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    The Black Olive

    3.7 (402 reviews)
    Closed 4:30 pm - 9:00 PM

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    THE BLACK OLIVE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Outdoor seating
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - The Black Olive

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    Black Olive Lobster Pasta
    Abigail R.

    I was so excited when I saw Mediterranean seafood on restaurant week 2025. I immediately made a reservation was so excited sharing the menu with my partner. We sat down and ordered cocktails, both of which we struggled to drink. He got the chocolate manhattan and I got the gimlet. We sampled each others drinks and both agreed they we not balanced and too strong. I poured water into my gimlet and it was still so strong it felt like a threat. The appetizers were.. fine. I got the lobster bisque and he got the sardines in grape leaves. We weren't thrilled but we weren't disappointed. The oysters were good! We each had three. Very clean and fresh. The entree was where I really felt the most let down. I ordered the squid ink lobster pasta.. no squid ink pasta came out. Just the regular. No biggie, it's slammed. But then when I tasted the pasta. Let down number two. The pasta was over cooked. There was no dente to be had. The lobster was good! No complaints on that portion. But the sauce and the pasta again. Just left me wanting more. My partner really really enjoyed his lamb. And I agreed. The lamb chops were stellar. 10/10 lamb. Perfectly cooked, a nice char, well seasoned. Really lovely. And the desserts were lack luster. I got the baklava and he got the cacao cake. The cake was incredibly dry and the baklava was pretty standard. The service was good. Very very attentive. I feel like this probably was just an off night. It just really stinks that I had set my hopes so high.

    Yelena A.

    The food was delicious and the service was great!! Ambiance was relaxing and made me feel right at home :) it's a wonderful spot for casual dining . The stuff was very attentive, the only issue was the parking situation can be a little hard to find !! But overall it's definitely worth checking out .Great place!!

    Receipt
    Christia D.

    Beautiful experience; very rustic, very charming, very Balmore. Went for a birthday during restaurant week I believe it's like 2/3 rowhomes combined for a very immersive space. Octopus salad was delicious, Zeus, the Greek beer as refreshing. Seabass was juicy and crispy ! Would go back to again

    Rose and bottled sparkling water
    Julio M.

    We shared the Greek salad and grilled octopus salad as the appetizer. The other dishes were the squid ink pasta with a small lobster tail ( she enjoyed it), the wife had the soft shell crab inside a phyllo pastry ( delicious) and I had the lamb chops cooked medium to perfection ( loved it). The service was outstanding and a perfect place for special occasions. TY:)

    Filet mignon Souvlaki app
    Jess L.

    Fine dining in Fells Point! My husband and I had never been to the Black Olive before and went to celebrate his birthday. While it's a nicer restaurant, people were dressed casually, and many were also celebrating occasions. There is a small bar you could sit at but other than that it was all tables, and many reservations. Our waitress Jeanine was very informative and patient as she explained a lot of the highlights on the menu for us newbies! We split a bottle of wine, got the stuffed calamari, Greek Avocado Salad, filet mignon souvlaki (appetizer size) and the soft shell crab in phyllo dough. Everything was excellent, I loved how the filet mignon was cooked - it was buttery and had a nice sear. But the star of the show was the soft shell crab in phyllo, never had anything like that before. Definitely a special dish here in baltimore - if you like soft shell crab, this is a must get! We are still talking about it! It's stuffed w/ feta and spinach. Absolutely phenomenal. For dessert we split an ice cream and they even put a little candle in it for my husbands birthday. Jeanine recommended several other dishes that we will definitely come back to try! Overall we had a great experience, spent about $200 total (though we did get a full bottle of wine!) and didn't have any leftovers. It's definitely a higher end place but we loved the ambience and how quiet it was. Plus, the extensive menu means everyone will have something to try!

    Bourbon Choco-Cacao Cake
    Spenser B.

    It started off great! The space is very cute, menu for restaurant week was appealing etc. The food overwhelmingly was tasty (dessert aside). My issue with this experience was when we were effectively boxed into a corner (photo attached) once a large party was sat. What was a cute and intimate dinner with my partner then became both loud & unserved...we watched as bussers and servers realized they could no longer reach our table and one after the other turned away. Got lucky when another patron went to the restroom so a busser could grab our old plates & I could ask for more water (had been with empty cups for ~30 min at that point). By the time dessert arrived we were entirely over being ignored in the corner & just requested the check. Food-wise the oysters, scallops were delish. I could have left the lamb meatballs personally. Whole sea bass was yummy - just watch for bones if you order, obviously - as well as the lobster pasta. For dessert we got the baklava ice cream and bourbon chocolate cacao cake - both hard skips. I'm sorry to give such a poor review given how good the food was but being completely boxed into a corner with no service & having to ask another patron to leave their seat just so we could shimmy out was absolutely insane to me. Our overall total time in the restaurant was 6:57 - 8:30.

