Olive

The last time I came here, it was still called Olive Press, which shows how long it has been since I last visited.
Went today on a work lunch as one of the girls was going off on maternity leave. I kept changing the numbers and Georgina, who I dealt with when booking, was very helpful and patient. In the end, on the day, one extra person turned up. But it was no problem for the restaurant, they sorted out an extra table, seat, cutlery etc to be added onto our large table.
On arrival, we handed them a list of everyone’s food order (aside from the surprise extra person), as well as drink orders. They dealt with this very quickly, just double checking a couple of points, such as checking with one person how they wanted their steak cooked.
The food arrived very quickly, in about 10 – 15 minutes, which was impressive for 12 people. I had the tagliatelle arrabiata with pepperoni and it was very tasty. Good portion size, for my liking anyway. Half of the party had the Griffin pizza, and everyone seemed very happy with it. The restaurant were very accommodating with one person who doesn’t like green chillis, so did it without. Two people had the lasagne, and both really liked it. One of the girls had the gnocchi and was very impressed. The guy with the steak said that it was cooked perfectly to his liking. Someone had a goats cheese salad and said it was very nice. We shared some garlic bread, which was nice although very garlicky (no sh! t Sherlock). Everyone enjoyed — put it this way, all the plates were clean with no leftovers, which is a good sign in such a large group.
We didn’t have dessert or coffees as we had to get back to work, but the dessert menu looks amazing so I will go back sometime soon.
Overall, very impressed with the service and the food. I feel I can’t quite give it 5 stars as I only had one course and didn’t try any wine (thought best not as very busy at work). I will review again once I’ve been for a full meal with wine!

Cozy, rustic Italian restaurant tucked away down Lloyd Street. Even though it was a Saturday, only a 10 minute wait for a table without a reservation. Took up a spot at the bar while we waited which I think my least favourite part of the dining experience (bartender seemed a bit confused about my request for a slice of lime in my sparkling water…).
Quality of the food was excellent. Ordered a garlic bread pizza (easily could have fed 4+ people) and deli board (not for the entry level cured meat eaters mind you) to start. Coppa was probably the best of all three meats we ordered on the deli board (had salami which was a bit too musty, and ‘prosciutto’ which was actually parma if you want to get technical). Was disappointingly served alongside some stale bread. I didn’t mind as I’m a fanatical carnivore, but still a bit of a negative on the restaurant’s part. I had the gnocchi (perfectly cooked) with roast pork (still thinking about the melt in your mouth porcine goodness) and my boyfriend had an excellent 6oz steak. Chips with the steak were a bit blah but chips are a bit out of place at an italian restaurant.
Small wine list, but good quality for the price. Found it a bit odd that most people were enjoying rose with their meals in the restaurant, but to each their own I suppose.
Dessert looked amazing, will have to return to sample one.
Lovely experience, definitely worth coming back.

Ooh how lovely and rustic! Seriously, when you walk in and see the cosy bar and wooden benches, you’ll be smitten. I came here with work one Christmas time and it was just what the doctor ordered. Situated just over the road from Spinningfields it’s extremely handy for office workers, and the menu offers traditional Italian fare as well as a range of safe staples, such as burgers and steak sandwiches.
The food is tasty, with the slashed garlic bread a definite must. I’m a sucker for rosemary anyway, I won’t take it as a personal insult if you don’t opt for that with added tomato… but you should. When we came here as a large group they offered us a selection of garlic breads and they were all ridiculously moreish.
But the big wow factor in The Olive Press is just how nice they are to the kiddywinkles. Not only do they offer a specific children’s menu with drink, meal and dessert for a mere £7.50, 25p from every meal off that menu goes to Childline. So you can watch your brood munch with a warm fuzzy feeling inside, knowing the establishment you’re dining at has its heart in the right place. On the first Sunday of every month, the restaurant holds interactive children’s cookery classes. As well as this, babies and toddlers seated in high chairs eat at the expense of The Olive Press. Well, now that discussing this has made me come over all emotional and broody, I’ll leave you with that happy thought while I go raid my fridge for chocolate.

