Cancel

Open app

Search

The Olive Tree

4.6 (50 reviews)
PriceyMediterranean, Greek
Open 12:00 pm - 2:00 PM, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM

The Olive Tree Photos

THE OLIVE TREE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Classy
Moderate noise
Good for groups
Good for kids

Recommended Reviews - The Olive Tree

Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
Yelp app icon
Browse more easily on the app
Review Feed Illustration

Reviews With Photos

Erin C.

I absolutely adored our meal at The Olive Tree. It came as a recommendation for the owner of the inn we were staying at and she didn't lead us the wrong way. My #1 tip for this spot is to make a reservation! We saw numerous couples turned away because they were packed. A meal here isn't rushed so the tables do not turn over quickly. Our meals were fresh and very tasty. Our rose wine was fine. Nothing outstanding but not objectionable either. Like many others, we were treated to a complimentary dessert. Although we were stuffed, we found room to finish our cake. Highlights were the swordfish and the dips app!

Jaison S.

We've all be there... and we all hate when it happens... we go to a restaurant that is supposed to be 5/5 stars but we're left wanting more. My wife and I sat down at the Olive Tree at our 8:00 PM reservation greeted by a slightly remorseful "you'll have to sit upstairs by the window"... ok, no problem! But it was a problem, only because the waitstaff never went upstairs and was also supporting the downstairs! We were talked to 4 times - to get our drinks/order, to bring us 5 olives (on the house) and drinks, bring our order, and bring complementary orange cake. No water (or asks about ordering another drink), no check-ins, and we just got up and went downstairs to pay. The menu was severely lacking (no Greek salad at a Greek restaurant?) but we decided on octopus and a shrimp entree. Overall, the portions were small for the price and while they were cooked very well, they lacked any complex flavor. The shrimp required work to eat and had little "meat". All in all, I'm sad we wasted our second night in Bruges at this place.

Outside of restaurant
Cynthia B.

5 stars hands down! I saw this place on yelp and noticed all the vegetarian options and wonderful pics...thanks yelp community! This is right next to the min city center square and you could almost walk by it if you weren't looking. We went in and was quickly greeted, we didn't have a reservation so we were brought up to the second floor and had a wonderful window seat. The decor is actually very pretty and simple, lots of driftwood and natural elements. They seem to pride themselves on "traditional" Greek fare and boy they didn't disappoint! We ordered the haloumi cheese (4 slices of grilled haloumi cheese with a slice of tomato on each and a tiny salad) which was cooked perfectly. Also, having the potato cakes, I was unsure about this but after my first bite I was amazed by the flavor they had and the cheese dip (almost looks like a cream cheese) added a wonderful taste. We then both shared the Moussaka which was a large portion, side of rice and salad-($20) this was like a dish that I will never forget, the use of spices was perfect and the texture so soft without being mushy, I don't know how they did it but hot damn it's good! We got two little lives of a lemon cake as a complementary dessert and let's say I got one bite in...then my husband devoured the rest. The quality of the dishes and the quality of the food was worth every penny. This is probably going to be the best meal of our trip! Service was 1st class, always attentive and very nice. I love this place and if you are vegetarian you MUST check it out!

Alex H.

Woah! What a find. So truthfully, my travel party was super tired of frites and beer. We were ready for non-Belgian food while in Belgium. We stumbled across this place and I'm so glad we did. The food was excellent. Appetizers: The feta coated in sesame and honey was DELICIOUS. Salty, sweet, gooey and crunchy. Get it. Also the mix dips were good too (nice variety - I have no idea what we ate). Dinner: If you like seafood, get the grilled calamari. The ENTIRE squid was served! I've never seen squid served that way before. It was delicious. They gave us a little tasting of orange cake on the house at the end. Overall, wonderful non-Belgian food meal in Bruges!!!

Beef stew
Gustavo L.

Just next to main square. Was able to create a table for 9 with 2 children with reservations of course. Food was very good. Highly enjoyed. They also speak english. Thank you for your hospitality

pork medallions, hell yeah
Michal F.