    Arctic char and roasted vegetables
    LaTia S.

    I actually decided to try this restaurant based on its restaurant week menu. It was my boyfriend's birthday this past week and The Black Olive had so many pescaterian options, I thought it would be perfect to give it a try. The restaurant week deal which runs from 1/26-2/4/24 is a three course meal for $45, some things like the octopus salad and lobster pasta have additional charges. I will say parking is quite challenging in this area, especially early in the evening during rush hour. There are parking garages, but they are a little walk in the cold. We arrived at the restaurant at our reserved time, only to find out our table had been given away. The hostess quickly found a solution, but it was beside a large party and I was bumped twice as soon as I sat down, so I asked to be relocated which she obliged my request. Like most restaurants in Baltimore it was quite quaint. The exposed brick I was immediately a fan of. We decided to order drinks, he had a Manhattan and I had a dirty martini.....very well balanced drinks, they were $16 each. He ordered the octopus salad as his appetizer choice in addition to a half dozen oysters, I chose the grilled sardines and grape leaves, I was disappointed at the portion size only being one, I expected at least two. He was happy with his choices, he said the oysters were very clean, not briney and flavorful. For our entreés we had the arctic char and the rock fish.....all entreés were served with roasted vegetables and this garlic aioli that tasted like garlic hummus, it was amazing. All of our food came out fresh and hot, we enjoyed our meals. We both chose the sorbet for dessert which was a perfect palate cleanser. Overall the meal was delicious, the star deduction was for the seating mishaps. Our final bill with tip was around $250 which included two rounds of drinks. Check this place out if you're in the area, I would come back for sure.

    Strawberry Gelato
    Andrea' C.

    Unfortunately this experience was mediocre at best. Several people raved about this restaurant so I will definitely give it another try when it isn't restaurant week so I can try the entire menu. The restaurant is quaint and has a very intimate feel. We had a party of 6 and so we were tucked away in a nice corner. Our server was Rafael and he was hilarious and did well with our large party. Since it was restaurant week there was a 3 course menu. I had the lamb meatballs, whole sea bass and strawberry gelato. The gelato was my favorite! So delicious. The fish was pretty good as well but the lamb meatballs left a lot to be desired. There were also several flying insects and we had to cover our glasses so they wouldn't fly into our drinks.

    Mediterranean Sea Bass
    Ren H.

    I hadn't been here since pre-Covid but I came here with a friend for dinner. I got their raspberry Bellini to start which was good and then later got the same spicy mock tail my friend got which was also really good. I ordered the Mediterranean Sea Bass that was delicious and ate as much as I could around the bones. I love that it comes as a whole fish for me to pick at. Service though was ok. Our server was pretty absent throughout our entire dinner (had to ask someone else to place our orders, request more complimentary bread, and ask for our check). Besides that though, food was great as I remembered and I will still come back for it hopefully with improved service.

    Grilled Octopus Salad
    Lisa G.

    Came here for dinner before a show. We made reservations but we would've been able to walk in without much wait as we arrived at 6:30pm and there were only a few tables occupied. By the time we left an hour and a half later, it was bustling and most tables were full. The service was good and the food was tasty. We ordered some kind of small fish as an appetizers and they were cooked perfectly. My partner got grilled octopus and I was not a fan but she liked it. We also asked for more of the complimentary olives as they were so yummy. For dinner I got the scallops and she got a whole fish which she really liked. We took home left overs and were quite satisfied. Oh, she also got two dirty martinis, both of which she said were strong.

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    18 years ago

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    13 years ago

    Grilled seafood platter was amazing! The service was slightly inattentive, but I still highly recommend this restaurant.

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    Excellent food! Excellent service! I wish I came sooner before I was leaving Baltimore

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    7 years ago

    Went for restaurant week lunch. Great 20$ price fix. I found out they always have it. Can't wait to come back!!

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    Page 5 of 11

    Ask the Community - The Black Olive

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    Came here for a celebratory family dinner while visiting Baltimore for the first time, and we knew…read morewe had to try seafood since Maryland is famous for its blue crabs. We ordered the small raw seafood tower, the steamed seafood platter, and the lobster pasta from the large plates section. We are a family of four with a pretty big appetite, and it ended up being the perfect amount of food for us. Everything was delicious and incredibly fresh. The raw tower came with cocktail sauce, mignonette, horseradish, and lemon slices, and the steamed platter was served with melted butter and nicely seasoned spices. There was also hot sauce and Old Bay seasoning on the table so you could customize everything to your taste. Once the seafood arrived we got fully busy with our hands and all the tools provided, which honestly made the whole experience even more fun. I genuinely cannot pick a favorite because we enjoyed every single thing we ordered. I also tried the Orange Crush, which I learned is a Maryland vodka drink made with freshly crushed fruit juice. That drink was dangerous because it tasted just like orange juice, but the vodka definitely sneaks up on you. Since we were celebrating, dessert was on the house, which was such a thoughtful touch. We shared the cast iron baked cookie with salted caramel ice cream and it was the perfect ending to the meal. The cookie was crispy around the edges, soft and moist in the middle, and the slight saltiness from the ice cream paired so well with it. Our server, Lylah, was wonderful and made sure we always had everything we needed throughout the meal. This ended up being such a memorable dinner for our family. Highly recommend The Choptank for seafood, celebrations, and a fun dining experience in Baltimore.