The Olive Press might just be another link in the huge Heathcoates chain, but I’ve visited it a few times now with both family and friends, and found it to always be well priced and friendly — even if the dishes on offer will never exactly set the world on fire.
The Olive Press prides itself on serving reasonably tasty modern Italian food. And to all intents and purposes, it manages to achieve this aim. Whenever I’ve visited, the dishes I’ve been served up have always been entirely satisfactory. Last time I visited, I was served up a dish of baked gnocchi in a tomato sauce which was savoury, toothsome and wonderfully comforting. The garlic bread which accompanied it as oozing with butter and wholly delicious, particularly when accompanied by a nice bottle of Crain’s Raisin Beer. And our desserts were excellent — although I’ll always give a huge thumbs up to a well made chocolate sponge pudding, particularly when it’s paired with some seriously tasty ice cream.
The staff who served us were friendly and accommodating — particularly when they saw that we were dining with young children. They encouraged them to make their own pizzas, and provided them with plenty of distractions meaning that when we paid the bill, they didn’t want to leave!
The Olive Press provides laid back cuisine at reasonable prices. I’d certainly recommend it to anyone I knew who was looking for a great family friendly place to go for a decent meal out.

The Olive Press is an ok restaurant. I first discovered it last year, when friends and I were booking a restaurant for a birthday meal for one of us. We wanted somewhere nice, relaxing and that served good food. The Olive Press, that evening, gave us all three.
The venue is perfect. I absolutely love sitting in the rustic styled restaurant, watching the antics unfold in the kitchen and soaking up the modern Italian atmosphere. The places oozes class and sophistication, and you feel like you could be in London, Manhattan, or anywhere that really offers an extraordinary dining experience. The staff are very friendly and efficient, and really try to make your experience at the restaurant as good as it could be, which we all very much appreciated. That night, the food was divine. I ordered the chorizo gnocchi, and I almost ordered a second plateful. The flavours were both subtle and intense, and it was one of the best meals I had ever eaten out in Manchester.
So, it was with great excitement that we returned in the New Year, again for a birthday. Sadly, this time, my food was completely mediocre. I ordered the spaghetti bolognaise, thinking that there could be nothing on the menu that they could do better. I could not have been more wrong. It was watery, undercooked and bland. To try and ease my distress, I decided to order a side dish to fill up on, and settled on the rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes. The potatoes were not roasted — but were seemingly boiled in oil. My friends were as bemused as I was.
I would recommend the Olive Press, on the proviso that the food is a bit hit and miss. When you get a hit — the food is some of the best Italian cuisine in Manchester. When you get a miss — the food is forgettable, and mediocre. So, go along — take a chance, and hopefully, it will be a great meal out!

OK. I do not *get* the good reviews this place has gotten. Really, I would never have thunk it. I have been to Olive Press twice. Two times. And both times have been pretty much rubbish. Witness:
— Visit #1. We are seated at our booked table, our coats are not taken. We sit for 20 minutes in relatively quiet restaurant before drinks orders are taken. We are asked if we would like to order. We say we haven’t got menus. Menus given. Wait another 25 minutes. Food order taken. The boyf’s choice has run out. Boyf chooses something else. Cold starters (ham and artichoke salad) take 40 minutes to arrive. Mains (1 steak, 1 lasagne) come without the sides we ordered. Lasagne is luke warm, steak overcooked. Dessert (1 mixed sorbet, 1 chocolate brownie) very good and prompt. After dinner cocktails weak and inexpertly made.
— Visit #2. We are coaxed back by their Happy Mondays (except for the boyf’s worries that it might be affiliated in some way with «that Madchester band». It’s not.) 50% of a pizza or pasta dish, sounds divine. Learning from our last visit, and with a subsequent appointment with Tea Snob Friend and Mr TSF in the offing, we decide to do away with starters. The boyf orders lobster pizza, while I go for the American. Another looooong wait, and pizzas arrive. Fair enough, the place is pretty busy because of their Monday deal, so we’d expected that. The boyf did not expect his lobster pizza (usually £13.50) to be so sparsely topped, and I certaily did not expect mushrooms on my pizza (they’re not on the menu, and I (hater of fungi) certainly did not order them). Again we leave annoyed, with too little time to even have the tasty dessert…
One good thing; the wine list is respectable, and starts at a reasonable £14.95. I’d recommend the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (£17.50), which we had on both visits and which is very tasty indeed.
This place is fahhh too blahhh for my liking. Just up the street (and round a few corners) is Stock, serving much better food for not much more. You’d be better served to go there for a posh Italian, or to Pizza Express for something a little more grounded. I certainly wouldn’t *pres* you to eat here any time soon.

