Sciabica Nick & Sons

From the very first moment I passed this factory store, I knew that I had to come back! I returned and was not disappointed! It’s the perfect stop for Olive Oils, Vinegars and cook books created and written by Mrs. Sciabica. If you love the Italian table, this is not to be missed! If you are looking for a way to eat healthier and cut out animal fats, substituting olive oil for butter is wonderful in most recipes. As a REALTOR who spoils her clients from time to time, this will surely be a favorite gift stop! The only warning I offer you is this: CLOSED ON WEEKENDS. This now a favorite California stop for me!

I had no idea how good olive oil can get! This is by far the best I have ever tasted! The gift shop has great finds, and they are really easy to purchase from online. I will never use anything else!

If you’re passionate about olive oil and seriously looking for the best-​tasting oils, I have to recommend Sciabica’s. I’ve been getting my oil from them for 25 years — at Farmers Market and at their Gift Shop — and they’re always tops as a gift for the holidays. The flavored vinegars are a favorite among my friends (the pomegranate and fig are awesome!), as are the varietal oils (they pioneered this concept — you’ve got to try the buttery Mission Spring!). Watching the video on how their oils are made — cold-​pressed for best flavor (and NOT heat infused which really detracts from the taste), I now understand why they’re so good. I’ve tried other brands, but I’m loyal to Sciabica’s. This is gourmet olive oil at its finest — in a word, delicious!

OLIVE OIL HEAVEN
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In this corner, hard to find, hidden, «unknown», unassuming factory building behind the tracks on Yosemite Bivd… on the way either to the mountains, lake, or the tiny Modesto Airport is a little known secret special place for high-​end, fresh as can be, delicious, local, family run Olive Oil.
The hours are tough for working locals, but for the passing tourist, it is a unique way to get something special out of Modesto.
The gift packs with several mini-​bottles of flavored Olive Oils make a wonderful unique gift… or… you can use it yourself, since they will stay fresh as you open one after another as you try each flavor. Since most people like Olive Oil & probably never had either a really great one, let alone a flavored one… they love them.
As you explore their cute little shop, you will be amazed on the selection & plethora of choices.
The help here is always friendly & fantastic, & beyond helpful!
The best oil & deal is to get three big cans for $ 45. They tipped me off that light of course will photo decay thru glass, so if you want it too last, go for the can for yourself.
The bottles are more for gifts & infused flavors.
The flavors do not overwhelm the delicate flavor of the oil, & I love most of them.
Some of the more pricey downtown restaurants used to (maybe they still do) serve this oil on their tables… so this is how I came to appreciate it. They also sometimes appear at the Modesto Farmer’s Market which has tons of wonderful heirloom tomatoes & fungi toward the end of the summer.
You will be in heaven if you drizzle some of their oil on fresh heirloom tomatoes, as well as, fine Balsamic Vinegar & maybe some cheese.
Oh… the shop also has a nice selection of unique Balsamics that are quite good.
You can even taste test :)

If you are part of a group, the family will set up a private show/​tell/​taste. This is a great opportunity to not only learn about the 75+ year family business, you will walk away knowing such much more about olives.
By far the best olive oil I have ever tried and cooked with. Recently did grilled pineapple glazed with the orange olive oil and cayenne pepper. Delicious!

Best olive oil! Ever! Nobody else even comes close. It’s like they smashed olives and put them in a bottle– sunshine in a bottle! I don’t even use butter anymore. This is buttah! I grew up in Modesto and moved to SF in 1999 but my parents still live in Motown and have been giving us Sciabica in our annual Christmas basket of culinary delights for the past five years or so. I’ve been so spoiled with Sciabica that other olive oils seem thin and flavorless. We cook with Sevillano Variety Fall Harvest and Mission Variety Spring Harvest and dip grilled Semifreddi ciabatta in all the flavored varieties. That’s a great appetizer by the way! Guests love trying all the different flavors and it’s really best to serve them on their own– no need to add anything except maybe a little sea salt. There’s a few others we still need to try but we have garlic, basil, jalapeño, lime and the lemon just arrived today, prompting me to write this review. It is the best olive oil I’ve ever tasted! It’s absolutely perfect! It’s so fairly priced too and you can ordered three bottles of the same size and only pay the shipping fee for the first bottle. If you haven’t tried this stuff, you must. Foodies, there is no other olive oil. This is it! Sciabica is getting it done and I’ll never use anything else in our kitchen! And I live in San Francisco, city of all that’s wonderful in the food world and I still gotta get this stuff from the hometown cuz it’s simply the best! OK, now back to dipping the grilled bread in the lemon oil. Fabulousness! :)

If you have not been to their gift shop, get going. This local, family-​run and –operated olive oiler is pretty neat.
And you will feel like you went through a time warp back to the 1960s, exterior and interior.
They have about a dozen flavored extra virgin (love that term!) olive oils ranging from garlic, lemon, orange and lime to rosemary, lavender and basil and then into jalapeño and habanero. Cook books, containers, plates, aprons, lots of «stuff.»
We pretty regularly go in to buy gift boxes of oils as thank-​you gifts or house-​warmings or just for friends. And you can buy one of their samplers or chose which oils to put into your custom boxes.
Helpful lady there to answer your questions and let you sample.
Support local… love it.

Discovered Sciabica Olive Oil at the Dominican Nuns holiday boutique in Fremont. Someone recommended the Lavender olive oil for skincare, it is fantastic. The small bottle lasted about 3 months (a perfect size for travel).

The retail store is a very unassuming front corner of their building. Nicely laid out.
If you are looking for the typical olive oil store experience where there are shelves of different oils/​vinegars with steel demijohns for each oil, you won’t find that here.
Sciabica & Son’s bottles oil from their olive groves and that’s what they sell. The varieties are limited, but they are their specialty oils and worth a try.
After tasting about six oils, I ultimately settled on a $ 25 bottle of unfiltered Sevillano. What a terrific oil. Really — a treat oil. A flavoring oil. So good. (This evening, I’m going to sauté up some wild mushrooms, put those atop toasted thick slices of roasted garlic bread, topped with burrata cheese and drizzled with some awesome Sevillano oil.:)
Parking is out front and plentiful. Access to retail through the front doors of the building and to the right. Layout is sparse and utilitarian, but service helpful and oils wonderful.
Sciabica & Sons will be a regular stop when I’m visiting Modesto.