Olivia's Bistro

Came in on a Sunday evening and the restaurant was pretty packed. We didn't have reservations but luckily there were 2 bar seats available. Despite an event going on, on the other side of the bar, our server/ bartender was still very attentive. We ordered the Diavolo pizza to share and chicken parm pasta. We didn't say we were sharing the pasta, but they automatically plated 2 plates for us assuming we were sharing, which we were. Not many places would do that automatically. We appreciated this! Both orders were delicious. You can taste the grill / char on the pizza. Will be back to try their other pizzas and pastas

We really enjoyed our experience at Olivia’s! Went for my moms birthday and the waiter was more than accommodating. He even gave us a free dessert at the end of the meal for her birthday. We were also given several refills of bread. We had a delicious pasta dish, salmon, cod and the mussels as an appetizer. Several people have written that the flavor of the food isn’t great but I thought all of the dishes were well seasoned and had great mixes of food. For a newer restaurant, we really enjoyed, had great food and had a great time at dinner! Next time we will have to try the drinks.

My wife believes I’m a deep pessimist, but to prove to her that I’m actually a huge optimist, I explain that each and every time we go to a new Italian restaurant in Metro Boston, I believe that this will be “it”. I will have found The One; the Italian place I will return to weekly for the rest of my life. I entered Olivia’s in this spirit, having heard some raves around town. Well, it was very mediocre. Pizza with 3x the amount of cheese over and above what you would call “a lot”, pesto pasta drowned in a soup of (olive?) oil, and friendly but slow service. The bolognaise was decent enough, but there was 3x too much sauce. Dinner for 3, with drinks, $160. Too much for something I didn’t come close to loving. The bar for Italian places is set so low in Boston, I have come to believe, if all the mediocrity is receiving 5 stars. It’s a difficult cuisine to mess up, but here we excel at that.

A hopping local establishment. We sit at the bar (where else would you expect to find us😉). The bartenders are friendly and pour a healthy drink. The wine list is not large but covers all the bases and is reasonably priced, our favorite is the Masi "baby Amarone" for under $50 a bottle. The menu consist of chicken, pork and beef dishes as well as several pasta dishes - our favorite is the pasta a la chitarra with a light marinara that has a little kick to it. Also on the menu are an array of pizzas which are all delicious. The Olivia's Board is a must try for a sharable app or as a small bite with your bottle of wine. Desi (the owner) and his team do a bang up job. The staff is attentive and on the ball.

We took our neighbors here tonight, all of us for the first visit, and Olivia's exceeded our expectations! So great to have a place like this in Nonantum, which I must say has certainly ramped up in culinary choices in the last few years. Our server was extremely good, and she made our visit especially memorable by replenishing my glass of wine (and then the rest of is as well) after I clumsily knocked it off the table during animated conversation. Now that's really classy (her, not me lol). Our food choices didn't disappoint. I chose the squid ink pasta, which was full of calamari and shrimp, on a bed of perfectly done (and nicely spicy) pasta. Loved it. One of our party had the lamb shank, which was superb. My wife said her duck breast (the night's special) was good, but not exceptional, preferring my pasta. For dessert we shared the limoncello cheesecake, which was fantastic. I highly recommend Olivia's as a nice change of pace from other Newton restaurants. See attached pictures!