Olive Black Lounge

5607 Broadway Rd, Richmond, IL 60071, USA

Address:	5607 Broadway Rd, Richmond, IL 60071, USA
Phone:	+1 815-678-7370
Rating:	3.9
Working:	Closed 4:30–11PM 4:30–11PM 4:30–11PM 4:30PM–12AM 4:30PM–12AM Closed

Location

Photos 32

Reviews 6

A Private User

Ive never been treated so poorly by a business in my life. The drinks, food, and servers were amazing. Our waitress worked her butt off for us. She was great. However the owners lack of communication skills, downright nasty accusatory treatment from the owner, and refusal to return the remainder of our "refundable deposit" will keep me away forever from this place. As well as every single person I can possibly tell. The lack of communication between the owner and staff is staggering. We told the general manager 3 weeks before our event that we were bringing 15-20 people. We ended up with about 25. But we were told by Charlie that he would not return our deposit because we didnt tell him until 1 week before that we were bringing 20 people instead of 40. Which, as Ive stated, is untrue. All he had to do was ask his manager. My husband, my aunt, and I ALL remember clearly telling the manager 15-20 people AND we remember him telling us "once your groups bill goes over the $250 deposit, it will be returned to you" and "this is a refundable deposit". Here are three choice quotes from an email from the owner, Charlie, about the reasons for not returning our deposit: "You asked me during that call to have the food wait until later on because you did not expect the bulk of your guests to be there until closer to 8pm. By that time the chefs had already started on your pork dishes (because of their cooking time) and had to pull them out and wait until you signaled that your party was ready to be served." Wow. A customer wanting their food when they want it. And wanting the food at 8pm instead of the start time of the party, 7pm. Who serves food at the start time of a party? Shouldnt someone in a food-serving business know something like that? "Even when you cut that expected number down to 15-20 people, we STILL honored that 10% (discount) for every one of your guests even though we have NEVER offered that for parties that small since we opened." Only 3 of our guests had this discount applied to their bills, only after we told the general manager that no one else had received it. He apologized to us about it. He didnt say "thats because you didnt have enough people!". He APOLOGIZED. And offered a free cocktail for anyone who didnt get the discount for a future visit! Another example of how the wait/barstaff has their act together. "Although I dont like saying this to any guest whose business we truly appreciate, I feel that we have MORE than satisfied what we promised for your event. You are not entitled to a cash refund on your deposit, nor will I offer one." Not ONCE has Charlie made us feel in any way appreciated. From first contact to last, we were made to feel like criminals, trying to bilk him out of money. We were treated as liars who wouldnt bring the people we said we would. We were treated as though we were being difficult, bad customers because we called several times with questions, and changed our mind about decorating. When you have to call multiple times every time to get a call back, when emails containing questions go unanswered, you do not feel like an appreciated customer. We were promised a refundable deposit. We did not receive what we were promised. Our group of over 25 spent over $500 (to our best estimate, probably closer to $600) before tip, and every single person in our group had never been there before. EVERY SINGLE ONE planned on returning in the future. My father and I had actually discussed renting out the entire place for my mothers 60th birthday party next year. After the way we were treated by the owner, NOT ONE of us will ever return here. A yelp reviewer put it perfectly "one would think Olive Blacks goal, like every other (business) in the hospitality industry, would be to give the customers a wonderful experience so they cant wait to come back and bring more friends." And as you can see by our treatment, this is not the case. Oh, and all this poor treatment? All these accusations slung at us by the owner? Its over $80. I doubt it was worth the lost business.

Don Gregory

Came here with a Groupon, and really got the impression that due to the Groupon, we were treated like 2nd class citizens. Heres why: 1) Had 3 different servers, and 2 different people give us our entrees 2) They forgot our order in between switching servers on us 3) Told us that the wine we ordered (included with the groupon) was out of stock, and instead offered us a really cheap bottle of wine instead. 4) No greeting on the way out 5) Sat us in the back and pretty much didnt interact with us at all. The fish was dry, and the desserts (truffles) were still frozen when served to us. We couldnt even cut one of the truffles in half, until it had thawed out for a few minutes. If you come here with a groupon, dont tell them until after you order--wait, dont buy a groupon in the first place, or give it to someone you dont like.

A Private User

Went for a party.. Ordered a dish that never came.. an hour passed by possibly more when fiance had to inquire about the food we ordered. The waitress had completely forgot about it and stated that she put the order in and it must have gotten lost in the mix-up.. Mind you this was a party in which at the most there was 25 people... Basically, the service was a bit lackluster for my liking. Especially for a place that claims they brought on an extra waitress just for our party which is apparently one of the reasons for the owner not giving back a REFUNDABLE deposit. Also, our group spent between $500-600.... Needless to say, we wont be back and I will be sure not to recommend this place to anyone!

Cindy Yager

Went there for my birthday dinner and left without eating. Worst food I have ever tasted. I can cook better at home. Had the olives and cheese with toasted crostini for appetizer. I could have bought the same stuff from a jar. Main dishes were the quail and the wild game skewers. The quail was not seasoned and the wild game was seared and put in a steam table. I couldnt even chew them they were so tough. The roasted vegetables were quarters of red pepper that was not roasted. Drinks were good, but $15 for a dirty martini with Grey Goose and $14 for an old fashioned? Are you kidding me? The waitress was very nice and paid for my meal. Totally disappointed. . .

Alanna Talles

Olive Black is a wonderful little martini bar. They run specials throughout the week, as well as Brunch on the weekends. They have a great variety of martinis and cocktails and a well stocked bar for those who know what they like. My favorite martini is the Caramel Viranda Banana. The tapas menu has some favorites on there, such as liptauer cheese dip and olive tampanade served with crostini. Occasionally they have live music on the weekends. Otherwise, it is a great place to go with friends and actually hear the conversation at your table.

Nicolaya T

Such a classy little spot in an old, vintage town. We ride our motorcycles through the area often and always look forward to stopping in. I also enjoy an occasional girls night with my besties or even better... a date night with the hubby! Olive Black is the perfect spot for so many fun nights out. Personally I am a Key Lime gal with an occasional Pomegranate here and there. My hubby and I love the fondue for two and the buffalo chicken flat bread!! But there are tons of super yummy tapas to try... GO FOR IT!