Greek restaurant with a high-end flair. This restaurant filled up quickly and we were lucky to get a table because we showed up right when it opened. My friend was a picky eater because she is vegetarian, a preference especially hard to cater to in Belgium. As with the majority of restaurants here she did not have many options but this time thankfully the options proved to be delicious. She had a vegetarian lasagna that was a specialty in Greek Cuisine, it was well spiced. I got pork medallions. They came smothered in a light veggie sauce of peppers. The #1 way to mess up this type of dish is to overcook it and make it dry and tough however I was pleased to find mine was soft, not only because of the proper cooking but also the complement of the sauce. The best part of dining here was the ambiance. It's a softly lit space with furniture made of highly lacquered light colored woods. Live music with a traditional Greek flair fills the air giving the place an elegant feel.

Stuffed chicken breast
April L.

This is an amazing Greek restaurant! We found this place off TripAdvisor and were drooling over the photos. It was unanimous that our group wanted to eat here for dinner. We arrived just as they opened for dinner luckily they took us but recommended reservations. They gave us a beautiful menu made of wood and explained their signature dishes. We just ordered the main course and it was more than enough! We had the stuffed chicken breast, fried calamari, swordfish, & lamb chops. They brought it out with olives, house salad, & pita bread. Then they surprised us with orange cake and wine at the end. It was a nice touch to our wonderful meal. The service was excellent and the food was delicious!

Fresh mint tea

When you are tired of waffles, fries, and mediocre tourist food come here. The pre fixed menu for 2 was 41 euro per person, so a bit spend but we had so so so much food and it was amazing Apps were a mix of hot and cold the sampler platter. Of btw the menu comes with a drink included. An alcoholic one. Then you choose any main. Then dessert on the house orange cake. To die for. Love also fresh mint tea. Absolutely would go again.

Dolmas
Francesca T.

They squeezed us into an early dinner reservation and I'm so glad that they did! In Bruges, it's pretty hard to find vegan options so I was so glad to see they had a few. The place is very woodsy and we were seated on the top floor, next to the window that oversaw the central Bruges plaza. I ordered dolmas (the waiter made sure there was no meat/dairy/butter in the stuffing) and they were absolutely delicious! The best part of the dinner though was the pita bread. They were so good we probably ordered like 3 extras of them. Overall, a really great, unexpected find in Belgium!

See all

13 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

13 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Amelia S.
387
27
14

10 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

9 years ago

Absolutely delicious. We had moussaka and swordfish. Staff was so friendly, too! One of the best meals I had in Belgium and France.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

11 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

Page 2 of 2

The Olive Tree Reviews in Other Languages

Review Highlights - The Olive Tree

incredible restaurant nestled right off of Bruges' main square, and - even more incredibly - not touristy at all

Mentioned in 10 reviews

Read more highlights

Verify this business for free

Get access to customer & competitor insights.

Verify this business

Publico - Publico

Publico

4.0(133 reviews)
88.0 kmDansaert, Centre-Ville, Bruxelles
€€

Les propriétaires ont changés et ça n'a plus rien d'un italien…read more La cuisines est faite de réchauffé et les assiettes si t mal présentées. Le service est amical mais totalement amateur. C'était une bonne adresse, ce n'en est clairement plus une. Dommage.