    The food was good but the service was terrible. We sat down for a late lunch on a Sunday at 2 PM…read more It took over two hours to get our entrees and the place was not even a quarter full. The waitress made a bunch of mistakes that she never apologized for like not bringing a bottle of wine we ordered until an hour after we sat down, accidentally ordering an additional seafood platter and not removing it from the check, not including fries with a dish that came with them, then charging us extra for them when we asked her to please bring them. In total lunch took over 3 hours when it should have been half that at most. Good help is hard to find these days it seems.

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    The half and half soup is UH-MAZING!! (Half cream of crab and half Maryland crab) and the peach tea crush is delicious!!

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    Thames Street Oyster House

    Thames Street Oyster House

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    Thames Street Oyster House repeatedly came up as a must-visit for Baltimore restaurants and I can…read moretotally see why! The ambience is very cute - there are multiple floors to the restaurant so one given area doesn't feel overly crowded. The cocktail menu has some fun and unique options and the food menu has something for everyone! We got the mussels to start, and honestly I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture. But the sauce was delicious and I loved the potatoes that came with it. The mussels themselves were very large too! For my main I got the hake, which was so tender and flavorful. It was a generous portion and I was stuffed, but we kept seeing other people order the coffee cake and couldn't help ourselves. I'm so glad we got it, because I'm not normally huge into coffee cake, but this was so delicious that we finished it all! Our server had great recommendations and was patient as we took a long time deciding what to order. I can't wait to come back!

    Oh man. The lobster roll. SHEEEEEESH. Unreal! Amazingly fresh seafood--oysters and shrimp from the…read moreraw bar were amazing and their house made hot sauce... I want to put it on everything. Despite the food and drinks being actually *amazing*, I felt that service wasn't overly friendly or welcoming. It was also a bit disappointing they did nothing to help us celebrate/acknowledge our anniversary. We had been saving this spot for a truly special occasion, and felt like it was just a regular dinner to them. Would definitely come back, but would maybe save the special occasions for somewhere else.

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    Stopped into Penny Black with a friend during a work trip and instantly loved the vibe. It was…read morefreezing, windy, and right on the water so we both ordered the hot rum cider, which was exactly what we needed. Cozy, warming, and delicious. Two ciders ran us about $20, which felt reasonable for the setting and quality. We stopped in twice because we really wanted to try the bacon-wrapped goat cheese jalapeño poppers. The first time we weren't hungry enough, so we made a point to come back later and I'm glad we did. They were excellent. Not a huge portion, but it's an appetizer and felt appropriate. They were rich and well balanced, definitely a fork-and-knife situation, and worth the ~$14. The atmosphere is a big part of the appeal here. Tons of dark wood, historic character, and that old-Baltimore charm that makes you feel like the place has stories. It's warm and inviting. Perfect stop for drinks and a snack, especially on a cold day by the water. I'd absolutely go back if only for another hot rum cider and those poppers again.

    Went here on a warm summer evening for date night sitting outside. Good simple fare at a great…read moreprice point for the area. Best things to note: very good and personable service from our waiter Cathryn, great people watching, and a perfect view of the harbor and pirate ship! Will definitely be back.

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    Riptide By The Bay

    Riptide By The Bay

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    Since the reviews aren't great I didn't have high hopes. The beer selection was pretty lame and the…read moreGuinness came out in a plastic cup so I was really not expecting much. I but the food was great! Between us we got a chicken sandwich topped with crab imperial which my husband loved, crab cakes which were meaty and delicious. The kids got a burger that they loved and fried shrimp which was not greasy and big and my daughter loved that. I also got an orange crush to drink and it was so good! We sat outside on a nice day and it really turned itself around. The food took a while to come out is my only complaint and with kids it got a bit iffy. They got my sons burger wrong and the fix had him eating way after everyone else. They comped a drink so that was nice but like I said the kids were melting down at that point.