Oh, I do like pizza. So much, in fact, that I sometimes wonder if I have some kind of horrible neurological illness that solely manifests itself in a cute affection for specific food products, before inevitably reducing me to a gibbering wreck confined to a bed for the painful last weeks sometime around my 40’s.
It is with pleasure that I review Olive Press then, and with slightly less pleasure that I reveal a verdict of, ‘yeah, it’s okay’. Well, to be slightly less asshole-​y, it’s quite good, but I reviewed a better pizza place recently in Dough so I feel more critical than usual. You know what you’re getting, you can make your own pizza or pick from the menu. There’s not much more to add, but there’s little contest really because Dough is just better in all ways.

This is another string to the Heathcote bow, and right now, with a January sale of 50% off pizzas and pastas, a very welcome one. The décor in here is best described as rustic with a twist of modern, the colour palette of warm woods and, you guessed it, olive tones.
If you want some advice, I’d start with the Baked Aubergine Parmigiano for £4.80 to slather on their Bruschetta (with vine ripened tomatoes and fresh basil). For my main I couldn’t resist the Rustica Pizza: pancetta, sage, mushrooms, toasted pine nuts and garlic butter. The base was light and crispy and the flavours worked remarkably well together. Easily the most unusual pizza I’ve ever tried. My date had the Pappardelle with duck ragu, which he found la little rich but considering with the discount this came to just £4.50, it was still a worthwhile experiment.

My first visit to this reasturant was on a quiet Sunday afternoon. The loaction and the inside are great. The staff were friendly and efficient and the food we had was good. They have a deal where you can have half price pizza or pasta before 7pm (sorry that offer ends today!) Which made dinner for four with a bottle of wine come in at a reasonable £40ish pounds. I can understand some of the other reviews on here regarding the layout, as it did look at little full, but we did have the whole place to ourselves so can not judge.
All in all a reasonable meal and serviceas a rule I find pizza and pasta reasturants a bit boring now. Pizza Express knows how to do it, so why bother anywhere else. But that is no criticism of the Olive Press (only me really!), which I would happly goto again and recommend.

This place seems to have had some bad reviews on here, but I went last night and was very impressed.
Granted it was quiet so hard to tell if a place comes unstuck when it’s busy, but we had good food and great service in a lovely atmosphere.
A really nice touch was that they were willing to tailor a dish to be made however you wanted. My girlfriend really liked the sound of a pasta dish, but it came with chicken which she doesn’t eat, so they happily swapped the chicken for mussels and asked if there was anything else extra she’d like for no extra cost. Not only does this show everything is made to order but is also great service.
My dish is all that prevents this being a 5 star rating as the lamb meatballs with spaghetti wasn’t incredible, but still a tasty meal.
Even better, before 7 monday — thursday any pizza or past is half price so we ate for less than a fiver each!

The layout in here is great, very sociable, you walk down into the place and you can see into the kitchen which provides great entertainment.
We shared garlic bread to start — there was plenty for 4 — very authentic, thin and crispy and yummy — very difficult not to drink all the wine with it though.
Then the majority of us had pizza, all were massive and very good — on a very thin crust just like it should be with just the right amount of toppings. One of us had Gnochi as they hadn’t tried it before but it was judged to be a little bland.
I don’t know about the pasta dishes but its worth going in for the authentic pizzas.
Prices are very reasonable — it’s more of a friends/​familt get together place rather than anything else.

