Olive & June

First experience and everything was wonderful. From the simple but wonderful scenery. To the not to complicated menu and very tasty and well portioned food. Definitely a great place for a casual evening or date. I will be back any time I’m in Austin.

Excellent!!! This restaurant is a must try. Not your normal Italian food. It is the out of the ordinary

A lot has changed since the last review, so first things first:
–The Piccoli Piatti is no longer part of Mezzo Monday
–No more Blessed Italian on the cocktail menu
–No more Tristan and and Courtney. The fact that they left within a year of each other worries me. On top of all of the other changes, I am wary of where this is all going.
–Mozzarella Antipasti has been replaced by the Stracciatella, which had the consistency of melted mozzarella sticks. The wateriness and grit of the pear does not pair well with the cheese.
On the other hand, I am still a big fan of the Foreigner, farm egg polenta, piccoli piatti, and desserts. I really like that they brought the bombolini back, although I would also like to see the chocolate budino again. Just once.
For dinner, I have had the rainbow trout and the texas lamb shoulder. Both were too salty for my taste, though the trout had a lovely crispy skin.
My beloved waiters are still there, which is why I am still giving this place a chance. The new manager does not seem to interact very much, which is not very promising but I’m willing to give them time to get their bearings. Don’t let me down, Olive and June!

The décor is the first thing to catch your eye when you pull up to this place. The inside-​outside dining set up is unique to Austin, but it really works well at O and J. The visual appeal of this place is amazing. The staff are helpful and cheery. I had a group of 17 for dinner. The staff was accommodating and quick given our size. Brandon was our server and he deserved every penny of his tip! Nothing on the menu is bad. I had the lamb shoulder and it was nice and tender and I couldn’t eat it fast enough. Go!

Went here based on a recommendation. Cute place. Amazing service. Awful food. Pasta arrived twice barely cooked. You could tell before you even took a bite! They said we serve out pasta al dente. Um, no! Not even to that point. Tomato sauce doesn’t taste good. The lamb inside the ravioli was gamely and mutton like. Ooh.
Eggplant in the spaghetti dish was hard and rubbery. Gross! The staff was very apologetic and really did everything in their power to make it right. But, the food just isn’t worth giving them another shot.

We had a wonderful group dinner this Saturday in the private room (Chef’s Table). If there is an occasion to get 14 friends together to eat and have fun, this would be worth it. The room is located to thru the kitchen and to the left side. It is nicely hidden away. The room is just the perfect size and everyone can be involve in the conservation without feeling too far away. See pictures.
On this evening, the food was very consistent and well executed. The service was attentive. My theory with service here is to not sit on the patio and always opt for inside. For some reason, I have never had the best experience/​service when sitting outside on the 1^st level under the trees, although it is my favorite place.
FOOD: The best side dish ever is the Crispy Acorn Squash, which has
parsley, chive, shallot, garlic, pumpkin seeds. The squash is grilled and then battered in tempura and fried. The best pasta for the night was the pappardelle paste with lamb and mint sauce. I can’t describe it. It was just really savory and suites this Fall weather well. These paired well with each other.

