Came here for dinner. It was completely empty. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it was something to keep in mind. Ordered the chicken and lamb shawarma. It's was ok. It honestly lacked some flavor, and the rice itself was basically flavorless. Adding salt to the dish helped. Overall, there are better spots to get Arabic/Mediterranean food. read more

What little food we had was decent but my goodness was our server rude. I can't remember the last time I left a restaurant because of service. Server didn't greet us and proceeded to yawn in our faces. When we got our appetizers she just dropped the plates on the table and walked off. Sadly won't ever be back because of this. read more

Lamb and chicken kabobs were excellent. Good helping of rice and veggies. Service and staff were nice and helpful. Would go again if in the area. read more

Green olive never disappoints. Service was nice and the restaurant was clean. We prefer the fresh bread to start and both enjoyed the gyro platter. Meat, rice and veggies were all seasoned good especially the lamb! Start salads could have had a little more lettuce & pepper. Overall, great experience! read more

Green Olive Restaurant - Bread - Mediterranean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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Looking for a healthy lunch before hitting the zoo for the day, we happened by Green Olive and decided to give it a shot. My mom is lebanese, so I'm pretty picky about my Mediterranean meals, but EVERYTHING we tried here was delicious. I ordered the mixed grill kabobs (chose chicken and lamb) which came with a choice of soup or side salad, rice (i substituted for extra vegetables) and grilled mixed vegetables. Pictured is the shepherd's salad. I was so excited about the kabobs, I forgot to take a picture! My friend got the lamb shwarma, which looked incredible, but be aware it comes with a tahini sauce so not as 'healthy' as the kabobs. I also got a side of the pickled cabbage and olives. Not a thing I would change and look SO forward to coming back!! PS - be aware that due to road construction, parking is a mess and there is nothing in front of the restaurant. Without a state permit, you have to find street parking about a block/half block away and walk (but completely worth it!) EDIT: SO good we went back the next day! read more

Green Olive Restaurant - Partially eaten Shepherd's Salad, Olives and Pickled Cabbage - Mediterranean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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Food is okay, I won't say it's "delicious". But what really upset me is the service. The servers there are just horrible. I had to wait 15 minutes to get a side of hot sauce. I could have finished eating within 15 minutes before getting what I asked for. I get it, you might be busy, but if you can't handle multiple tables at the same time, then don't do this job. I always tip, but this is the first time I didn't leave a tip for a server. read more

The whole experience was terrific. Great food,fresh and tasty..good service. Can't wait to return

We went to eat (on a Saturday) around 5:30 and it was dead. it had me a little worried because my bf said the food is good but I trust him. The waitress took a few minutes to come seat us but once seated, she got our drinks quickly. I ordered a lamb shwarma wrap with a Caesar salad. The salad was good, a bit peppery, and the dressing did seem a little watery but the lettuce was fresh. My wrap was so good, the lamb was tender and I loved the aoli they used as well. I wasn't too crazy about the tomatoes but it gave a nice soury crunch along with the lettuce. I'm not sure of the spice but I believe they use nutmeg for the meat because it tasted a bit cinnamony. Not a bad flavor just very specific. The actual restaurant itself is very beautiful and I love how it is decorated. read more

Green Olive Restaurant - Mediterranean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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They probably have the best gyros in town. Their pizzas are great, as well as their Turkish hummus, veggie curry, and lentil soup. Highly recommended this place. read more

Great food good service i really enjoyed food and service price are very reasonable i wil definitely wil come back

The food is always incredibly fresh and delicious. My favorite place to grab a quick, healthy, flavourful meal whenever I'm in the area. There's usually not wait when I've gone and the service is always very friendly. read more

Exceptional food. Always fresh and good service. Never fails and is a place we always take company.

We truly enjoyed our dinner here. It was a beautiful day so we chose to dine outside. Merrick was very friendly and provided quality service. The lentil soup wasn't the best but everything else was phenomenal! The hummus and baba ganoush were AWESOME! They also have the best falafel I've ever had! The kofta was moist and flavorful. The vegetables and the dinner were seasoned to perfection and cooked perfectly. We will definitely be back! read more

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I am shocked there is not a line going out the door!! Twenty one dollars ( not including tip) for generous and delightful lunch for two people. Amazing food read more

This is the quintessential 'hole in the wall' place that is patronized more by word of mouth referrals than street visibility but one of our favorite Middle Eastern cuisine places. First, due to construction and adjacent reserved parking lots for state government employees, parking can be difficult. The walk from your car to Green Olive is worth the walk. Second, the place has no ambiance or character. The food defines the place and you won't be disappointed. It is clean and the wait staff is overly attentive to assure satisfaction. The bread is fabulous and baked onsite and everything Mediterranean is about as authentic as it comes. Green Olive dies serve traditional American fare but the Middle Eastern cuisine is the star of the show. Prices are very reasonable and you won't leave hungry! A great place I'm glad to recommend and refer to all visiting Columbia, SC. read more