This restaurant is well situated and nicely decorated. however they were unfortuntely the only positives i found.
On arriving at the venue we had to wait a long time to be seatd and were ignored by staff while they rushed past with plates. When we had finally got our seats we ordered drinks and waited almost ten minutes for them to arrive.
After waiting 45 minutes for two pizzas, we found our meal to be both cold and burnt!
I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone!

The Olive Press is a Italian Resturant which does tasty italian food with plenty of atmosphere. Great for a group of friends or family, the menu offers bags of choice — from more standard pizzas and pastas to steaks, whole baked fish or salads and lighter dishes. Great garlic breads to share, a decent wine list and very good staff a visit is a must.

I would not reccomend this place at all,
when we got there it was very busy and need i say noisey The layout was terrible and it felt cramped and unprivate.
The staff were rude and always trying to rush us and for what???
A 40 min wait for an overpriced pizza my 2 year old could have made better.
AVOID!

I visited this restaurant in November 08 with 3 good friends. We used their monday night deal as unfortunately the food seems to be over priced.
The restaurant was clean tidy and modern and the staff were friendly, although possibly a little on the pushy side. They came for our drinks order within minutes of sitting down and when asked for a few more minutes the waitress politely said it was only for the drinks order and stayed put. It was fairly quiet at the time so I was unsure as to why we couldn’t have been allowed longer.
The meal started well and the starters were lovely. A nice Olive platter and garlic and mozerella pizza, which we shared.
However, unfortunately the main course was a complete let down. We ordered 2 pizzas and 2 pastas. The pizzas were very thin but also very hard and both my friends struggled to cut in to them. The parma ham pizza, unless intentionally made this way, was basically a dry pizza cooked till rock solid, then had parma ham sprinkled on top, a few slices of tomato that obviously hadnt been on the pizza when cooked, and then a large amount of watercress or similar salad leaf strewn around the pizza. My friend did not enjoy his pasta. I had spicy lamb metballs and spaghetti, which consisted of 2 meatballs and pasta in a fairly bland tomato sauce. The spaghetti did remind me looks wise of tinned spaghetti from the supermarket, although did in all fairness taste better. The meatballs weren’t noticeably spicy though. some of the other dishes on neighbouring tables did look nice and all the food was fairly well presented. But for the price I wouldn’t say good value, even with the monday night offer.
We had to have desert (no will really did as my friend just wasnt able to eat her parma ham pizza) and we thought it was best to opt for the safest option, which was the chocolate brownie. This was in all fairness very nice, but at over £5 for one portion, not great value for money.
In hindsight we should probably have aired our disappointment to the staff to give them the opportunity to rectify the problems. But we didn’t and left after pudding — we were the last ones in their at the end (around 10pm) and they were subbtley trying to close for the evening.
The bill thankfully didnt come as too much of a shock, thanks again to the deal, but I wouldn’t recommend to a friend or visit again.
If the company hadn’t been as good as it was the night would have been a wipe out.

I have to admit that this was probably one of the very worse meals I have ever had.
The service was fast enough but the food was terrible. I suspect tinned spaghetti and the pizzas were as thin as a poppadom and about as bland.
I personally had the Gonocci pasta dish with mushrooms and balsamic onions again I was extremely disappointed.
The plus points of the evening were the garlic bread starter and the chocolate browny for desert.
The lay out of the restaurant looks clean and crisp with very friendly staff, unfortunately its the food that makes or brakes it, in my opinion it is broken.

Oh dear. I thought we’d be onto a winner here (or at least a safe bet) what with it being a Heathcoates-​based restaurant but I was really disappointed. We had to wait ages for our food and were eventually served overpriced, extremely dense pizzas that had no taste at all.