Ollie's

This Place Sucks

by skmm

I come on to be seated and the place is crowded with college students around dinner time. I was placed so close to a neighborin table that when the patrons got uo there but was literally in my dish. The waitress was rude, and yelled at me when I asked her to repeat herself. She also ignored me several times when I asked her to bring me something. When it was time for me to leave I got up to put on my coat and the rude waitress who had been ignoring me my whole time there rushed over and asked for a tip for the service. I had not even gotten my wallet out to give her the tip before she came over to ask for it. I thought that was very rude. Maybe because her customer service was so bad she thought that she was not going to get one. I WILL NEVER GO THER AGAIN. The food sucks it is to greasy and the service sucks even more.

• Cons: Rude, Rude, Rude

Delicious soup, good service!

by JohnLB42

I went there the other night with my girlfriend. We were seated promptly and politely. There were several groups of Asian students - including a mom, pop, and daughter - already eating and clearly enjoying the food, which I usually take as a good sign when I go into a Chinese restaurant.

I had the pork and pickled cabbage soup, my girlfriend had the sizzling chicken and ginger platter. Both plates were very large - good enough for two-three people each. I'd had this soup at other restaurants and the amount they provided was easily twice that of other locations for roughly the same price. I also had unsweetened green tea, which was good if a little more bitter than usual. When I asked for chopsticks, the waitress retrieved them very quickly for me.

For desert, I had a couple red bean buns. They made a mistake and gave me a pork bun along with my red bean bun, but when I pointed it out they took it away and got me the correct one with much apologies. They were clearly very concerned about my experience and wanted to make everything go smoothly. It seems their service has been greatly improved over the last several months since the previous reviews.

One side note: don't order the avocado milk shake. I tried it on a lark and while you can taste the avocado in it, that's a mixed blessing.

I definitely intend to eat and order from here regularly during my stay as a student!

• Pros: Excellent portion sizes, delicious food
• Cons: None

Greasy and Rude

by leesee33

exceptionally rude service and greasy food. it was probably one of the few times in my life when I did not enjoy a dish of lomein.

Loved it, the menu is huge!

by wisebrain

The menu is a bit pricey for the type of food, though it is so good, fast, and diverse! The restaurant is quite crowded.

• Pros: Great Food
• Cons: Crowded

Decent Chinese food.

by aquanorth

A local recommended Ollie's and I thought I would try it out despite all the negative reviews. I went in with a positive attitude and no one was rude, the service was extremely prompt and overall I recommend it. I arrived at about 5 pm which is early for dinner so I had no problem getting a seat. By the time I left at 6:30 pm it was packed. The staff lines up against the wall and whoever notices that you need help comes over right away. They are very well staffed. It is a well oiled machine as another reviewer commented! As for the food, I thought it was pretty good. Perhaps it used to be better, but I'm pretty picky and I thought it was fine. They have dozens of choices, perhaps a hundred. There are dozens of vegetarian options and a special section of "healthy" choices. My one complaint would be the over use of sauce. My tofu and veggies were absolutely swimming in a sweet sesame sauce. It was delicious, but the left overs were oversaturated with the salty sweet sauce. Next time I might ask for the sauce on the side. The portions are quite large and include white or brown rice, which I appreciate- most places don't offer brown rice. The spinach wonton soup is good but for some reason they put an enormous amount of noodles under the wontons. I would prefer a few veggies and no extra noodles, but I suppose noodles are a cheaper way for them to beef up the portion size. In summary the food and decor are decent and the service is speedy. The location at 116th and Broadway near Columbia makes it a "must try" for students and locals who are on a budget.

• Pros: Good food, vegetarian options, speedy service, fair prices
• Cons: Very crowded by 6 pm