I was so excited when I drove past this olive store. I lived in Italy for two years and love trying flavored olive oils. I was parking my car and before I could close my door the old lady that works there came running out screaming "I can't park there and it's only for her customers.". I said "yes I know that's why I parked here." I was about to walk in and immediately turned around because if you are that rude to someone before they walk into your store you don't deserve my money. I ordered my olive oils and have them shipped from Italy and a small olive store in Michigan. read more

We love the quality and variety of olive oils and balsamic vinegars they offer. You can sample to determine which flavor you like. Bottles come in various sizes and you can reuse the bottles for refills or try something new. They also sell herbs/spices, pasta and unique hostess gifts. read more

This is a fun place to spend a little time sampling oils and vinegars -- so many diverse flavors, and great staff there to suggest how to mix the flavors and use them at home. Their products are a little more pricey than you would get at a local supermarket, because of the quality, variety, and customer service (free tastings!). If you're looking for a break on the price, look at their website and social media for various discounts on special days or return your empty bottles from the store and refill them for a small discount. Thanks to the Crescent Olive I make my own delicious salad dressings and many of my own sauces for veggies and meat. I love this place and their products. read more

I stopped by thinking I could just run in to grab a hostess gift but was not prepared for all the awesomeness inside! Boyfriend couldn't find parking so I told him to drop me off so I could just grab something. "I'll be right back!" Hahahahaha. No. I walked in to at least 40 different olive oils and vinegars and had to pause near the door since I couldn't decide where to go first. I was greeted as I entered and told that they would be with me in a minute. This gave me some time to wander around. I started checking out the different infused olive oils and someone helped me. She was super nice and explained the tasting process. She sliced some fresh bread for me to use to taste the different olive oils and white vinegars. She also offered me a sample of a brownie that was made with their blood orange infused olive oil. YUMS! I tasted some of the olive oils and decided to get the Persian Lime infused one for me. Wait... didn't I come in here for something else? Oh right! A hostess gift. I mention this and was told you can actually buy an empty bottle and the person can bring it back in and partake of the tasting experience themselves and then select their favorite to fill up their bottle. Sold! Is this not ridiculously awesome? If I got this for a hostess gift I'd be ecstatic! (Hint Hint party goer friends!) It was also at this point that I was told that I could receive a scoop of vanilla ice cream to try the dark vinegars. Say what? I don't know about that. Bread and olive oil? Sure. But ice cream and vinegar? Ew. I'm all about trying something new though. I'm in the process of choosing my first ice cream and vinegar pairing when boyfriend walks in giving some major one eyebrow raised action and I can hear his thoughts... "Just going to run in and out huh? 'I'll be right back' my...." You get the point. I tried to ease his pain by telling him about the ice cream. He also made a face when I suggested the ice cream and vinegar combo but agreed to take the plunge with me. I've apparently been eating ice cream wrong all my life. This was delicious. Obviously you can put the vinegar on other items (the store actually has suggested pairings on their website) but the ice cream is a great way to taste the different flavors. My favorite was the pomegranate and boyfriend and I both liked the blackberry ginger. After this little ice cream tasting, my delay in returning to the car was forgiven and he tried the tasting with the olive oils. We were finally ready to make our purchases. They wrapped my hostess gift up for me and filled our bottle and sealed it for us to take home. Small bottles are $11 or $12. Mediums were about $16 and the large bottles were around $20 I think. They also have some special gift bags and other accessories in the store. Also, if you run your empty bottle through the dishwasher and bring it back they will knock a buck off the cost to refill it. Recycling pays in many ways! We have used our Persian Lime infused olive oil on some shrimp so far and it was absolutely delicious. We only used a tiny bit and not only did it provide a flavor punch but the house smelled wonderful. So while it might be a bit pricey for olive oils it will certainly last a long time. And can you really put a price on quality? No. The Crescent Olive if priceless! read more

See all

I read one review that has been accurate so far about how terrible this place is. The lady owner of the store is the most rude and ignorant person I have ever met. She cussed me out as a young adult for no reason and dropped more F bombs when I asked why she was being rude. Avoid this place at all cost and take your business to a place who values people and has better customer service. read more

Great little shop with a variety of olive oils and balsamic vinegars. If you bring your bottle back to refill it, you get a discount. The individuals who work there are very kind and incredibly knowledgeable about their products. read more

What a great local business! The owners Charlotte and Mike are super friendly and knowledgeable about their products. They don't just sell olive oils and balsamic vinaigrettes, but they also have many other local and/or family-owned product lines for sale in their store. They are very passionate about their products and it shows from the moment you walk in the door. They are happy to explain all of the benefits of the different oils and let you sample them (and show you the right way to sample them). This is more than a business. To me this place is a sign of Columbia, SC on the rise. If you haven't been here, please make time to check it out. Don't forget to ask about trying balsamic vinaigrettes with ICE CREAM. Sounds weird, but it's delicious. You're welcome! read more

Several months ago a friend gifted me with an empty bottle that could be filled at this lovely business. I've had bad luck with remembering the bottle when running out of the house or stopping by when they were closed so I finally got to redeem my gift today. This place is awesome! The service was excellent and I got to try any of the products I wanted to. In fact, I found several things I wanted and ended up buying a few extra bottles on top of the free one that I was redeeming from my gift. I ended up selecting mushroom and sage olive oil, lemon white balsamic vinegar, and lavender red balsamic vinegar. A visit here is such a fun experience because it is so much fun to try everything out. This made me love the gift I received even more because not only did I get a delicious oil but I got the fun of picking out my favorite. I even think this place would be fun to check out on a date. If you were in a grocery store, oils and vinegars in the 11-12 dollar range for 200 mL might make you balk a bit. But, in this environment and with this quality, they seem well worth it as a small indulgence. read more

