town and want a nice place to go for dinner I highly suggest it. You have a nice view of city hall and Confederation park is right beside it. They are a little more pricey than your average restaurant but you get what you pay for right!

We went to Olivea as a group of 8 to carb load before our triathlon the next day. We were immediately served water and had water jugs on the table and bread was brought shortly before the appetizers with fig balsamic and olive oil.
They were pretty great with the gluten free as any pasta dish could be made with gluten free noodles, and most entrees could be modified to be made gfree. Small selection of apps that I could have though, so I just ordered the salad with my pasta. I had the insalata (sp?) which was just mixed greens with a lemon dressing. Nothing special but nice. For the entrée I had the special of the day which was Arctic char with peas and leeks in a white wine butter sauce. I couldn’t have the tagliatelle pasta but the spaghetti noodles (corn-​based) were great! Perfectly cooked too!
The pasta dish was good and filling — I really enjoyed it.
I felt that the prices were pretty spot on for the type of restaurant Olivea is, but some of the portions are small (most notably, the gnocchi).
Great atmosphere, clean and the servers are very pleasant and accommodating. It was a great dining experience in Kingston! Parking is a pain so be prepared to parallel park or find a parking spot in a lot nearby. Also lots of one way streets to navigate.

Food wasn’t flavorful. We weren’t offered bread as all the tables around us did. Limited selection of entrees. Don’t waste your time or money there. Go to any other italian place!

Pleasant, local cuisine and a great patio overlooking the town square. Nice selection of beer and jazz nights.
Cozy interior with lots of light wood, leaving it to feel open yet intimate. Great place for good food and drink, and you can hold a conversation without raising your voice. Totally excellent dining experience.

To celebrate our anniversary, we decided to take the recommendation of many of our friends to come to Olivea — it’s been a couple years since I’ve last been here, and I was really excited that this place continues to have great service as well as delicious food. We opted for the 99 $ dinner special for two — two apps, two mains, and two desserts with a bottle of wine (from a shortlist of their overall selection). The menu options are scaled down from the entire menu, but we were very happy to choose from the selection.
Our server was very pleasant as well as efficient. I was really pleased with the arugula salad — it’s a heaping pile of dressed arugula with shaved parmesan, and it is both simple and delicious. I had the steak with fries for my main, and although we both thought the chef was heavy handed with the garlic, I’m also okay with that. Just know you’ll smell for a while :) The desserts are simple — he had crème brûlée and I had tartufo. Both were excellent.
It’s a busy spot on a weekend, but check out their online reservation system. So simple!

Was very happy to find this place. Great location, great service, & a really good meal. We had oysters for an appetizer. They were from Nova Scotia and delicious. Our entrée was a large pasta dish, but I found it tasty, however small for $ 25. Seriously, how expensive are noodles. It could also have used more than just two pieces of seafood.

I was new in town and was tired of eating on my yoga mat on the floor. I went and splurged a little for a nice dinner and Olivea provided just that. I went on an incredibly busy Thursday, which is their live jazz night. They were very accommodating, considering it was just me. They wanted to seat me at a table but I insisted I would just sit at the bar so a couple could have a table. The bartender, though incredibly busy, could see I was by myself and made sure she stopped and chatted with me when she had the chance. I ordered the chicken parmigiana and it was so incredibly delicious. It was perfectly cooked, with just the right amount of sauce and lots of cheese. I then ordered a tiramisu for dessert which was equally as delicious. They have lots of great beers on tap, including ones from Ganonaque brewery. The live jazz that night was splendid. It was so nice just to sit and watch them jam out in the restaurant, and others didn’t seem to think it was too loud for conversation. Can’t wait to go back again, perhaps for a date night.

Best pulled pork sandwich I’ve ever had. I would give it more stars, it’s just that I’m not too big of a fan of Italian food. I liked their page on Facebook, and it seems like the chef has very creative daily specials.

Good food overall. Alfredo sauce was perfect. Daily special was mushroom ragu and it was too salty. Caesar salad was perfect

After an underwhelming first experience, I decided to give Olivea another chance. Unfortunately, the second visit proved even more disappointing than the first. On my first visit, the seafood linguine was average at best. On my second visit, the daily soup tasted like Campbell’s and the burger was dry and bland. Even by Kingston standards, this restaurant is sub par — it is a far cry from the likes of Le Chien Noir or Red House.

