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- Neighborhoods:
- Downtown (Central Business District)
- Categories:
- Restaurants, Lounges
- Cuisine:
- Traditional American
- Restaurant Special Features:
- Bar & Pub Special Features:
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Olive Or Twist
From The Owner of Olive Or Twist
About Olive Or Twist
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Happy Hour 4-6pm Mon-Fri
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Pittsburgh Martini, Bar Lounge
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Full Dining Menu Available
Olive or Twist is Pittsburgh's premier martini bar & is adjacent to Heinz Hall, the Renaissance Hotel, and a short walk across the Clemente Bridge from PNC Park. Olive or Twist and the Lounge Upstairs @ Olive or Twist are located at the heart of Pittsburgh's Cultural District. Olive or Twist has been recently honored as "Best Place to Buy a Martini" - Pittsburgh's City Paper & "Voted Best Martinis" - www.BarSmart.com. Olive or Twist is the spot for Happy Hour, which runs from 4-6pm Mon thru Fri. Our Happy Hours Includes: $1.00 off all draft beer & $2 off specialty martinis, Chardonnay or Pinot Noir $4.00/glass, & food specials along with a full dining menu. Olive or Twist always has something fun during the week such as: Wine Down Mondays - $4 glass specialty wine selection, Tiny tini Tuesdays - 3 Martini flights, Mojito Wednesdays - $5, & Smirnoff Thursdays - $5 cocktails. …
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Tips for Olive Or Twist
July 08, 2011
Suprised I loved it!.
I had to go to a business social event at Olive or Twist and I was not looking forward to it. I don't hang out downtown very much and after reading some of the reviews about the bartenders I planned on leaving early.
To my suprise, the staff was very friendly and made some of the best drinks I have ever tasted.
We started the event upstairs in a private lounge area and they had a buffet ready for us. The food was not just good but great! I didn't know if it was just that I was starving or the food was really that good but we all dug in and ate everything as fast as they brought it out.
I couldn't believe the number of special drinks they make here. The drink menu is huge. We were all ordering different drinks and sharing with eachother. Every drink was better than the next. The bartending staff was great. They were friendly, fun and fast.
After the event, my girlfriends and I went downstairs to the restaurant and ordered some appetizers to share. The server helped us chose what to order and her recommendations were perfect. The calamari is the best. They should bottle the sauce and sell in the store!
The only negative thing was the decor or lack of it.
Great place, Great product. Great service, Now make it look as good as it is.
I'll definitely be back.
0
Heart
July 02, 2011
Good food, nice atmosphere; more than just Martinis.. We went in just to sit and get something cold, thinking about hitting one of the other restaurants on the block for the main meal AND WE ENDED UP STAYING FOR HOURS. I loved that they had big salads; I got the Chicken Ceasar salad (fresh/good) but wished I'd ordered my friends' Seared Tuna salad...that sauce was so different. Next time I'm getting the clams, saw a lot of those being ordered (think they're on special). I'll get my Gimlet again; cool and fresh ; low carb never tasted so good (and it's big enough to enjoy a long time). Our server was really nice without being a pest. People were mentioning Brunch...noting that the brunch is worth trekking downtown on a Sunday, so I'll be back. I really liked parking was near so we didn't have to walk a long way late in the dark and there were people around, so we felt safe.
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Heart
June 23, 2011
Delicious before or after Byham Theatre (or work).
I enjoyed the Riesling but should have ordered my friend's Melon Martini! We shared that Calamari ... really flavorful sauce and light crispy batter, just perfect.
Noticed others gathering for drinks then dinner, so the locals must use this as a quiet getaway.
The beauty is there is PARKING almost next door so you need not hike far to your car... parking after 5 was $5, so much easier than driving around and around looking for street openings.
I liked the service; she asked if we liked the drinks. I think she would have found me other wine if I really didn't like it. And she made certain we liked our food too.
They seem to be making an extra effort to keep all the diners happy... (didnt get that feeling at the big hotel down the street).