My wife and I have a wonderful dinner at Olive & June to celebrate our anniversary. If you’re looking for a special night out in a beautiful restaurant with great food and service, then this is the place. We had a 7:00 reservation on a Monday night but decided to go early to hit happy hour for a drink before dinner. The inside bar area is small (only about 10 stools) but there is a nice outdoor area under the beautiful central oak tree. I ordered a Negroni and my wife had Basil di Limone. Both were excellent. The Basil di Limone is a nice, refreshing drink.
For appetizers, we ordered the Arancino (a fried Italian rice ball) and a crostini with roasted butternut squash, goat cheese, and espresso walnuts. Both were recommended by our waiter. Numerous reviews have complained that the portions are small. The menu is very clear — you get one rice ball and one crostini. They are the right size for two people to split for a light appetizer. We saw a lot of people ordering multiples to share as dinner. Both appetizers were very good and exhibited a trend for subtle flavors that seemed to hold for everything we ate. The Arancino has a very subtle citrus flavor that really makes interesting. Similarly, the combination of the squash and goat cheese was very nice, complimented by the texture of the walnuts. The service on the patio was attentive but not overbearing. The prices were good given that it was happy hour.
The hostess came and found us at 7 for our reservation. We moved inside for dinner. The restaurant is simple and clean, with a nice feel and open kitchen behind a large glass window. Monday night is ½ price wine by the glass night so we started with a Pinot Noir and a Sangiovese. Both were very good and were generous pours. We started with the Red and Gold beet salad. This was a very nice salad made with yogurt, arugula and fennel. It had a very light dressing that blended it all together perfectly.
We ordered two entrees to share — the spaghetti alla norma and the duck leg confit (the special). Again, both were very good. The spaghetti was a nice portion, again not huge, but more than enough. The duck confit was also very good.
We finished our meal by sharing a pumpkin panna cotta for dessert. The panna cotta was mandarin orange slides, vanilla gelato, and pumpkin seeds on top. The menu also says the dish includes salted caramel, which added a nice flavor to the wonderful panna cotta. Their drink menu features Amari. Amaro (singular of Amari) is an Italian after-​dinner drink made from herbs that it is typically bitter. I’d never had one so asked our waitress for a suggestion. She suggested one that’s a good beginner (don’t recall the name) and another that was very ‘advanced,’ Braulio. I felt adventurous so went for the Braulio. She wasn’t kidding when she said it was intensely pine-​flavored. It literally tasted like what you’d expected pine tar to taste like! Funny thing, it was good. She said to let it sit for 10 minutes so that it warmed a bit. That really made a difference, intensifying the flavors but also making it more interesting. I really enjoyed it but you definitely will only want one!
I need to stop now because this review is really long. I have to give props to our waitress, Allyson. She was friendly, knowledgeable and attentive. Our main dinner was $ 100, which was very reasonable for the salad, wine, entrees, dessert and Amaro. We will definitely return to Olive & June in the future!

The food is a little different than your average Italian restaurant, which I like.
Most of the sauces (atleast in the pasta portion) seemed to have lemon-​based sauces. I enjoyed it, but not what you’d crave for your every day italian food.
The atmosphere of this place is top notch. I’d come back for the atmosphere, I don’t know how they do it this place is HUGE. There’s THREE outdoor balconies and an event room and an indoor dining area. We sat outside because hey it actually wasn’t hot and muggy outside and so it was a perfect outdoor dining night.
Valet parking is a nice perk because there’s definitely not parking in the hood.
The thing that kept me from four stars was the service. They were very slow, for the restaurant not being THAT crowded. Our dinner ended up taking near two hours. I wouldn’t have been upset if they were crowded I would understand. We had to ask the hostess for the check because we couldn’t even find our waitress at the end of the night.

We loved Olive & June! I can’t believe we have not tried it sooner! The happy hour Thursday night was awesome. They gave us the wrong bill but since it was still super cheap we just paid it anyway since we were kinda in a hurry to make an event later that evening (8÷27÷15). We came for my birthday and they brought champagne to the table to start out the celebration (how nice). The drink specials were great and the appetizers were hearty and delicious. The pasta was to die for. The portions of the individual ravioli is exactly that… just one. But you should know that when you see it is only $ 3. I will for sure come back and bring the in-​laws to impress them with our good taste. Just next time I will double check our bill before we hand over our credit card. Complimentary valet is nice too :)

Expected more for the $ I was supposed to dish out. Service was slow, slow, slow. Couldn’t get the waiter’s attention if I wanted to. If you want to enjoy the space (which is beautiful) for a few hours, then this might be your spot. If you’re like me and don’t want to wait an hour for your food on a slow night and then wait another hour for your bill, you might look elsewhere.
Food was creative. The saffron ravioli is a well planned dish and would’ve been enjoyed more if it wasn’t borderline cold by the time it got to me. Also, if I’m paying $ 17 for 5 pieces of ravioli, it better have some kind of magically delicious ingredients filled inside and I better taste the saffron. Alas, the filling was nothing memorable and I have no recollection of saffron.

