Olivia’s Diner

I would like to begin by saying that I don’t like posting negative reviews but if it was possible I would say zero stars and we never even made it to the restaurant so i felt it was needed. I called to make a reservation for this weekend for brunch, what I know is a busy time. I was told my party of 4 – 5 didn’t need a reservation, only parties of 8 or more could get a reservation. When I tried to explain I had an elderly father who had an oxygen tank and therefore we had a specific time frame we could be there for and that was pretty critical so a reservation was appreciated, I was rudely brushed off and told we would be fine and it was repeated that reservations were for 8 or more.
I tried to call back later to speak to a manager or owner to see if an exception could be made for a person with disabilities, since they did do reservations. A different person answered this time and I was told no one was available and to call back later, before I could ask to leave a message instead I was disconnected. We had heard good things about the food here and my father in particular loves a good brunch so we were looking forward to trying out a new location. However it’s obvious from just my brief phone conversations they are not interested in providing good customer service and don’t want to have new customers. Unless the customers are what they feel is a large enough bill to make it worth their while. We will not try again and they lost a potentially good loyal family of customers.

I’ve eaten here twice now, both times for Sunday brunch. I had two different servers. The service is incredibly slow and non-​attentive. Order a water and a coffee, chances are only one will arrive. and the coffee will be warm not hot. Want a refill? Wave down the waitress. Do they walk around a place called a diner with a pot of coffee? Of course not. The waitress disappears with your cup and takes her sweet time coming back. If you are going to put DINER in the name of your place, you really need to be committed to fast and efficient service. Try getting out of this place in less than 45 minutes. Impossible!
Also, ask for some silverware when you get there … otherwise your food will arrive sans silverware and another wait will commence.
The food is OK. I had a Western Omelette that was decent. I then ordered the Corn Beef Hash. It was a C dish at best. Huge chunks of corn beef (some very fatty) and potatoes. How about making an actual hash???
I am going to try not to return. They really need to commit to better service.

This place is great. I’ve come several times during the day and at night and the staff is always friendly and the food is good. Bonus: good bang for your buck. The pancakes are massive and I highly recommend the loaded tots. Open til 5am on Fri and Sat — perfect for some after dancing grub. They also do delicious bottomless mimosas in the weekends. Favorite items are anything on their breakfast menu.

Perhaps, the best sausage gravy I’ve ever had; and this fat ass is no rookie to gravy.
Came here for breakfast just hours before a snowpocolyps was about to strike the city, so it was literally empty except for me and one other guy. The staff were all very nice and super accommodating; couldn’t have been better.
I had the chicken fried steak on fresh biscuits, with poached eggs and sausage gravy (in case you didn’t believe my fat ass credentials). All was very good, steak was a little tough, but man, that gravy. Highly recommend, and will go back next time I’m in town.

Washington D.C. — Olivia’s. What a treat. We arrived in the afternoon and they serve breakfast all day. We had the French toast and an omelette. Both were outstanding. Clean. Staff was friendly. We will go again for brunch tomorrow. Highly recommend.

They do serve alcohol. And I had some really good onion rings. But I was hungry. the chicken fried steak was terrible. And the poor waitress, I’m not sure if that was her first day on the job or not. Even if it was, she batted way under the Mendoza line.

Olivia’s is great. I’ve now been a few times for happy hour, including dinner at least one of those times as well as brunch one time.
They have awesome bottomless brunch, which is great and truly bottomless. (They actually keep it filled.) I got the waffles or pancakes or some such thing with nutella which were DELICIOUS and my brunch companions enjoyed their food as well.
Happy hour is reasonable and they have a good wine selection. There are some really inexpensive foods and, I think, beers too. Which is great!
Definitely will go back!

This newer diner is nestled in a very fast paced, busy neighborhood and is a fantastic little treat that sticks out in a good way. Olivia’s has a fresh, clean ambience and a stylish interior and exterior. I got the spicy shrimp salad sandwich, my wife got the ¹⁄₃ pound burger, and the other two in our party got the meatloaf and turkey pot pie. All were fantastic with generous portions. We also got the tater tot appetizer, which was great as well.
The service was on point, prompt, and done with a smile. This place is a must stop if you’re in the area!