We liked the candles at all the tables; nice touch.
Nice time. I'll be back next time I'm in town
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Heart
June 20, 2011
GET THE CALAMARI. And a Lemon Drop Martini.. What a fun place... just don't expect to sit for a meal on Friday (or Saturday, am told) at 7pm, because it's busy. Understated decor; I like that they left the exposed brick. We did the short walk over the bridge to PNC Park, so plan to meet after a Pirates game. Also, you can meet friends for shopping... Saks is just over a mile on 6th. My server met me with a friendly smile and checked back appropriately, not overbearing & made the right suggestions. It's a surprising little jewel downtown, so glad we found it.
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Heart
December 04, 2010
My new favorite place!. I just went to Olive or Twist for the first time last night and I can't believe I haven't been there before. First, the upstairs lounge is unlike anywhere in Pittsburgh. It has exposed brick walls (which I love). It's not pretentious and everyone there seemed to be having a great time. I was with a few of my girlfriends and we planned to just meet there for a drink before going out to celebrate my friend's birthday. We stayed for 3 hours! As for the negatives, the staff was ok. They seemed a little disorganized, but they were not rude and we did get our drinks. If they gave a litle better service I'd be giving it 5 stars! As for the food, we only had the calamari appetizer and it was delicious. I wasn't too thrilled about the rest of the menu though, but I'm pretty particular. Anyway, great place and I'll be back soon.
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Heart
June 06, 2010
Rude Staff, Older Crowd. This place doesn't really stand out. The staff is rude, the drinks and only average and most of the patrons are either middle aged or families. Not exactly the most swanky place you could be on a Friday night.
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Heart
from the owner
over a year ago
Sorry you didn't have a great time at Olive or Twist. Did you talk to a Manager? It really helps us out if we can identify any problem employees so any feedback that identifies (name,looks, etc) the rude staff member would be appreciated.
Did you check out the Upstairs Lounge? On Thursday - Saturday it is opened and almost exclusively a younger crowd than downstairs.
Families? Really? They must have been in the dining area for dinner because that is the only place that children are allowed.
I hope you give us another chance and make sure you head upstairs this time.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
June 06, 2010
Watch What You Say... or order..
My friends and I recently decided to go here for drinks and desserts on our first day off in a while. It was not as relaxing as we had hoped. The staff was extremely rude and non-attentive. Our drinks were slammed down on the table and the waitress rarely came back to check on us. Each drink was around $10, and tasted like cheap, poorly mixed alcohol.
At the end of the night, a manager came over told me that one of the staff had heard us talking about fake id's and requested to see mine again- at which point they took it in the back for about 5 minutes before returning it completely bent. Apparently, our conversation about bus passes was overheard, which cast us into suspicion for the entire night. Overall the entire experience was expensive and frustrating. Watch what you say and just stick with the desserts. Nothing else is worth it.
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Heart
May 15, 2010
Rude bartenders. With the exception of one older bartender there, I would not return to this bar because of the snooty "younger" (though they aren't that young) bartenders. Lazy and inattentive and they didn't care to do much other than eat, drink and talk among themselves.
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Heart
January 30, 2009
Gone downhill fast. I used to love this place (except for being a very smoky restaurant, but smoking ban changed that) - best calamari in Pgh. It's been under new management or chef and hasn't been the same since. The menu changed. They ran out of ahi tuna at 6:30 pm. $13 for a sandwich without even chips (overpriced for the quality) and $11.50 for a martini (not even that great) is too much. Service was mediocre. We've given it two tries recently, but won't be back. There are better places nearby.
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Heart
December 17, 2008
Place is Great.
Our firm had a couple of parties here this year and this place is wonderful. From the initial set up to the conclusion of the event, the staff was top notch, he really took good care of us. We all agreed that this was the best place so far in Pittsburgh. The martinis are the best in town and the food is really good too. With the new DJs on the weekends, it's our regular friday night stop upstairs with the younger crowd.
Awesome calamari
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