Olive Cafe

Let’s start with the positive, shall we?
Olive Café might just have the best falafel balls that I’ve had in Kansas City. Notice that I didn’t say «best falafel» because I ordered the Mediterranean platter and not a straight-​up falafel sandwich. I make this distinction, because although patties themselves are the most important thing in a falafel, the sum of its parts is also of crucial importance. So, until I go back and order one, I’ll leave it at this.
I also found the hummus to be pretty damn good too, perfectly creamy, not too lemony or too garlicky. And then there’s the smoky delish babaganoush, which is probably «the dip that divides us.» I, for one, like babaganoush to be more of a smoky eggplant dip (at some places it seems overshadowed by tahini and garlic) and Olive Café’s appeals to me. I’m a fan!
Everyone who works here is extremely nice and the service is excellent.
Now for the not so great:
WTH is up with that salad? Talk about tired, anemic greens (it might have been iceberg? I haven’t had iceberg lettuce since childhood, so I could be wrong). I found this to be the case on both the platter and in the Greek salad that the K and I shared. I’ll put this in the «unacceptable» category. Fresh, crisp greens are of utmost importance in a Greek salad. Hell, in any salad! And I like black (ripe) olives from the can as much as the next person, but on a Greek salad there should be Kalamata olives or don’t call it a Greek salad. The whole thing was as overdressed as a wannabe socialite at an afternoon wedding. Not appreciated. At all.
The environment, I’m sad to say, is very meh. I suppose it’s OK for a quick lunch, but I don’t see myself ever wanting to actually dine in again. There’s something depressing about the room and I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I’m getting depressed just talking about it. There’s a fuckton of papyrus everywhere, along with Egyptian statues… nothing wrong with any of that. I suppose that they seem to be trying too hard– yet at the same time it’s unclear as to just what they are trying to do. It’s not quite fast food and definitely not a full service Middle Eastern restaurant that is all moody with lanterns and rich jewel tones… at all. Plus because they are so nice, I feel hella guilty even talking about this at all! ACK! See what being raised Catholic does to a person?
So. A very mixed review. If it wasn’t for that fantastic falafel and hummus, I would probably never return, so that is saying a whole hell of a lot.
To go, for me, henceforth!

The Olive Café is a bright, open, tastefully decorated space with a few Mediterranean grocery items and two large coolers with bottled sodas and teas. At 5:30 on a weeknight we were the only people in the restaurant. I was a little disappointed to see the standard order-by-number-pick-1−15 menu board (as a print-​girl, I love a good menu), but the pictures were nice and they have slightly more variety than some other small places I’ve been to. There was only one guy working — who was very friendly and welcoming by the way — running both the register and the grill. He took our order and we took our seats. The sun was fully streaming into the café so we chose a small 2-​top along the wall in front of the open door. Burn out eyeballs or eat with my coat on… I put my coat back on.
Our food arrived in a reasonable amount of time and everything looked just fantastic. So fantastic in fact that I didn’t bother to mention that the Vegetarian Platter that I received was not the Chicken and Hummus that I had ordered (note to self, next time say the name of the dish and the number). The Veg Platter was a generous portion of baba ganoush, another of hummus (see, I got my hummus fix anyway!), three cute little dolmades and five falafal. Trophy Husband ordered the Combination Platter, a mix of chicken and gyro with crispy onions piled high over rice. We were also given a hearty helping of tzatziki and a basket of pita bread.
Everything on my Veg Platter was really excellent, especially the smoky baba ganoush. The dolmades had just a hint of mint to them and were quite tasty. I tried a few bites of TH’s Combo Platter, the meats were both juicy, very flavorful and spiced just right. His dish was heavy on the meat and light on rice, just as it should be. The tzatziki is very chunky here, almost the texture of a salsa. In the past I’ve always had very smooth tzatziki, this was a refreshing change. My only complaint is that I think the pita should have been served warm.
The portions were large, we packed a large to-​go box and I’m looking forward to having that for dinner tonight. We both left full and satisfied that the meal was a great value for the money. The service was friendly. I would really like to see them set up a web site or facebook page if for no other reason than to advertise the specials, we missed koshari by one day and would like to catch it the next time it comes around. No matter the special, I’m looking forward to returning to Olive Café.