We have been to Green Olive several times. I generally get Chicken Kabobs. My wife gets the veggies and hummus with Damascus bread. I highly recommend either. The red lintel soup is excellent as well. Last night I got the Salmon. I can't recommend that. I could only eat half the rest was too fishy. I will go back because everything else I have ever had there was great. Good service and helpful staff. I'll get my salmon at Mediterranean Tea Room. read more

I love the food!! It's so authentic and the owners are great people. casual and cute.

Continents shift faster than the service we received. This was a horrible experience and NOT Mediterranean food. Another couple arrived after we had placed our order and they had almost finished their entrees and our schwarma (posted as "the special") was still no where to be seen when I finally asked for them to be boxed as we still had NOT received them. Tabouleh is green, bulgar wheat and parsley based. This was faux- bouleh, our waitress informed us Tabouleh is couscous based - bless her heart. The lentil soup was bland watered down hospital tasting soup with no lentils seen. The hummus we couldn't eat. The pita was edible, the wine was ok but we received no wine discount as advertised on Thursdays night for his wine. Do NOT eat here, do not waste your time and money! read more

Green Olive Restaurant - "tabouleh" couscous not bulgur wheat - Mediterranean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

Terrible they do not know what tabbouleh is, came out cous cous. Terrible service, lived in Middle East, this was terrible, do NOT eat here read more

Green Olive Restaurant - Tabbouleh - Mediterranean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

I recently ate at The Green Olive Restaurant and I can't wait to go back. The food was delicious and the service was great. The seating is set up spacious and comfortable and the atmospheric is inviting. read more

A coworker recommended this spot which is within walking distance of our office for Greek food. Unfortunately for him, we decided to try this spot on a day his wasn't working. He was correct in his assessment, this place is very good. I ordered the gyro platter but wasn't sure how much meat in would get with it so o ordered an extra order of meat. I would have been satisfied with the original order. The platter was plentiful and delicious. We will be back. read more

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Great Food! The Chicken Shawarma is a must try. Knowledgeable waitress. We highly recommend Green Olive! read more

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I come here everyday just about. Prices are fair, food is great and portions are big. Lamb and chicken shawarma with a side of fries is my go to! read more

Green Olive Restaurant - Empty plates my guy - Mediterranean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

How did I not know about this place?! The food is amazing! Had the baba ghanoush with Turkish bread upgrade from pita - delish with perfect smoky flavor. Also the tzatziki which was delish. Ordered the mixed skewer lunch with chicken and veggies. All perfectly seasoned and cooked. Even the basmati rice was flavorful. Got the white bean salad and pickled purple cabbage as sides. It all tasted amazing. Plenty of leftovers for lunches. Ordered a piece of Turkish kadayif (pistachios with shredded phyllo) to go for dessert later. Much, much later since I'm now stuffed but very satisfied! Note: forgot to take pics of the kebab meal until after I'd eaten. read more

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Food was dry, overcooked and took us over an hour to get. Veggies had no flavor at all. Would not recommend or go back.

I didn't have much at Green Olive, so I don't know that I can say more than "A-OK" -- although I'm glad I went, and do plan to go back when I return to Columbia. I started with the Green Olive feta salad, which was fine -- nothing bad, nothing to rave about. The feta on the salad was sort of shaved, not a lot of flavor, but again, fine. The description referred to green olives; I think I got one. Really liked the dressing. I think had the lamb kofte kebab, and it was excellent. I also don't know what they used on the vegetables -- I asked for no peppers, so got zucchini only. Was it flavored oil? Did they use vinegar? I'm not sure -- but I'm not a fan of zucchini, and this was delicious. The kofte was perfectly seasoned -- flavorful, but no one spice or flavor dominated. I definitely look forward to trying more of the menu. read more

Green Olive Restaurant - Kofte Kebab over jasmine rice. - Mediterranean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

Amazing food!! Do not miss this if you are in Columbia. I wish I could eat here every week. Delicious and healthy food. Very nice staff.

