Olive Branch
410-415-7880
1721 Reisterstown Rd # 1 Pikesville, MD 21208About Olive Branch
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Insider Pages Reviews for Olive Branch
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This place is substituting Tilapia for Orange Roughy, if you are a fish eater then you know the difference. Management was not even descent enough to take care of the bill. There were only willing to remove $5 from the check. The Asian owner upheld management's decision. Yes, Olive Branch, the Italian restaurant is Asian owned. People be sure to check your food. By the way, the bathrooms are terrible.
January 11, 2011Was this review helpful to you?
Well this dining experience was wonderful. Shrimp and Sea Scallops over linguine was my choice. Yes, this was a good deal, The food was fresh, presented well, hot, and the waiter was very knowledgable of the menu. Yes, I would recommend them to anyone, as this restaurant was recommended to my party of three traveling through Maryland. Just smile.....a lot and enjoy the party in your mouth.
May 23, 20101 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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I went to a party there last night the crab cakes are the best I ever had.The salad was good the breadsticks was good .The service was good I am impressed.
May 23, 20101 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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We went to the Olive Branch in Pikesville for dinner on Saturday night and the food was excellent. This was our first visit and we were not disappointed. We got the Crab Cake dinner and the Crab Cakes were outstanding. We will certainly go back again and again. The atmosphere was also very nice there. I would rate the Olive Branch in Pikesville with 5 stars plus.
May 23, 20101 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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We had reservations so no wait but the parking is awful. If no reservation at times it will be over an hour wait.
Our waitress was nice and efficient. Our food was delicious. The crabcake was very large. The eggplant parmasean though did not have enough sauce on it. The chicken in wine sauce with spinach took 20 minutes more then the other entrees to come out.
Portions were huge and started with big bowl of salad with breadsticks which seemed too buttery.
No separate checks allowed and can only split check if using two credit cards or one credit card and cash.
February 25, 2008Was this review helpful to you?
Insider Expert
| Rank: 5,498
I went here the other night- it is connected to a Hotel and is right off 695.
They start you out with the huge salad bowls just like Olive Garden and this great bread that is a mix between a stick and roll. The bread had a wonderful garlic butter flavor and was very strong (but not overbearing). You could just have a dinner of salad and bread and be content!
The portions are monstrous with very fair prices. A few of us got the Spaghetti Carbonara. The sauce was very thick and had tons of huge mushrooms and huge pieces of fresh bacon (not pieces where you have to search for)- it was about $11. I had enough leftovers for 2 other meals! The other dishes looked good and everyone said they were good- they ranged form crab-cakes to other pasta dishes
The service was good- there was a group of 5 of us and we talked a long time before we ordered and the waitress keep checking back in on us.
I would stop in an eat here again.
July 20, 2007Was this review helpful to you?
After having heard consistently bad reviews of Olive Branch, I'd stayed away for the past few years, but finally, after curiosity, my growing craving for Italian food in Pikesville, and my belief in not holding grudges or negative opinions, I went back. I hadn't been to Olive Branch for at least three years and what I found happily surprised me.
First, the place apparently has been completely redone. At least as best as I can remember, the interior looked nothing like what I recalled. Thats not important, but worth noting, especially if what has kept you away was the design or layout. I remembered uncomfortable unpadded chairs and tile floors, but what I found was carpeting along with booths and tables with nicely padded seating. Maybe some of you have quizzical looks on your faces now and are wondering about me, but I love dining, not just eating out. Dining is as much about physical comfort, aesthetics, ambience, and sensory harmony as it is about the holy grails of the food and service. I was wishing theyd have done a better job of keeping the carpet swept and vacuumed, but considering I was there at 6pm on a Saturday night, I could understand the challenge, though some places truly place a priority on maintaining cleanliness at all times. JAlexanders comes to mind. Theyre passionate about it.
The place was comfortable, cozy, and even considering the very busy state the entire restaurant was in, including a large party going on in the private room, I was able to easily hear to take a call from and then, after she arrived, talk face to face with a dear friend, who we discovered was moments away when she called.
Despite how busy the place was when I arrived and added my name to the seating list, I was seated in less than 5 minutes; the benefits of (initially) dining alone. Once seated, Coolene, our wonderful waitress approached within a few minutes and was taking my drink order and beginning the dining experience that I was truly impressed by. The iced tea was amazingly freshly brewed, the emphasis being on both fresh AND brewed. Thats a big deal for me. Bonus points for great tea. Shortly thereafter, the unlimited salad, breadsticks, and maroon cloth-napkin-wrapped silverware arrived and I was suddenly having a dj vu to prior Olive GARDEN experiences. Not that I dont usually enjoy meals at the many Olive Gardens Ive eaten at over the years, but I cant comfortably compare an independent, non-institutional restaurant with the equivalent of an Italian Red Lobster. No offense to either Olive Garden or Red Lobster intended.
