Nestled in a quiet suburb on Syracuse Street, sits Baldwinsville’s best kept secret. It’s called Olive’s Eatery and it’s about to celebrate its first anniversary. But the owners, sisters Terri Webb and Barb Twombly, don’t want it to be a secret anymore.
In the back dining room, Terri and Barb are tilting, twisting, and placing each prop just right for the photographs of their dishes. The chef is preparing everything to perfection and another employee assists the Syracuse Woman Magazine photographer. For a quaint eatery seating only 38 people, it is bursting with energy and pride.
It may sound like Terri and Barb always had the confidence it takes to run and promote a business, but it took a lot of warming up to get where they are today. According to Terri, Barb was “scared to death” to ask diners how the food was “because you never know what you’re going to hear,” she says. Ninety-nine times out of 100 though, it’s all rave reviews.
The bistro may be petite, but the food, not so much. Situated on the dining room table is a salad dish that looks large enough to feed a family of four. It’s the Antipasti for Two, which is filled with romaine, olives, chickpeas, provolone, salami, tuna, roasted red peppers, and dressing of choice with garlic bread on the side.
Among their other large dishes is the Trio of Warm Dips, which features spicy chicken dip, white bean dip, and spinach artichoke dip all together with tortilla chips, grilled French bread, and warm pita bread. This is one of those appetizers that’s big enough to be your entire meal, so keep that in mind when ordering.
You will definitely want to save room for dessert, because the Better than Chocolate Mousse is to die for. The recipe is actually head chef Lisa Mitchell’s grandmother’s recipe and, as we all know, any recipe from grandma is going to be mouthwatering. “It’s not like any mousse you’ve seen,” Terri says. “You actually have the cream mixed in with the chocolate and there’s bits of hard chocolate in it.” Both Terri and Barb agree that the dessert is their favorite item on the menu.
Not far behind, however, is the VV panini. This is a customer favorite, according to Terri. It’s made with roasted turkey breast, green apples, brie cheese, and cranberry chutney.
Since purchasing the restaurant, the sisters have also added a few of their own touches to the menu, too. Their Polish heritage adds pierogies to the table and they even have a sandwich named after their father, called the Chester.
If the food isn’t enough to bring you to Olive’s, the surroundings will. Located just upstairs are nine other shops, not including the boutique Barb and Terri also own at the front of the building. Originally, the sisters thought this space was only retail. But upon purchasing it, they saw the restaurant and all the potential it had.
Terri says that they generally kept the bones of the place, but gave it an elegant, feminine feel. “The ladies love it,” she says. However, they have recently tailored it to attract more men. Barb says they got bigger chairs and added beer to the menu.
While it may have never been part of the plan, Barb and Terri have certainly turned Olive’s Eatery into a sanctuary of their own. They attribute their success to being able to work together. “We have very different personalities, but we finish each other’s sentences,” Terri says. And apparently, it’s true, because when asked how they felt about making it to their one-year anniversary, they said in unison, “We couldn’t do it and wouldn’t do it without each other.”
For more information, find Olive’s Eatery on Facebook.
In the back dining room, Terri and Barb are tilting, twisting, and placing each prop just right for the photographs of their dishes. The chef is preparing everything to perfection and another employee assists the Syracuse Woman Magazine photographer. For a quaint eatery seating only 38 people, it is bursting with energy and pride.
It may sound like Terri and Barb always had the confidence it takes to run and promote a business, but it took a lot of warming up to get where they are today. According to Terri, Barb was “scared to death” to ask diners how the food was “because you never know what you’re going to hear,” she says. Ninety-nine times out of 100 though, it’s all rave reviews.
The bistro may be petite, but the food, not so much. Situated on the dining room table is a salad dish that looks large enough to feed a family of four. It’s the Antipasti for Two, which is filled with romaine, olives, chickpeas, provolone, salami, tuna, roasted red peppers, and dressing of choice with garlic bread on the side.
Among their other large dishes is the Trio of Warm Dips, which features spicy chicken dip, white bean dip, and spinach artichoke dip all together with tortilla chips, grilled French bread, and warm pita bread. This is one of those appetizers that’s big enough to be your entire meal, so keep that in mind when ordering.
You will definitely want to save room for dessert, because the Better than Chocolate Mousse is to die for. The recipe is actually head chef Lisa Mitchell’s grandmother’s recipe and, as we all know, any recipe from grandma is going to be mouthwatering. “It’s not like any mousse you’ve seen,” Terri says. “You actually have the cream mixed in with the chocolate and there’s bits of hard chocolate in it.” Both Terri and Barb agree that the dessert is their favorite item on the menu.
Not far behind, however, is the VV panini. This is a customer favorite, according to Terri. It’s made with roasted turkey breast, green apples, brie cheese, and cranberry chutney.
Since purchasing the restaurant, the sisters have also added a few of their own touches to the menu, too. Their Polish heritage adds pierogies to the table and they even have a sandwich named after their father, called the Chester.
If the food isn’t enough to bring you to Olive’s, the surroundings will. Located just upstairs are nine other shops, not including the boutique Barb and Terri also own at the front of the building. Originally, the sisters thought this space was only retail. But upon purchasing it, they saw the restaurant and all the potential it had.
Terri says that they generally kept the bones of the place, but gave it an elegant, feminine feel. “The ladies love it,” she says. However, they have recently tailored it to attract more men. Barb says they got bigger chairs and added beer to the menu.
While it may have never been part of the plan, Barb and Terri have certainly turned Olive’s Eatery into a sanctuary of their own. They attribute their success to being able to work together. “We have very different personalities, but we finish each other’s sentences,” Terri says. And apparently, it’s true, because when asked how they felt about making it to their one-year anniversary, they said in unison, “We couldn’t do it and wouldn’t do it without each other.”
For more information, find Olive’s Eatery on Facebook.