Olives Mediterranean Café - Palmdale

Black Olives Mediterranean restaurant (not connected with Olive in Lancaster) is disappointingly served canned food at restaurant prices. The Dolma was definitely skilled by Trader Joe's, which is really sad. Dolma is cheap to do, but VERY work intensively. Better, not dolma, then serve canned dolma. Overall, I don't enjoy the food. There are other Mediterranean restaurants in Palmdale and Lancaster that do better. It makes me sad to leave this review, and I hope that they will begin to give more pride to serving authentic, handmade Armenian food.

My husband and I have been eating here for over 10 years. We celebrated many occasions here on a plate of Falafel! Wait staff is friendly and the food is excellent.

The rice was muddy, the chicken cabob and beef cabob were not tasty, but the worst of them all? the dorms. I had delicious dorms in many other cafés and restaurants. I ate a dolm in this place and I had to spit it out. The only thing I tried was the fattoush. I will not return to this place.

Despite having only one lady serving, the service was quick and exceptional. We thoroughly enjoyed the taste and quality of our meal.

I ordered the chicken kabob family deal in May 2020, which comes with chicken kabob, rice, salad, and a medium tub of hummus. The portions were generous, and the menu claims this deal includes 40 pieces of chicken kabob—I didn’t count them, but there was a hefty serving of rice, a takeout container full of salad, and a medium-sized tub of hummus. **Aroma:** The rice smelled delightful, while the kabob had that appealing grilled scent. The salad had a nice vinaigrette aroma. Overall, I rated the aroma a 6/10. **Taste:** Unfortunately, the chicken kabob was quite disappointing; it lacked savoriness, as if it hadn’t been marinated, and was very dry. There was even a metallic taste, likely from the tin foil container, earning a 4/10. The rice was decent, but a bit soggy—this was likely due to the foil cover trapping steam. I’m accustomed to leaving prepared dishes uncovered while they’re still hot, so this was a bit of a letdown, and I rated it a 6/10. The hummus was flavorful but very oily, so I give it a 6/10 as well. The salad was just average, so I didn’t assign it any points. **Verdict:** I decided to give this restaurant another chance with an in-person dining experience to see if it would be any different. **Update (12/27):** When I tried the chicken kabob meal again, I was pleasantly surprised. The kabob was marinated and seasoned perfectly, cooked to a nice medium doneness, and had a delightful sear—I'd rate it a 10/10! The rice was okay but still felt a bit lacking compared to A1, taste-wise. The steamed slaw, salad, and veggies were passable; I did enjoy the seared half tomato (but I’d prefer a whole one) and the jalapeños were excellent. The hummus was decent but noticeably sour. While classic hummus has some tang, this one went a bit overboard. It might be due to how the sesame seeds were prepared or the lemon zest added. I’d like to see that rich ‘hummus umami’ flavor really shine. For takeout service, I’d give them a 10/10—very courteous, and although they estimated 15 minutes for pickup, it took just 18 minutes.