I didn’t even know this place existed. I came here on a Sunday morning for brunch. I got the Canadian bacon eggs Benedict and it was pretty good. It came with hash browns which I loved. The price was pretty good too considering its in the city.

So, after coming in for HH and placing a catering order, I think it’s time for an update. The wife of the owner stopped by my office (I’m close by) to tell me about their catering menu. She said that they are branching out into catering and wanted to know if my organization would be interested in working with them. I told her that I came in for lunch once before and wasn’t all that impressed. She apologized and hoped that we would try them again. She said that if we order within the month of November, she would give me a 25% discount off the catering bill and she threw in two HH drink vouchers to be used by ¹¹⁄₃₀. First, I’ll discuss the HH and then I’ll discuss the catering order.
HH: A friend of mine works a block away so I told her about the voucher and we headed on over on a Monday (the week of thanksgiving) at 5:30 p.m. and was greeted by a very friendly bartender (I wish I’d gotten his name). We gave him the vouchers and we got two blue moons. Also, we decided to share a chicken flatbread which was quite tasty. It wasn’t crowded and he did a good job checking in on us but wasn’t intrusive. I really like the décor and the staff does a good job maintaining the cleanliness. The bathroom was pretty clean too. As we cashed out and were getting ready to leave, my friend was talking to me about how you’re not supposed to refrigerate hot sauce, the bartender overheard and told us this interesting tidbit – store bought mayonnaise is not the cause of food poisoning, it’s the bacteria from whatever the mayo is mixed with (like potato, pasta, tuna, etc…). I know, I know, how random but interesting nonetheless!
Catering order: We had a couple of meetings coming up and I’m always on the lookout for new caterers – using the same ones over and over gets old. I decided on their sandwich platter because their hot foods seem to be too much like comfort food and we don’t want people falling asleep after lunch. The General Manager was nice and told me that they are flexible. I needed the food to be delivered by 11:45 a.m. and they got here by 11:30 a.m. I got the «Sandwich Tray» and the «Signature Sandwich Tray.» Each tray holds five whole sandwiches cut in half and while the bread was just regular sliced bread, they gave plenty of meat (I wish I had taken a picture). Several people in the office said that they were huge. We also got house salad with red wine vinaigrette, honey mustard and ranch dressing. For dessert, we got cookies and brownies – both were still warm when they delivered it. Everyone enjoyed the lunch – I got the egg salad and it was pretty good. The price was great – it was less than $ 200 dollars for lunch with our discount. I’ll definitely keep them in my catering rotation, I just wish they had a hot food item that wasn’t so heavy but maybe they’ll change down the road. All in all, I’ll bump them up a star.

We ate here for breakfast twice on our long weekend stay. The staff was nice, The service was really good and attentive — large portions of really great breakfast food. The menu was varied, and had a lot of options. The tea selection was good. And they had free wi-​fi.

Olivia’s diner does not look very appealing from the outside. As a first timer, the name suggest an old rundown diner but don’t be fooled! Olivia’s is opposite of that. The restaurant is pretty up to date on décor and has a nice long bar upon walking in. T
he service was great, clean establishment and the food was good. They have a variety of options for breakfast, I opted for the eggs benny with tomatoes. They came by often to re fill our drinks and checked in on us. For breakfast this place is A-​OK!

If you’re looking for a great brunch without the crowd/hype.this is your place!
Came here for Sunday brunch as they opened at 10:00am. There was just a few other people in the restaurant. The hosts/​waiters and the manager were all so friendly and welcoming! I ordered the chickpea and sweet potato hash… YUM. It was amazing. My boyfriend had the breakfast plate with bacon. for $ 7 it was probably one of the better breakfast plates in the area. Highly recommend.

