evilOlive

11/02/07

martini, fun atmosphere

by jreid4 at Citysearch

I am a big fan of martinis, so I went to the evilOlive because they boasted a great selection of innovative martinis and a huge selection of stuffed olives. We sat up on the second level of the bar and our service was terrible, especially when the place filled up. There is no working bar on the second level, so you have to wait for a server and ours took forever. I was ordering dirty martinis all night and they didn't even have any more stuffed olives. Their website boasts a selection of stuffed olives that one can order in a drink OR receive on a side plate, to sample all of them. Our waitress simply said they had no more stuffed olives, so we couldn't try anyway. That seems a little ridiculous for a semi-trendy martini bar. The martinis were also mediocre, at best, which was very disappointing considering their $9 price tag. I've had better martinis in Wrigleyville dive bars before. So, all in all, the experience that I had at the evilOlive was definitely below average. For those prices (I ended up dropping over $60), I'd expect a better atmosphere, faster service, and better drinks. Had the service been better, I think our overall experience would have changed. This bar does have a good atmosphere. There are palindromes written on the walls and on the second level there are a fair number of tables and a pool table.

• Pros: Fun atmosphere, palindromes, proximity to Blue Line
• Cons: Service, drinks