Between my group, I was able to try the veggie platter, falafel gyro, fries, Greek salad, and regular gyro. All were very good. The fries, although probably straight from a bag, were pretty good. The hummus and pitas were good, but the tzatziki was very good. It was different than the norm; instead of grated cucumber it had chunks of cucumber. The Greek salad is not authentic, but I haven’t found an authentic one in KC. However, I appreciated that they used a nice spring mix lettuce as opposed to iceberg. Hallelujah. We all left completely stuffed and satisfied. Baba Ghanoush had an odd flavor to it that made it nearly inedible.
While eating the meal, I thought «mmm this is good.» A few hours later, I thought «man that was salty.» And the next day, my stomach was assaulting me! Of the dining group, half of us felt sick the next day (ate gyro & chicken gyro), and half of us did not (ate veggie items).
So I’m mixed. I’m not sure if my stomach pains were just due to greasy food or if there was something awry.

This is hard to do, but I feel that the second olive café needs some help.
Let me start by saying that the service is extremely friendly and kind, but the place is lacking in other areas. I have been in several times and I really want to like it as much as the location in Raytown. The sandwiches are almost the same, but the meat is cut in big chunks. I have not seen a spit loaded yet (I have been for lunch and dinner numerous times). That makes me think that they just cut some refrigerated meat up and heat it up. This goes for the gyro meat and the kofta. Maybe those do not belong on a spit. I am no expert. I always see one turning slowly in Raytown.
Another thing about the sandwiches is consistency. Each sandwich has been different each time. The sandwich is built with all the toppings on one side. There have been different toppings too. I am not sure what they are doing, but hopefully they get it worked out.
I do have to say that the falafel is great.
Beware of the sticky ketchup bottles. This really bothers me. I hate crusty capped, sticky ketchup bottles. It tells me that someone is lazy and does not pay attention to cleanliness.
I think they should use a streaming music website instead of the constant change of online video streams. I don’t need to watch anything while I am eating, especially not TMZ.
Hopefully the Olive Café can get the kinks worked out. I will go back because I want to see if they improve. There will definitely be another review in the future.
The server acted like they would stay open at night until business died down. It will be nice to grab a descent gyro instead of a slice of pizza or sandwich.

When I first saw a sign for a new Mediterranean restaurant situated next to Sinbad’s Café & Hookah Lounge, I got excited. However, every time I drove by, they were not yet open. One night I saw the open sign and vowed to try it ASAP.
They’ve only been open a few days and are still waiting on shipment of certain products such as fava beans and imported drinks. My fiancée and I ordered the veggie platter (about $ 8) and the lentil soup ($ 1.99). They were considerate enough to notice that we only ordered vegetarian dishes and asked if we minded feta cheese in our salads in case we don’t eat it.
I wish I had brought my camera along to snap photos of the food. The salad was fresh and colorful including romaine lettuce, olives, cucumbers, shredded cabbage, tomatoes, and cubes of feta cheese. Unfortunately the lentil soup was bland and we squeezed some fresh lemon and added pepper in order to give it more flavor.
The veggie platter was excellent. It came with 4 falafels, 4 grape leaves, baba ganoush, hummus, and 4 pita bread. The falafels were perfectly crispy and brown on the outside but I wish it was spiced a little more. I don’t normally enjoy grape leaves, but these were some of the best I’ve ever had. The hummus were absolutely phenomenal with a spicy kick and the baba ganoush was was hands down the best I’ve ever had. Although we were stuffed, we eagerly sopped up the dips with our pita.
We also enjoyed the ambiance, the modern décor, and plenty of natural light. It’s definitely a place I’m looking forward to trying more of their dishes once they get in their shipment!