Finally, a great spot. Has all of the right components that I value in a nice, but not trying too hard, establishment… if you know what I mean.
The only reason I didn’t go 5 stars was that despite my specifying in the reservation to be seated at a 4 top (party of 3) in the main dining room downstairs and NOT upstairs, the hostess girl casually walked us upstairs past 4 empty tables to the area that feels like an after-​thought. Keep in mind I booked 2 weeks earlier so it’s not like I was last minute PITA patron. Ya know?
This, after she stood there clearly reading the notes on the reservation. I didn’t want to deal with being a pain when I was with business colleagues, so we sat there. We were the only table except for a 7-​top in the corner screaming with obnoxious laughter and loud-talking…drunk for sure. No bueno, but they left after 20 mins so didn’t cause an issue requiring we move.
Back to the good stuff.
Excellent from start to finish. Cocktails executed with expertise. Simple drinks which makes the quality even that much more evident. Great job!
Had Red Bream Crudo and Crostini as two snacks with drinks. Crostini was outstanding, really. Again says something when you have simple ingredients put together to create such goodness. The Crudo was very good but Bream was just so mild and thin, hard to taste.
Ordered Watermelon salad and Meatballs as appetizers. Both excellent. Highly recco the meatball dish.
Tagliatelle was perfect-​o. The excellent beef cheek Ragu was killer. Shared by the three of us as a pasta course.
Lamb shoulder and their chicken entrees were our entrees of choice, again for the three of us. Lamb dish was excellent. Chicken was good but not as great as the rest of the meal by any means. It was a touch dry and a bit bland but the beans and veg under it were amazing.
Looking forward to checking it out again… this time alone and probably at the bar for a beverage and small plate sometime. Wanna come?
Have fun…

Olive and June is a lovely place to have a meal with friends. An unpretentious, yet upscale and classy atmosphere with fantastic food.
Their patio, and the restaurant itself are built around an epic live oak that towers over everything, and shades nicely. Inside, there are scattered tables and booths lining the eating area which are a little small, but cozy for a party of four. Nice big windows provide awesome views of their deck — and when the sun starts to fade, and they turn on the strings of bulbs outside, it is unapologetically, authentically Austin. I especially enjoyed their flower arrangements that were big, bright and summery.
Our waiter, while fairly quiet throughout his service, offered knowledgeable recommendations when asked, and was decently attentive. Our food also arrived with impeccable timing — drinks that were ordered arrived quickly, and there was an even spacing between appetizers, dinner, and dessert.
For my cocktail, I had the Melone. While not usually a fan of spicy drinks, I decided that this one sounded too interesting to pass up. I’m glad I tried it. It was served with a large ice cube situated in the middle and was sprinkled with red pepper flakes, surrounded by drops of what I can only guess was some sort of spicy oil. It had a lot of kick, especially at the end but it was very well balanced by the fresh and intense melon taste. I really loved this drink, it was divine.
Our party ordered a range of different items — the pork meatballs and the house mozzarella for appetizers, which were both very good. The meatballs were topped with a nice marinara and were juicy with fantastic flavor. The mozzarella was soft, slightly salty, and topped with beautiful garnishes.
My husband had the Cavatelli, to which, by recommendation of the waiter, he added extra shrimp to. Unfortunately, the 8 extra small-​to-​medium shrimp that were added cost a whopping $ 12. My husband enjoyed them, but did not feel that they were worth the price. Otherwise, he enjoyed the Cavatelli quite a bit.
I ordered the Grilled Texas Spring Chicken. The plating was beautiful, and the chicken was moist, well seasoned and nicely portioned out on the plate so that it was easy to eat — which a lot of places don’t do well. The accompaniments of braised artichokes, green onion, pine nut gremolata were mostly delightful. The green onions, which were grilled whole were a little hard to eat, and got limp and wilted on my plate by the time I got to them. The braised artichokes, while they had excellent flavor were actually a bit chewy and woody which I didn’t like. The pine nut gremolata though… muah! Excellent!
My husband and I ended with the smoked cherry gelato for me, and the White Chocolate Bombolini for him. Both were great endings to an excellent meal.
I saw room for improvement in some areas, so I’m holding back on a star but I totally love Olive and June’s and I cannot wait to come back and try different things!