If I could rate 0 stars, I would. That lady who works there is so rude and made rude remakes and rude looks. Will leave a bad review anywhere I can. Terrible customer service and people skills read more

This place is a lot better than most olive oil places that I've been to in the US. The moment you arrive you are greeted with blood orange olive oil brownies to taste. Then fresh bread to sample about 30 olive oils with magnificent flavors, also white vinegar too. You warm the olive oil in the sampling cups with the palm rubbing in a circle motion of your hand to taste the essence of the oil. It gets better after you've tried all the oils you get a small scoop of vanilla ice cream to sample the many balsamic's on hand. You scoop the ice cream on your spoon then pour a small drop of let's say strawberry or expresso on the back and enjoy! Also almond,sesame,walnut, and truffle oils are on hand to try. Small bottles run from 8.95-11.95 depending on what you get. Keep the bottles so when you come back you get a dollar off, I have gotten two groupons 10.00 for 20.00 a great deal. The hardest part is choosing what oils you'll get for your next grilling session. This place is right next to Catina 76 on Devine St. they have free parking. read more

Olive oils, so little that we know but after last night's UYE I was very educated on olive oils! We were able to taste so many flavors of this wonderful product that it just blew me away! We tried oils on ice cream-yes ice cream and it was insanely delicious. But please pay a visit to this store you wpnt be disappointed. Prices and availability varies but go check it out. read more

The Crescent Olive - the sign for the crescent olive - Specialty Food Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

See all

Try them all. My favorites were the peach white balsamic, and the fig balsamic. And and and. Delicious. I will definitely keep coming back for my secret ingredients. read more

The Crescent Olive - Specialty Food Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

The owners are very knowledgeable on their products and very helpful. They treat us like family every time we visit the store. They know our names and also know exactly what we like. Best small business I've ever been to! read more

Such a cool place. The staff is very knowledgable and extremely willing to answer questions and give suggestions. They have such a variety of oils and vinegars it's a good thing that you can taste anything they have in the store. I got on their mailing list and it looks like they have all kinds of things happening on a regular basis, cooking demos for example. If your like me and have only ever purchased your oil from the grocery store, you have to swing by and give these guys a try! read more

This place will overload your tastebuds and make you come back for more!! It's one of my absolute favorite places to wander into or purposely go. The experience is like no other. So many amazing flavors of olive oils and balsamic vinegars. Dipping fresh bread into the olive oils and savoring the flavors is awesome. And have you tried the balsamic vinegars with ice cream..sounds weird but it is oh so good. The staff is super friendly and knowledgeable. The prices are great. You should stop in and learn more about olive oils and vinegars, the health benefits, and so much more. More than anything you need to go in and enjoy the taste sensations! read more

Really cool shop. We are visiting and have a olive oil shop like this but it doesn't compare.

I love this place! The owners are so nice and the oils are so good. I plan to make these oils a staple in my pantry. We bought the Tuscan herb, butter, and chipotle..... And I love them all. The prices are reasonable and I just love the store. It's a great locally owned business. I will be back! read more

I came for an unofficial yelp get together and I must say that I am impressed with the place. The owners are very friendly and informative. There are 8 or so varieties of straight olive oil that you can sample. Be sure to speak with them on the proper tasting technique because it will change the way that you look at olive oil. Olive oil is not just olive oil. Then they have a lot of varieties of flavored olive oil. They also have a very large variety of balsamic vinegars, both light and dark varieties. It was very surprising how well some of the dark balsamic vinegars work with ice cream. We got a flavored olive oil(don't ask me to spell it nor pronounce it but its spicy and has a great fresh pepper taste to it) and a maple balsamic (plan on using that with cooking brussel sprouts) and a blackberry ginger balsamic (plan for a sauce for fried green tomatoes). Besides the vinegars and olive oil they also carry pottery that is locally made and a few other items that are local. We liked one fish shaped bowl so much we had to have it. One thing people need to be aware is do not have sticker shock when it comes to the cost. High quality comes at a price and here I feel it is worth it. They did show case some of their flavored oils in a yogurt "dips" they made and they were delicious, but I wish they would have some cooking suggestions/ dishes that some of their flavored oils and balsamic vinegars would go in. A couple things we tried and said wow this tastes great but what exactly would we make with this other than dunking some bread in it to eat it which caused us to pass on a couple things. read more

The Crescent Olive - Specialty Food Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

See all

I had a wonderful experience at a locally owned business today in Columbia SC. A friend of mine gave me a bottle of the most delicious olive oil over the holidays and I just has to check them out! As soon as i walked in the store i was greeted by the friendly staff who gave me a complete tour of the store. With bowl of bread in hand I was educated about the health benefits of the ultra premium certified extra virgin olive oils. Who knew they could actually help reduce my cholesterol and give me healthier skin!! After the traditional oils I was shown (and tasted!!) a wide variety of flavored oils. Garlic, basil, and Tuscan herb just to name a few! White balsamic vinegars were next ! Too many to even mention but my favorite has to be the honey-ginger!! YUM!! I was also shown how to mix the oils and vinegars to use as salad dressings and marinades!! YOU HAVE TO TRY THE TUSCAN HERB AND POMEGRANATE QUINCE!!! The next part of the tour just blew my mind!! I was taken to the back room and given ice cream..yes ice cream!! Where I tasted with the dark balsamic vinegars. One of the best things i have ever put in my mouth!! The store also has a selection of specialty oils that I will have to indulge in next time!! The only bad thing about the store was deciding which oils and vinegars to get!! If you live in Columbia or the surrounding area you have to check them out!! I was told they also have a store in Mt. Pleasant for those of you living in or visiting the Charleston area. What a great place!! Great gift ideas too!! I will defiantly be back!! read more