This is a great restaurant for delicious Italian food without the stuffy old world atmosphere. Don’t worry, there are no cold metal tables any more. In fact the seats are very comfortable.
They have specials most days of the week including live Jazz Tuesday. We (2 people) went on Sunday and one person had a pasta special which includes an appetizer and dessert for $ 20. In general the prices are reasonable. Make sure to ask for bread if your server doesn’t automatically bring it.
I would prefer to see more imported wines by the glass from around the world. They seem to be big on Ontario wines, which can be rather limiting if you’re into sweeter reds.

My boyfriend and I went to Gananoque for a weekend trip and ended up driving to Kingston twice (!) because of this restaurant. The first time we just went in to eat, and accidentally stumbled upon this place.
We went to eat with family and ordered: the mezzo e mezzo platter (appetizer, meats, cheeses, olives etc), a few taster oysters (delicious), and the seafood linguine and 4 steak frites.
All the temperatures on our steaks were DIFFERENT and yet they came out at the same time, perfectly cooked, and oh my god so delicious. I go out to eat quite a bit and this is literally one of the best pieces of meat I have ever put in my stomach. Amazing. The seafood linguine was so chock-​full of seafood (mussels, shrimp, clams, squid, etc) that you could barely afford to get to the pasta, which was also quite delicious. Finally, I ordered the chocolate mousse. The waiter told me it was like a chocolate orgasm, and well. it was like a chocolate heart attack for sure. I thought it was going to be a lot more fluffy but the solidity of the chocolate and the consistency was so smooth and amazing that I wasn’t even miffed at the difference in my expectations.
The service was great both times, and going there on a Tuesday surprised us with Live Jazz.
Overall one of the best restaurants I have ever been to. Ever.

As another reviewer wrote, the food is definitely 5 stars, whereas the atmosphere isn’t to everyone’s taste. If you don’t mind the industrial look with metal tables & chairs and an open view of the ceiling air ducts, then this place is excellent. Even despite the style, you get a great view of the downtown square and during the evening the place is lit up with candles and is quite romantic.
The food was amazing. I had the gnocchi, while the rest of my family had the special (which I believe was a sort of roast beef along with a tasty light salad). The gnocchi I had was handmade and literally melted in my mouth, and my family couldn’t get over how tasty their meal was. The service was attentive and friendly, and when asked for advice on wine, the waitress really knew what she was talking about!
In fact my only complaint was the dessert I ordered. I ordered the cannoli which ended up being so hard, we had to cover the plate for fear that upon cutting off a piece it would fling over to the next table. The filling also ended up being rather bland and disappointing.
That being said, the other desserts, coffees, appetizers, and meals were amazing.

Actually, I would give this five stars for food, but I found the atmosphere a bit jarring and industrial — not the kind of cosy place I want to eat really, really good Italian food. Located on a picturesque corner in Kingston by the old City Hall with lots of big windows for good views.
Our appetizers were the squid and the carpaccio. The squid was very good — tender and garlicky. However, don’t expect some disguised onion ringy-​squid. This is the real deal — no breading or funky sauce. Carpaccio was amazing. A very generous serving of pounded down beef tenderloin, with baby greens, preserved onions and big shavings of parmesan.
Husband’s main was chicken that had been spatchcocked and grilled under a weight (Isn’t spatchcock a great word? Go look it up). A bit more citrusy than I cared for but he really liked it. it came with a wonderful horseradish potato cake. (thin sliced layers of potato baked until golden with yummy stuff between the layers — an upscale scalloped potato).
My main was sublime — grilled sweetbreads on parmesan polenta, surrounded by veal cheek ragu. The sweetbreads were creamy on the inside with kind of a crunchy coating on the outside. The parmesan polenta was soft and lovely — you could bathe in this stuff — and the veal cheek ragu was basically a very nice pot-​roasty kind of stew/​sauce — that played off the polenta and the sweetbreads very well. Very yummy. Perfect comfort food, especially with a glass of ripasso valpolicella.
One of the best meals of the year.