My girlfriend and I arrived here at 7pm and left at 11. This was not due to the fact that we were enjoying the (honestly quite lovely) atmosphere of this place.
The service here is among the slowest I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. When we arrived we were told it would be a 45 minute wait and that we could sit in the bar area and order some appetizers, which I thought was a great way to wait for the full menu seating. 25 minutes after sitting down our server comes along to take our order. We got the calamari crostini and the strawberry and goat cheese crostini. These were delicious and a great start to dinner.
Our server did not come back to our table again after our food was brought to us and our original 45 minute wait turned out to be an over an hour and a half long wait. The service continued to be slow the rest of the night with our server not even taking our food order until about 30 minutes into us being sat down.
I ordered the braised lamb shoulder and my girlfriend had the cavatelli. Both of these were brilliantly made and I have no complaints there. The chefs are very talented at what they do.
After we were through with our entrees, it took another 30 minutes for us to order our desserts (which, once again, were delicious when they finally arrived to our table).
Overall I was pretty unimpressed with this place. I probably won’t return again, but if I do, it would just be for appetizers and drinks. The service just really ruined the experience altogether for me.

One of my favorite places to go. Especially during happy hour. Except when they take away some of the favorites and replace them with least favorities (grilled octopus :) vs. grilled calamari :(, I’m looking at you!)
When I go with friends we usually order a round of polenta with mushroom and egg. I know it’s peasant food but there’s something about the flavor that is addictive. The earthy mushrooms, mixed with the creamy egg and cheese. The comfort of the grain and warmth of the whole dish. So good.
There salads are usually colorful, creative, and fresh.
I’ve had several fish dishes that were flawless.
And their drinks are really tasty.

My boyfriend and I celebrated our anniversary here last weekend. The patio outside is pretty nice, but we sat inside because of the weather. It’s pretty cozy inside and the view of the kitchen is a nice touch. Our waiter Chaz was fantastic and helped us navigate the menu pretty well. We started with the meat and cheese platter… it had a nice variety of things and the pickled radishes and cauliflower were great.
We also tried the fried ravioli and they were probably the favorite thing I had that evening. I got the rigatone which was really good. Chaz persuaded us to get dessert and even comped it because we were celebrating. We shared the Malto Fritto — frozen pudding that was fried. It was served with Nutella mousse which was heaven in my mouth and a blood orange sorbet. It was the perfect way to end a really good meal. I definitely want to return and try some more things on the menu.

My boyfriend and I haven’t done date night in a minute (we’ve mainly just been doing «drink all night» night) so with the chance to leave work a bit earlier on a nice Friday, we decided to check out Olive & June.
I don’t have a single friend who likes this place (all 2 people I know in Austin) and the Chronicle wrote a review eviscerating this place back when it first opened. Made me a little nervous, but I hid it from my boyfriend and lied to him that I heard this place was wonderbar. I’m an excellent partner.
We decided to sit outside because of that whole fantastic weather thing and we were quickly paired with our server Andrew. Andrew was absolutely flipping fantastic. He checked on us often enough without being annoying and gave great recommendations. We ended up ordering the farm egg appetizer (a must if you go), the cavatelli special, the striped bass, and sides of brussel sprouts and the fingerlings. There was not a thing on our plates that we didn’t like, and we damn near finished most of it. I got stuffed a little over halfway through my pasta plate, and it was so hard to not just keep shoveling forkfuls in my mouth like a neanderthal.
Drinks-​wise they impressed us well. Of course we had to try their cocktails — we’re practically alcoholics (I feel like if I don’t call myself an alcoholic, then I can’t really be one). They had a drink on special called the Violette, and we also ordered a Negroni, and La Rossa. The La Rossa was a bit sweeter than he liked, but he still found it enjoyable. The specialty drink was definitely the highlight of the night, though.
Honestly, we found the whole experience to be incredibly enjoyable and would go back in a heartbeat!

