Black Olive
Popular dishes
Seafood Kebob
21 reviews
Grilled Octopus Salad
Straight from the sea, pounded, marinated, grilled octopus tossed with fresh red onions and capers
18 reviews
Baklava
14 reviews
Excellent flavor, everything we ordered came out hot and delicious. The red snapper and bronzino were phenomenal!
Owner was very nice and the staff was great! Service was very good overall. Owner filet/deboned the fish in our presence after it was cooked. Nice touch.
Cabernet - thought it should have been room temperature and not cold. Chilled would have been fine, not cold. Good portions.
Grilled Octopus Salad - Excellent
Bread- keep it to dip in salad along with the olives
Bronzni - good flavor
Snapper - good flavor, olive oil and I believe lemon juice or vinaigrette drizzle had a great flavor but it should be heated up before pouring on the fish. It made the fish cold on top. A solid 3 stars.
Should consider adding blinds in back room to block the outside porch area in winter. Looks a bit disheveled.
I would return for dinner, but not necessarily for special occasions. To be fair, getting by in COVID is tough so I’ll give 3.5 stars.
Lobster Bisque - Good flavor, but it was not thick enough
This restaurant was absolutely amazing. From the service to the decadent food. The owner was extremely welcoming and friendly. Everyone was very knowledgeable on the food as well as the wine. We had a very quiet table and could speak to each other with ease from across the table. My partner and I had a very romantic Valentine’s Day thanks to The Black Olive. We will most certainly be back to visit Dimitri and his incredible staff.
Horrible! Fish was not prepared well at all. Service was not attentive. Not going back.
Our appetizers, the shrimp and scallops were awesome. I had the Dover Sole and it was ok, not a lot of flavor, definitely overrated. My wife had the crab cakes and they were not good at all. No semblance of lump crab meat as stated. And they used some strong seasoning, not old bay, that left a bitter taste in your mouth. The service was excellent especially the bartender. I will get lamb chops next time.
Always an excellent meal. Highly recommend.
Demitri and the entire staff are an incredible joy. The food is fantastic, fresh, and wonderfully prepared. Thank you for making all of our experiences with you fabulous!! See you soon.
Our second visit in the past few weeks as early November weather was great. Excellent food and serviceonce again.
My husband was allowed to pick a bottle of wine from their extensive wine collection in the cellar. We had a great bottle of wine.
The dinner itself was delicious. The whole bronzino served with oil and herbs was enjoyable. However, we were disappointed in the desserts. The baklava was yummy. The carrot cake and flourless chocolate cake were not worth eating.
We were seated at a table right next to where cars pull up for their to go orders for the restaurant. Multiple times we had flashing car lights on our faces while we dined.
If the restaurant reconfigured the outside area to protect diners from pick up orders and they added lights and a heater we would go back. Just order the baklava for dessert!
The fish at Black Olive is the best I know of in Baltimore. We love the Mezzes as well
Bruce, You are the Best! Thanks for the feedback. The Black Olive Family
What happened! After reading reviews, we were so excited to have a special dinner at the Black Olive. Though the food WAS good, the service and ambiance were truly lacking. We were seated in a backroom at a round table for five or six - we were a couple, next to the kitchen. The waiter was unresponsive and not helpful in making selections from the menu. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed in our experience and certainly did not get the value for our money.
Amazing food and service. The oysters were delicious, and the fish was so fresh and tasty!
Great meal for our anniversary. Sat inside due to a little rain outside and the place smelled of wonderful roasted garlic. We ordered the cheese grape leaves, village pie, and octopus salad for appetizers - all delicious and good size portions - especially the octopus salad. For dinner, we had the chicken souvlaki and lobster pasta - both delicious. Attentive wait staff - we’ll be back!
Great food and staff, the sourdough bread is the BEST as well as the humus. Besides entrees, there are enough small plate dishes to make the dinner a discovery.
First time eating here. I think they are new to operating under COVID, so take the review with a grain of salt.
Bottom Line: Good Food (esp the Octopus Salad), terrible service / dining experience. Would recommend to check out if they were open for Lunch and you had over an hour to kill.
The Good:
The Food - Everything was good, the octopus salad was amazing. The only complaint about the food is the presentation. Tzatziki was scooped onto a plate. Anything in a bowl was in a cheap white, ceramic bowl. Eating out is entertainment.(My wife and I cook and enjoy cooking, so when we go out, it for "fun") So I expect things to look, well, appetizing. Nothing served was "inspired."
The Bad:
Service - 10 mins until waiter showed up. Another 25 mins until our drinks showed up (with the "one plates"). 35 min after that until our entree showed up. Yes, from sitting down, to entree: 70 mins. From sitting down until first drink: 35 mins. I don't know if it was a not knowing how to deal with COVID or what, but, wife and I spent a lot of time staring at each other! lol
Experience - Set up on the street and made as charming as possible with a linen tent set-up overhead. Now, of course the restaurant cannot control who comes down the street, but after the third car came down, with a modified glasspack and / or blaring music. Kinda ruins the charm. Secondly, as soon as dusk hit, spent the rest of the night swatting off nats and shooing away flies from table and food (something they can control, not a lot of vegetation around).