If you really want to guarantee a spot for dinner here, make a reservation ahead of time, but to be…read morehonest, I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here. I'd only come here if I couldn't find anything else to eat - I prefer Fin de Siecle across the street for more traditional Belgian food (it's a no-reservation, wait-in-line kind of place). We ended up here because we had eaten at Fin de Siecle already the night before, and the restaurant we wanted to go to was full, so this was one of few options to dine at on a Sunday evening. The service here was interminably slow - it took them almost 20 min to get me a table. I didn't have a reservation, so I was fine waiting, but when you tell me 5 minutes or 2 minutes a handful of times, it's just better to tell me that it's a 15-20 minute wait for a table. It worked out fine because my fiance had to go find an ATM to get cash, since this place doesn't take credit cards. We thought this place was more Mediterranean (per Yelp's categorisation) but it was more Italian than anything else, with Spanish tapas and some Italian starters / antipasti. They have a lot of "world tapas" and the menu had a lot of different options of varying cuisines, but this place seemed to just make a lot of things on the mediocre side instead of making fewer things that taste great. On the tapas side they have bruschetta, fried bacalao fritters, patatas bravas, fried calamari, crostini. They have 7 salad options to pick from, which is definitely nice to find in a restaurant in Brussels, where most of the choices on the menu revolve around potatoes and meat. They have about 10-12 choices for pasta dishes, Belgian dishes, meat, and fish. You should be able to find something to eat on this menu since it's fairly varied. Bruschetta (6,50€) - We were starving by the time we sat down, so we got an appetizer - they have 2 bruschetta dishes, the smaller one at 6,50€ has tomatoes, parmesan cheese, basil, and anchovies, and just one piece of bread, and the larger version is almost double in price and has 2 pieces of bread and includes shrimp scampi and garlic. The bruschetta was fine (we got the smaller one) - not mind blowing, but not worth the price. There were a lot of tomatoes and the parmesan cheese was good but the bread was just okay and didn't seem particularly fresh. Salade Publico (15,90€) - This salad had a really huge piece of grilled salmon on top of shredded cabbage and iceberg lettuce, and had some fried calamari and bacalao / cod fritters. The salmon was farm-raised and overly plump, and slightly overcooked. The lettuce/cabbage was fine, but would have preferred mixed greens. The fried calamari and deep fried cod fritters didn't seem very fresh and seemed previously frozen and very-much mass-produced like it came out of a big bag from the freezer. We wanted salad, so this was at least decently healthy and satisfied what we wanted, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get this salad again. Ravioli Publico (15,20€) - These raviolis had meat inside, and topped with brown mushrooms, some parma ham, and a cream-sauce. There were maybe 10-12 pieces of ravioli on the plate, just FYI for those of you who are used to ordering ravioli and getting 5 pieces and then sit there hungry for the rest of dinner. The other pasta dishes looked bigger to me, and I wished I had gotten the orecchiette instead. The pasta was fine but didn't taste particularly fresh. I've had similar tasting pasta from the grocery store in the refrigerated section. I don't think I'd get this again if I came back. The service was not super - they took a long time to bring us wine after we ordered (and forgot my glass and then charged us for an extra one when I asked for my wine -- glad we checked the bill!) and were slow at taking orders / bringing food. Maybe they were super busy, but they just seemed short-staffed on waiters/cooks. They also didn't bring us the complimentary bread all the other tables seemed to get. They don't take credit cards, so plan accordingly. I wouldn't come back here unless there was nothing else open around here. The food was just mediocre for the price, and the service was subpar. It was okay - I'd give it between around 2.5 stars, maybe 3 if I was feeling generous. There are better restaurants in Brussels.

Photos
Publico - Publico restaurant

Publico restaurant

Publico
Publico

See all

El Greco - A lot of greek wine

El Greco

3.8(6 reviews)
0.4 km

In the middle of a whirlwind tour of the low countries, we wound up in Bruges on a Tuesday night…read more So many restaurants were closed! Cue the scary music... Fortunately we found El Greco. Since we arrived without a reservation, we had to agree to vacate our table in 75 minutes or so, but hey, that was ample time. My wife and I shared the Spanakopita and the Pikilia (mixed grill). Both were tasty and left us feeling satisfied, although the former was not the best we've ever had. The mixed grill, however, was excellent. The wait staff was prompt and attentive; the place was pretty crowded and exuded a cozy, comforting feel. The drinks and dessert were all very good. I'd like to try this place again when we're not in a craze to find someplace open to eat.

Needed something to eat Christmas Eve and this was one of the few places open. It is a nice greek…read moreplace in terms of decor. The staff are greek and things seem authentic. Unfortunately, the food was rather underwhelming. I ordered the mixed grill to get a taste of everything and nothing was that great. Dont get me wrong it was edible but definitely a little salty. The tzatziki was average and made of mostly sour cream so not the best. The saganaki is not the classic cheese on fire type dish but a fried almost breaded cheese. It was probably the best thing we had but still not done the classic way. My wife had the swordfish and it was better than the meat. As for drinks the Wine was good with a lot of different greek selections. At the end of the meal they brought out 2 traditional greek cookies that tasted homemade. Very kind gesture and probably the best part of the meal. I think there are better places in the city but this one will do if you need a place to eat. Wishing them the best!!

Photos
El Greco - Fireplace

Fireplace

El Greco - Saganaki... it was good but not traditional

Saganaki... it was good but not traditional

El Greco - Pleasant surprise at the end they brought out some complimentary sweets

See all

Pleasant surprise at the end they brought out some complimentary sweets

The Olive Tree - mediterranean - Updated May 2026

Loading...
Loading...
Loading...