A classy and consistent favorite. I like this place as a date-​night spot but recently entertained some colleagues from out of town and they loved it! Despite the impending «icepocalypse,» we enjoyed a little more the half the menu.
Other reviewers have noted that portions are small, but a good look at the menu will reveal that there are four distinct portion sizes: personal appetizers, shared appetizers, small plates, and entrees. My favorite is the spaghetti «a la norma» with the pork meatballs on top. It tastes incredible and, because the pasta portion is smaller, I have room for the pineapple and cherry sorbetto!

There comes a time in every human restaurant goers life when you look down and say to yourself, «wait that’s it?»
I had one of those rare moments here at Olive and June, when I looked down and realized the ravioli entrée could be counted on one hand, and the octopus appetizer literally came with a handful of octopus pieces, barely making up half a circle around the plate.
I guess I mentally prepared myself for the small portions, but to make up for it, my brain unrealistically expected nothing less of amazing in terms of flavor. It wasn’t that amazing. And I was unprepared for the saltiness of my pasta + the unimpressive nature of my appetizers. It was just very meh.
Combined with the fact that it took nearly an hour for them to get the food out (we stayed past closing time so needless to say we were one of the two parties there, and the only party waiting for our food) and how strangely quiet and eerily unfriendly the waitress was, I may think twice before coming back. Oh and I didn’t appreciate their automatically adding gratuity. And a friend complained that they didn’t tell her the price of adding on a protein (which was a whopping $ 12, I believe, for a couple of shrimps).
The patio was nice??? Too bad it was raining on this fateful night.

Sadly, Olive & June has gone the way of Chavez. Took my ladies group and found the service greatly «off». 3 requests for a drink, empty water glasses. Went for happy hour and when the checks (finally) came, every one was incorrect. None of the happy hour discounts were there, half price wine, mmm, no, not according to the bill. Manager sneeringly asked if the problem was because of all our «separate» checks. We actually had to insist she handle it
Honestly, our server was inattentive and my main choice, the octopus, was bland and not fresh tasting. Even so, we bravely selected $ 9 desserts. And we would have been ok with the errors, had the manager kept her sneer inside. Never, ever, show your snarl to 5 women. Done and done

Olive & June is probably one of my favorite restaurants that I’ve dined at. It’s cozy, intimate, but bright enough that you’re not struggling to read a menu or pondering what exactly is on your plate.
My friend and I came (without reservations… you shouldn’t do that) at around 8pm and had to wait for a table, which is sort of a testament to how much people like this place. Thankfully, you can order small plates at the bar, which kept us satiated until we got our table.
Olive & June is textbook Italian: straight-​up decadence. The farm egg is heavenly (albeit incredibly rich), and the pasta dishes are hearty and soothe the soul — I had the linguini, an interesting take on a classic dish. It’s on the sweet side, yet still satisfying.
Prices aren’t exorbitant, but portion size does leave a little something to desire. I promise you, though: order the farm egg, and you’ll have the easiest way to beef up your meal.
The space at Olive & June is gorgeous, and I would come back solely just to dine in the beautiful ambience — shoutout to the servers who have to climb a million steps of stairs for us! Of course, the happy hour just sounds phenomenal, so that’s definitely another reason to come back here!