I loved the salad and the dressing was so delicious, I had to take the remnants of our mostly devoured bowl home just to have a reason to take the dressing. Hey, Im a proud glutton! Then came the calamari appetizer, lightly battered and so flavorful , along with an incredibly delicious marinara sauce. I was definitely being reeled in quickly. Great service and delicious food, even before seeing the entrees yet to come. They came and we werent disappointed. I had the Seafood Saut Mediterranean and I dont recall what my friend had, but I remember she loved it, but took most of it home since shed mostly devoured heretofore my calamari. Hey, if excellent food isnt for sharing, why have family portions, which they certainly do. Oh, and for those concerned about bringing the little ones, have no fear. Olive Branch is DEFINITELY a kid friendly place to eat.
We didnt have a chance to try what looked like an exciting dessert menu, but Ill reserve that for my next visit to Olive Branch, which will be soon, now that I know the kind of experience that awaits me. I pride myself on keeping an open mind and never saying never. I love when I get the chance to justify my eternal optimism. Olive Branch may not be an exquisite Italian dining experience, but somewhere between pizza delivery and that little caf on the piazza in Sicily, there are many great Italian restaurants right in our own neighborhoods and I can now say that Olive Branch is one of them. Go check it out for yourself. I dont think youll be disappointed.
May 23, 20101 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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One look around this Pikesville pseudo-Italian eatery will tell you they must do something right. With a largely senior clientele, that something is lots of food and reasonable prices. My dining companion who is a crab-cake maven, claims that theirs are one of the best. Although I found it good, it was nothing spectacular. The Italian dishes are also not outstanding but simply "good". The service however is atrocious. Orders were constantly screwed up and one never arrived at all. When the manager was confronted she insisted we had received it although no trace of pizza could be found on our table. If you're willing to put up with horrible service and passable food (especially the never empty salad bowl), then I say "Bon Apetit".
PROS: Good Salad, Satisfactory Food
CONS: Horrible, Horrible Service
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The Olive Branch is a great place to go for fancy dinners, holidays, or just any day of the week you don't feel like cooking. They make great Italian food such as spaghetti. They make the prices very affordable, especially with the huge portions they give you.
May 15, 2006Was this review helpful to you?
Insider Guru
| Rank: 2,046
I mean, I actually really like Olive Garden. But I REALLY LOVE Olive Branch. Just like Garden, Branch serves unlimited salad and breadsticks with most entrees. But Branch's salad dressing is SO good, sometimes when I'm having salad at home I'll stop by to pick up a bottle to go. Anyway, the food here is always great, and the portions monstrous, especially relative to the prices. I always get the Spaghetti Carbonara. The Shrimp Scampi is a great appetizer.
Something unique about Olive Branch though, is that they find great ways to combine Italian flavors with Baltimorean tastes (namely, there are a number of dishes with blue crab). The crab cakes, although not actually Italian at all, are highly regarded as some of Baltimore's best, among EVERYONE I know.
My new personal favorite, that I got last time I went here: Spaghetti Carbonara, and ask them to add lump crab meat. It's unbelievable.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Latest reviews from Citysearch.
Crab Cakes Baby!
I went to this resteraunt and ordered a crab cake. The waitress goes, " Would you like a one or two crabcake entre?" Remembering that most resteraunts have kind of "skimpy" portions, I said "...two..."
WOW! When my entre showed up, there were two of the biggest crabcakes I have ever seen. They were both bigger than my fist (and I have big hands). I was amazed. I was even more amazed when I bit into these babies. I was in heaven!
This place is great and the staff is friendly.
This place is a decent italian restauarnt and there are not many in this part of town. Their red sauce dishes are better than their white sauce dishes. Portion size is good. Parking can be tight as it shares the lot with the hotel to which it is attached.
Much better than Olive Garden. Not as good as Carrabba's or Macaroni Grill, but solid.
Pros: Reservations accepted.
Cons: Parking is tight.
I've been to the Olive Branch several times with co-workers at lunchtime. The restaurant is dingy and the bathrooms are horrible. The food is nothing to write home about - you'd do just as well going to a chain like Olive Garden.
I went here the other night- it is connected to a Hotel and is right off 695.
They start you out with the huge salad bowls just like Olive Garden and this great bread that is a mix between a stick and roll. The bread had a wonderful garlic butter flavor and was very strong (but not overbearing). You could just have a dinner of salad and bread and be content!
The portions are monstrous with very fair prices. A few of us got the Spaghetti Carbonara. The sauce was very thick and had tons of huge mushrooms and huge pieces of fresh bacon (not pieces where you have to search for)- it was about $11. I had enough leftovers for 2 other meals! The other dishes looked good and everyone said they were good- they ranged form crab-cakes to other pasta dishes
The service was good- there was a group of 5 of us and we talked a long time before we ordered and the waitress keep checking back in on us.
I would stop in an eat here again.
Cons: parking can be tight
You have got to get the crabcake!! The atmosphere is great, however I did not like sitting in the booth along th back window. The waitress were great and the only other thing I did not like.... I needed a spoon and when I asked a waitress for it, she would not bring it and told my waitress to bring it. Other that that, my experience was great
Pros: Atmosphere
Cons: Getting into off Reisterstown Road
The food is relatively good, and the portions are large. They serve salad or soup with meals (just like the Olive Garden). Some of the food is a little "heavy."
The ratings are for the restaurant, not for large parties. I attended two functions in their private party room. The service there was terrible on both occasions, and the limited number of wait staff assigned to the room made numerous errors in filling orders.