In the End:
Seemed like a neighborhood restaurant as everyone seemed to know each other. If I was a local and ate there often pre-COVID, I might be a regular too and deal with the current (?) negatives (for the Octopus Salad alone). But, not worth a trip to the city to go there.
We celebrated a lovely anniversary dinner at Black Olive outside. It was our first outdoor restaurant experience since the pandemic and overall it felt safe and relatively "normal." Black Olive has about 8 outdoor tables which felt intimate and it is on a side road in Fells Point so not as noisy as Broadway or Thames Street. We both had very nice martinis. The stuffed calamari and saganaki as appetizers were delicious. We had the rockfish and filleted mediterranean sea bass for main courses that were fresh and flavorful. We were too full for dessert. Overall, a great experience.
Black Olive is always nice. Great food. Simple and fresh ingredients!
Group of women were drunk next to us and very loud. No music played and we had to shout across the table just to have a conversation. We were celebrating my Wife’s Birthday and I was hoping I would give her a great experience and ambiance but the noise level was just impossible to have a decent conversation. I left wirh a headache and unfortunately they could not seat somewhere else because only 3 tables were open.
They did a lovely job of social distancing outside. The food was terrific as always. Delighted to support local restaurants.
Have beautifully adapted to covid-19 by having 6 intimate tables on the sidewalk - well spaced from each other. Had a wonderful, relaxing, delicious dinner on this quiet side street just steps from bustling Thames Street. Shared starters among the six of us. And then three of us had the bronzini, one the rock fish, and one the stuffed grilled octopus. and the remaining one - the six year old - was generously accommodated with a dish of pasta that was not on the menu. All were winners. The owner Dimitris came out to expertly filet the bronzini, and suggested a very smooth tsipouro as an after dinner drink. Some of the wait staff are still new, and there was no bartender the night we were there. But neither was an impediment to a delicious dinner and a delightful evening.
They have a nice outdoor set up and when it began to lightly rain, offered us a very private table inside. The red snapper was delicious, the tomatoes in the Greek salad very fresh and ripe and my husband loved his lobster pasta. All in all a very pleasant evening.
I have been venturing to and enjoying this spot for more than 16 years. The food is great, the owners are great and the time is enjoyable. #HowDaBanksesLive
Great outdoor area set up. Just ordered a bunch of small plates and everything was fantastic. The owner was very knowledgeable about Greek wine and gave us some great recommendations!
The Black Olive is delicious. Great menu, great wine list, and great service. 10/10.
There is no better Greek food to be had in Baltimore !! Simply delicious!! The ambiance, the service are delightful!! The place is a true gem!!
The food was amazing and they have a great set up outside!
Very nice outdoor setup on the street. Limited drink options at the moment
(understandable) and very good food. Pricey, but not outrageous.
Glad we were able to support this great place and try it it out. Yummy!!
It was perfect. Wonderful service and food was outstanding
This was our 1st visit to The Black Olive and overall, it was a very pleasant dining experience. This highly-rated restaurant was sparsely populated when we arrived at 8:15 last Sat. night, which we were told was due to the recent Coronavirus concerns in MD. For that reason, I can't accurately assess and rate the noise level. Our service was excellent, as was the food. In particular, our seafood entrees (grilled snapper and grilled black sea bass) were phenomenal, with very generously-sized portions. The cozy ambiance of the restaurant was very nice, however I have reduced my rating in that category to just 3 stars because of the EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE dining chairs. Mind you, I tried out a few, as did the members of the dinner party next to us, who voiced the same complaint. The springs on the seats of these chairs were way beyond their shelf lives, and negatively impacted my dining experience, as I couldn't get comfortable and my back ached throughout my meal. In my opinion, this is unacceptable for such an upscale restaurant. We plan on returning to The Black Olive in the future, and highly recommend it, but only after the chairs have been replaced.
Good service and excellent wine!
Our server Darryl was great. He made some great recommendations.
Decided to take my mother-in-law and fiancé here for lunch. You can’t beat the $20 pre fix menu, even with the up charges the items were priced very appropriately. I had gotten the Mediterranean sea bass, perfectly cooked. My fiancé had opted for the crab cake, best he’s ever had. Then my mother in law had the village pie, such a lovely entree with so many delicious tastes from the Greek cheese to the leeks and spinach. We all will definitely be coming back!
Food was great
The best Greek restaurant in Baltimore
Intimate setting, delicious, fresh food. Perfect place for special occasions.
As usual the grilled octopus salad was fantastic... and was very tender.
The red snapper was perfectly grilled as well .
My wife enjoyed the lamb chops which were beautifully prepared.
If you enjoy gin then you must ask for the Greek botanical “Grace Gin”.
Fabulous place, food and staff. They are doing it right. Great wine selection. Definitely recommend.
Wait staff while friendly and knowledgeable were rather stretched thin, took an extended time for service throughout the meal. They seemed to be confused over which tables they were covering. Noticed the couple next to us complaining and left after appetizers, while we left before desert because the waiter did not come back for an extended time to get our order. We asked for the check instead.
Been to this place many times, and food is always very good. Cocktails nicely done. The whole fish is a must. The greek wines are always nice to try. Friendly staff, the back room is very quiet (never stayed in the front one). Definitely worth a visit!
FAQs
You can order delivery directly from Black Olive using the Order Online button.
Black Olive is rated 4.5 stars by 2782 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.