Casual restaurant on Main Street, on the south side of the State House. Food was tasty and fairly priced. The Pita bread was freshly made and delicious. It's a bit off the beaten path. Hopefully, the improvements slated for "SOMA" will uplift the whole area and there will be a lot more foot traffic to gain customers. read more

This place sucks so bad worst place ever the food was trash and I never want to go back here the customer service was awful and I don't recommend it I found a bug in my food and it was dirty in there 3/10 sum thing we're good but not a lot of it was good read more

Love this place. First, get an order of flatbread if it doesn't come with your meal. It's special. If you are trying to eat Mediterranean, this is a wonderful place to do so, although eating too much of the aforesaid flatbread may hamper any thoughts of losing weight. I've got a real fondness for the white bean salad, having had it not with both red and white vinegar. Add a piece of grilled salmon and you've got a meal. They seem to run a special involving roast chicken and grilled vegetables on a bed of hummus. Again, a full meal and it comes with the flatbread with the lunch special. Good place for downtown lunch. read more

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We found this place about 3 years ago & it has become a regular for us. Love the spinach feta pizza. It is about the only pizza I enjoy. they use flatbread as the dough Man is it good !!! we have always gotten excellent service & never disappointed in the food. I highly recommend! I have seen many mention the kitchen being slow, that does happen at times but the food is well worth the wait read more

Green Olive Restaurant - It was the right time of day ! - Mediterranean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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Great food and reasonable prices. Had the cheese cigar app, a salad, and the lamb kabobs with harissa hot sauce. Everything was superb! read more

Green Olive Restaurant - Lamb kabob with harissa hot sauce - Mediterranean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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My go-to lunch place around the capitol. The food is great. Service is even better. Love the lunch specials and feta salad.

Love this spot and it's in a great location near the statehouse and the university. I love their pizzas, spicy feta dip, and pita chips. Their dolmas are also great too! My go to is the veggie pizza or the shawarma pizza. Can't go wrong with either! read more

This place is excellent. The portion sizes are great for the price and the food is delicious. I got a salad with chicken and they gave me a lot of chicken. I also got turkish pida bread and it was the best bread ive had in a long time. The waitress was also super friendly. I will definitely be back if I come back to South Carolina. read more

Green Olive Restaurant - Chicken salad - Mediterranean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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best home made big,warm pita bread baba ganoush was awesome..have smoky grilled flavor great chix soup,full of fresh veggies& chunks of chix read more

Coming from Chicago, it's hard to find a good gyro, pizza, Chinese, literally anything with decent flavor besides salt. With that said, this has definitely been one of the better gyro places but there are some things I'd change. We only like meat, sauce, and tomato. So we got it separate since we split it. Definitely more pita than meat. The pita was soft and fresh but could've been tossed on the grill so it wasn't so limp. For $9.50, I'd expect a lot more meat. The flavor was great on the meat, just lacking in product. The sauce was ok but needed more garlic and English cucumber as well as another sauce container. The fries come with seasoning salt which I do not like but they were crispy since we asked for them extra crispy. There was also a good amount of fries given. I would just order it without seasoning salt next time. Customer service is great and they're following Covid precautions with masks and taping off the tables in between. I'd also like the sign outside to be lit up because it was hard to see if it was the right place or not. Overall not bad but pricy. read more

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Our family loves to go to new restaurants and our daughter, Erica M., (see her review!) found the Green Olive online and we were first in this past Sunday (10.7) for our final meal in Columbia. A very clean facility, authentic Mediterranean decorations and great welcome by David and Samantha. David was the front of the house man and our fun, entertaining server. We had calamari for an appetizer, really fresh and tasty. My red lentil soup was great, but the gyro platter meat (lamb and beef cooked on a vertical rotisserie) was outstanding, melt in your mouth tender, seasoned wonderfully, served on a bed of basmati rice that, as Erica M. said, made like someone really cared! The grilled zucchini and squash was also delicious. To complete our meal, on David's recommendation, we had the Turkish Kadayif which was great! With a long road trip ahead of us, my wife used the bathroom and was very impressed with the cleanliness and the very modern pedestal sink! Overall an awesome experience at an incredibly reasonable price! We definitely will visit again and encourage you to check it out! If you're lucky you might meet David and Sam who really rounded out our first time visit! read more

I love this place And I love it more every times I go this place Food is delicious and peoples who works there are very kind and hospitality Foods are amazing See you soon green olive family,,,! read more

Yay! I'm a fan with a caveat: I thought this place was more of a cafe than a formal restaurant. Let me begin by saying my lamb gyro was excellent! And the rest of the menu, which was eastern Mediterranean (almost Turkish), looked really good. I popped in there for lunch on a Sunday. Black napkins and tablecloths. Black-shirted wait staff. The freaking lighting was weird too, actually, really dark. The place felt a lot like a poorly dressed-up cafeteria. Go for the food. Go somewhere else for the atmosphere. read more