My partner and I went into Olive for dinner last night.. The waitress (Danielle) was exceptional and explained the specials perfectly. The wine list was very fair and we actually ended up drinking 2 bottles.. Pork WOW… !!!! A truely wonderful nite. Thank you. We will remember it forever….

A group of us chose to go to Olive about 3 weeks ago as I have been going there off and on for years and it WAS a favourite of mine. However, not any more. It has obviously changed hands as the counter food was not like it used to be, the menu standard and food presentation bad. I have been eating out regularly for years and years and have never come across such APPALLING SERVICE and that was from the manager (and I believe owner) who told us “there’s plenty of other cafes in Wellington!” We were gobsmacked! There certainly is plenty of other cafes and if she continues to treat customers in this way Olive will no longer be one of those cafes! I notice 2-3 other people have blogged about being told the same thing. Lady, you need some serious customer service training!!!

Average menu without most of the things you’d expect to find on a brunch menu. Service was slow and unfriendly.
When I asked whether they do gluten free bread I was told they did, but wasn’t told that there was an additional cost. I don’t mind paying slightly more as I appreciate that GF bread is more expensive but being charged $6 for two slices of GF bread?!? RIP OFF. When I questioned it and said I could buy an entire loaf for that the girl just shrugged. Eventually she came back over and said it was only $4 – “only”!
Food was ok but nothing special and certainly didn’t justify the prices. Hot chocolates were tiny, kids portions at adult prices.
Definitely won’t be returning. So many great cafes in Wellington, gutted we picked a bad one.

Went to Olive cafe for dinner two of us.
The service was great – a chatty friendly young woman who was very knowlegdeable and recommended what wine to have.
The food quality was exceptional, the surroundings so interesting with some fantastic art installations not your generic cafe restaurant fit-out.
We will definitely be back- highly recommended.

Rude staff. Always unhelpful and unfriendly. Average food and coffee and rather over priced for the quality of food. Not going back, especially for the terrible service. Olive management need to rethink their idea of a great cafe and make some serious changes to their staff’s attitude towards work, especially the managers. Service with a smile would be a good start!

I am a semi-frequent customer of Olive. Mostly the food is very good (amazing egg breakfasts, except the scrambled which is similar to many other cafes now which cook the dish as half omelette and scrambled, therefore losing its soft, melt in the mouth texture..but I digress) but it is the service which stands out. Standout terrible I mean! Unfortunately, like a few cafes in Welly (namely the Astoria) Olive’s coffee is up and down. On Monday 13 June I visited for breakfast. After a few sips I realised my coffee was luke warm and very milky (large flat white). I asked politely if I could have a fresh one. The (new) waiter came back with it re-heated via the microwave. It was scalding. Again I asked politely for a fresh coffee. The manager came out and started arguing with me that I had already drunk half the coffee so therefore didn’t deserve a fresh one. I tried to calmly say that I had had about a quarter of the coffee before deciding it was verging on cold and I really would like a fresh, normal one. He said I should have asked for a hot coffee when ordering. Hello! Are not all coffees supposed to be reasonably hot? Surely the public don’t expect a luke warm coffee as a matter of cours? Everyone in the cafe was listening to him berating me. What a rude little man! The last time I visited (about 2 weekends ago) a coffee had been returned from someone and the Barista made it obvious how displeased she was. This was in front of customers waiting at the counter. Get your act together Olive. Coffee making is an art and sometimes you have to suck it up and do repeats if it is not to the customer’s satisfaction, not argue with them! Management needs to take a hard cold look at how the cafe is run and a bit of customer service training wouldn’t go amiss. For such a lovely venue and on the whole great food…it is such a disappointment to be treated this way. It will be a long time before I venture in your door again. Luckily, Wellington is spoilt for choice regarding fabulous cafes and good coffee making!

This cafe has a great selection of food on menu and in cabinet.

However! their service is very unfriendly and even more unprofessional.
The man who took the order of my friend and i was obviously rude and disrespectful towards us.
His attitude left a sour taste in my mouth and ruined my breakfast!
I will not be going back!

DELICIOUS! super friendly staff, great food and pretty well priced.

go to Olive quite a lot, love their casual lunch and tapas menu. had the fish main recently and it was superb, with every other diner at our table also loving their meal. service was great too.

I purchased 2 vouchers through Groupy for the Olive Cafe. I have been twice now and each time the the voucher was not usuable because Olive make up conditions for sale as they go along.
The deal was effective from 19th May. I went on the 19th but the rules had changed to the 20th. Went again two weeks later, the cafe was half full and again was told the offer was Monday to Friday only which was not stated on the fine print. Even when I showed them they were rude with a sorry thats how it is attitude . Olive if you cant honour offers, then dont do them. Olive surely the purpose of entering into deals with voucher companies is to get MORE customers ..not shoo them away.

I have only ever had fantastic experiences here. Lovely courtyard for summer and still nights [could possibly do with a heater or tarp for winter, but it's my decision to sit outside!], always warm and inviting. The staff always send huge grins my way and put up with my deliberations over the menu. Lovely coffee and although the prices might be a bit high for a few dinners a week, you get what you pay for. Delicious meals and a great atmosphere.

Very unfriendly, unhelpful service here, no conversation, no eye contact, coffee and cake OK but wouldn’t rush back.