First time here and loved it! Amazing food and service. They serve breakfast all day, everyday. the cinnamon bun pancakes are soooo good! There is a full menu w/​plenty of lunch & dinner options if breakfast for dinner isn’t what you’re in the mood for. They also have a full bar– fun place to meet up with friends for happy hour! Pancakes and wine… doesn’t get much better than that ;)

This is a very friendly place, but organizationally lacked efficient execution, communication, and follow through. We showed up at 11:30 am on Sunday for brunch. After being told our party of three could be seated, another hostess stopped the gentleman seating us and said there was a 20 minute wait. This was surprising as there were many open tables. The original gentleman ended up seating us a few minutes later.
After receiving our food, we had to ask three times for ketchup, which would seem to be a routine condiment for potatoes. This same pattern occurred when we had to ask three times for syrup and butter for our pancakes. A gentleman who appeared to be the manager kept asking us if we were doing alright. We would have been doing alright if we didn’t have to ask him multiple times for a routine, necessary condiment for the food we ordered. He then proceeded to bring us ketchup (after our waiter already brought it) but gave the butter and syrup we requested to another table. We had to ask him again for it and to no avail, we asked our waiter who finally brought it. By this time, our pancakes were more than cold.
We did not get asked if we wanted refills on our coffee until we were done with our meal and had empty coffee mugs with only coffee grounds sitting at the bottom. One of us never got toast that came with the entrée, but was assured by the server that we wouldn’t be charged extra for it. I would hope this would be the case given that it was supposed to come with the meal that we ordered. We left very disappointed, as we paid for food we never received and our high hopes for this establishment were crushed. Unfortunately, there’s a lot to be desired and the pervasive issues seemed more than just some growing pains.

Definitely not your typical diner. It has breakfast all day, a wonderful, large menu but the service and surroundings are more elevated than you would expect from a «diner» (at least the Jersey diners I’m used to). I went for a traditional breakfast, even though the pancakes are rumored to be amazing. The breakfast was hot and tasty. The hash browns were the star (and there was a heaping portion on my plate). Coffee was good, server was happy and attentive. I would like to go back to try other things on the plentiful menu.

This is going to be a great addition to the area! Who doesn’t want the option of having breakfast for lunch/​dinner!!!
Very relaxed location on the busy 19^th street area. You can almost miss this place if you are driving by. Sandwiched a few doors over from the New York staple Smith & Wollensky and Rumors you will find a pretty cool and spacious diner. Very well lit and filled with booths along the right wall and high top tables on the left. The bar seat about 16 – 18 with comfortable bar stools and a few televisions.
I decided to start off with the deviled eggs and a cup of «Soup de Jour Roulette». No… This is not a fancy name for a French soup… It just throw caution to the wind and roll the dice. Just in case I didn’t like it, I could wash it down with the Jameson/​Miller Lite Boilermaker! No need for the palate cleanser. What arrived was a cup of Mediterranean vegetable soup. I am not a big vegetable person. I meeeean I will eat them but I will not go out and seek them as a main course. Lets just say that I should have ordered a bowl!
Tomato based with halved cherry tomatoes, cauliflower, kidney beans, spinach and I drew a blank on weather the last component were either pieces of artichoke heart leaves or pieces of Hearts of Palm. It doesn’t really matter. DAMN GOOD SOUP (in 90 degree weather and I would order it again). The next item was «My Mother’s Deviled Eggs». I opted for the crispy bacon piece on top. The first thing I realized was that the plate that it was served on was chilled. I mean I ate the soup first and started on the eggs and there was still condensation on the plate! This wasn’t a pre-​made dish. The egg whites were pretty much at room temperature and the bacon was what was described. CRUNCHY! Not burned but crunchy! Awesome contrast in texture and great tang of mustard in the mix.
I asked the bartender (Erin) whats good and she listed off a few items but I saw the buttermilk fried chicken and thought that I would give it a whirl. A few moments later a platter arrived with half of a fried chicken, the vegetable of the day (snow peas) and macaroni and cheese. The mac & cheese was pretty good! The pasta itself was not over cooked and the mornay sauce was just enough to coat the mutated strain of what appeared to be ½ Cavatappi & ½ shell pasta. Nice job. I will say that the breast meat, of this fried chicken, was extremely moist but I would have liked a bit of zing in the batter. Nice crunch in the snow peas but the prep guys forget to grab or cut the tip of the snow pea and pull out the tough string that runs along its side. Easy fix.
Monday thru Thursday they feature ½ off Burgers, All Drafts, Select Wines By The Glass and Rail Drinks. This is a cool place and I hope they do well! Hats off to Erin the day bartender!

