Olivera's Restaurant - Ionia

Never been there before, was busy for a Sunday evening but we were seated immediately. My wife had Bourbon salmon and I had NY strip and our food was exactly as we requested. I added house salad and it was a very nice size, almost too much, but it was fresh and good as well. The second cocktail I ordered seemed to take a little longer to come but our server explained that the bar was backed up but it would be out shortly. With that our server McKayla was excellent and very attentive to details of our meal and checked on us frequently. Several other staff members also stopped and cleared off used dishes and asked if we needed anything. Overall very positive experience and would go again and recommend to others.

It's been open one week today. Driving by, it looked like a fun place. It's very cool inside the staff went out of their way to suggest brews give out samples. The black tan onion rings were ok, the Italiano on ciabatta was good. I'd like to go back try a real meal. It's loud in the bar; could stand some textiles to absorb the sound. There's a lot of tvs so wear your ear plugs on game day! Oh yeah, they have 30 beers on draft! Try the grapefruit Hefeweizen if you love Blue Moon like I do!

Olivera’s looked like a pretty good restaurant what little we saw of the place inside and we were both happy with our food. CW’s sandwich looked, smelled, and according to her, tasted really good. My pizza was delicious, but not the thin crust I usually go for. In this case, I went for quantity and boy, did I get it. It left my tummy full and my palate happy.

The food is amazing! The staff was right there moving all the time taking care of everything and helping others as well. Team work is the best. The best thing besides the food and staff was how clean the restaurant was, the floors were clean, the table and the plates. Your drink glasses were so clean they sparkled. I give them a definite 5 star rating. I was so pleased with everyone and everything!. Thank you for such a wonderful experience! Can't wait to come again. I would so drive here just to eat! Thank you! Amazing!!!

The first question most people ask is “Is this like the Olive Garden? Because I like the Olive Garden.” 1) That is the wrong approach to this restaurant. 2) The Olive Garden is horrible and you should feel a little bad you like it. Oliveras is amazing! I can not describe how great the food and service are, but I’m going to try. They make their own sauce that tastes like they took the effort to care about how their sauce tastes. You never have to ask, “Does this sauce taste a little off to you? Like maybe they mashed tomatoes with dirty feet and used sewer water? Like how it tastes at the Olive Garden?” I had the Toscano Stromboli. I’m pretty sure if Jesus had this at the last supper, we would be having pieces of that during mass. The atmosphere really pulls it all together. They don’t feel the need to be pretentious and have boring decor just because they serve food Italian food. They want folks to enjoy themselves and eat pretty amazing food. The restaurant was c-l-e-a-n clean. It was pretty spotless even when it was busy. There were no odd spots where you had to ask yourself, “Is that bolognese or is that a crime scene?” Next time, you are looking for a wonderful meal that tastes like it is worth the price you see (which is pretty affordable). I suggest turning the car around from that trip to Olive Garden and go to Oliveras instead. You probably will not be disappointed.