    Baltimore City Restaurant week, I love you!…read more I picked this restaurant for Winter Restaurant Week Lunch and I was very happy I did. Overall I had a very very good visit. I walked in and I was greeted immediately by Kelsey. I was informed I could sit where ever I wanted to sit and on which ever level floor I chose to and they would find me and take care of me. They did just that. I chose to sit on the 2nd level because it was a little warmer up there and I was able to have time to myself to catch up on my Yelp. I was given menus immediately although I already knew what I wanted. I ordered immediately and was informed that I made great selections and great selections indeed. I ordered their Firecracker Shrimp appetizer and B.A.L.T. Sandwich as my entree. The appetizer was plated lovely! It was so tasty and good. The B.A.L.T. is where we ran into some problems, but before I get to that let me finish out the greatness. The French Fries that I received with my sandwich was so good that I stop eating my Shrimp Appetizer because I had to eat each and every one of those curly seasoned fries. They were so so so good! They didn't even need ketchup! Now, this B.A.L.T. Sandwich was so sad I think I saw it crying on my plate. I got 1 scrawny piece of bacon for each half. They gave me the entire head of lettuce and I opted not to get the avocado and mayo but 1 miserable piece of bacon on each half... heartbreaking. For that reason this place gets a 4. Only reason I didn't give them a 3 is because the young lady that assisted (Kelsey) was fantastic! She was so sweet and kind. She came at the right time all the time and each time she needs to see me she had to run upstairs to check on little old me and appeared to have no problem with it. I would definitely eat there again but no way in hell would I order that B.A.L.T. sandwich. Ultimately worth a visit Yelpers !!

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    The Point in Fells

    The Point in Fells

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    It's a nice neighborhood bar and restaurant with very local vibes. The decor is pretty interesting…read morewhich would remind uou if a birthday party celebration. Staff is friendly and food is decent. We were here on our way back from DC and got seated immediately outside which had nice view of the ocean. They have dog menu which is was grit for our pup. The food and drinks came out promptly, a bit slow but it was a busy day for them. The views are nice from outside. Inside ambiance was very casual. Staff is friendly. Overall good neighborhood place if you are in the area.

    Made a reservation for Mother's Day fun brunch, through Resy, and wished I picked another spot…read moreinstead, here is why: 1. Walked in at our reservation time and no one there to check us in. 2. Finally someone came back and cannot find our reservation, I should her my text messages and email to ensure we have a reservation. 3. Sat us downstairs by a high table, and that table was nasty, with sticky drink spills and marks all over, we had to clean it ourself. 4. Because we waited for 20+ minutes no server even came over to greed us...finally we waived someone down and he said he can take our order. 5. We ordered a French toast, seafood omelet, crab cake Benedict, biscuits and gravy & drinks. Drinks came out fairly fast, but we waited forever for the food. 6. I personally was not a big fan of any of the mix drinks there, way tooooo sweet. 7. After the food finally came, they are ok, not bad. 8. Then we decided to order some additional food to take with, ugh.... So regret, cause we waited for almost 30min for the takeouts. 9. Additionally, they ask us to put a credit card down to open a tab as soon as our order was taken, and charge 20% gratuity automatically , but claimed they only charge this to big parties....REALY ? There were 4 people in our party, I never heard of party of 4 was considered a large party. 10. Atmosphere, dive bar vibe, loud not in a good way, uncomfortable dining seatings. Based on our experience from this time, I have to say, sorry, we won't be returning to this place. I do not recommend this place.

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    Kooper's Tavern

    Kooper's Tavern

    3.7
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    We stopped by Kooper's Tavern during our Baltimore getaway while trying to beat the heat, and it…read moreended up being one of our favorite casual stops of the trip. The vibe was cozy, relaxed, and full of personality especially all the dog artwork on the walls (don't tell my cats ). Our waitress, Sadie, was incredibly kind and helpful from the moment we sat down. She highly recommended the truffle fries with the aioli sauce, and WOW!!! she absolutely knew what she was talking about. Those fries were honestly the standout of the meal. The smell alone was amazing when they hit the table -- perfectly crispy with truffle seasoning and Parmesan cheese, and the citrus Parmesan aioli really took them over the top. We ordered the fried chicken sandwich and the Sully Smash Burger with bacon added, cooked perfectly medium. The chicken sandwich was perfectly crispy, hot, juicy, and flavorful. Everything came out fresh and satisfying without feeling overly heavy. Great food, friendly service, cozy atmosphere, and definitely somewhere we'd return to next time we're in Fells Point. And we found parking nearby so we didn't have to walk far!

    I visited Kooper's Tavern a few days ago because I was craving a burger…read more I ended up ordering a smash burger, a beer (their signature lager), and Old Bay chips. The beer was great--definitely a highlight. The burger, however, wasn't smashed at all and felt pretty basic, aside from their secret sauce, which added some flavor. The chips were good as well. Overall, I'd return for the views, location, and reasonable prices--but I wouldn't order that burger again.

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    The Black Olive - seafood - Updated July 2026

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