Absolutely delicious. My husband and I had a big breakfast and needless to say we didn’t have to eat again till evening.
Pancakes are huge and fluffy, loved it. Our omelettes were made exactly like we wanted, and tasted even better.
The staff was even nicer, all were very attentive and always smiling, made my breakfast even more enjoyable. Definitely recommend

Decided to check out the latest opening in the work «hood» for lunch, glad we did! Bright interior, comfortable booths! Our waitress Mindy was awesome!
I ordered the corned beef hash with 2 eggs and toast. No complaints! The hash was seasoned very well! I really liked the toast, not sure what kind of bread was used, but yummy! Co-​workers ordered a turkey club, waffle and chicken tenders.
One thing they should add to the order is the actual chicken and waffle. Co-​worker ordered the waffle and chicken tenders separately, still tasty, but lots of chicken left over.
Will definitely be back!

Olivia’s Diner opened a few days ago (on Monday) and let me say that I was SO excited to come try it.
Breakfast all day, boozy milkshakes, create your own burgers, and 8 different kinds of pancakes? Sounds pretty awesome.
I went with 4 co-​workers at 1pm today. The atmosphere has a friendly classy-​diner feel.
We were seated right away and given the wonderful, extensive menus. Two pages of breakfast options, Sandwich page, build-​your-​own-​burger and hot dog page, starters, salads, the dinner section (served after 4pm), drinks, and desserts. Everything looked incredible. And affordable.
We started with the boneless buffalo chicken tenders, medium-​heat. They were DELICIOUS. One of my co-​workers said they were the best buffalo chicken tenders she’d ever had. So like, really good.
For lunch, I ordered a turkey burger (which automatically comes with lettuce, tomato, and onion) + I added avocado and a fried egg. Each topping to add is only $ 1! Pretty awesome. Unfortunately, when they brought out my burger, it didn’t have what I asked for. No big deal, but they took it back to fix it. Unfortunately, fixing it took about half an hour. Everyone else finished their lunches before I got mine. BUT, when I did get it, it was delicious. And the manager comp’ed my meal to make up for it, which was very nice.
My friends each ordered: Regular burger with cool toppings, turkey burger similar to mine, the not-​your-​average grilled cheese, and The Kyle (cheesy meatball sub). Everyone liked what they ordered. OH and the sweet potato fries! 3 out of the 5 of us ordered sweet potato fries. At first, they forgot and brought us all regular fries. But, once we reminded them and they brought out the sweet potato ones, they were good! Just the right amount of fry.
So, while I ate my burger, we ordered dessert. As you may already know about me, a brownie sundae is my favorite dessert of all time. Warm gooey brownie, cool creamy ice cream, hot fudge. + anything else on it is a (welcomed) bonus.
This one was a classic one (brownie, ice cream, fudge, cherry). Honestly, it was meh– I wouldn’t order it again. The brownie wasn’t warm or gooey (it was more cake-​like), pretty small scoop of ice cream, and the fudge was definitely the equivalent of Hershey’s syrup. I also think it was a bit over-​priced. For $ 7, it would be at least ¹⁄₃ bigger. All that said, I know my dessert standards are high, and the other gals liked it.
My advice would be to halve the amount of egg in the recipe, add in some chocolate chunks, mix the batter less, and serve the brownies warm. Also, swap out the chocolate syrup for some real hot fudge.
The slow, imperfect service is pretty normal considering how new the place is. I’d say give them a month or so to work out the kitchen and service kinks. Service aside, everything was great.