Review of the Olive Tree Restaurant in Glen Burnie, Maryland

Are you looking for a good italian meal in the Baltimore, Maryland area? Well then you need to head down to Glen Burnie, and check out The Olive Tree. It is located on Ritchie Highway. Olive Tree Restaurant is located next to a Popeye's fast food restaurant on Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie, Maryland and is just about 10 minutes south of Baltimore, Maryland.

When you arrive at The Olive Tree, it appears similar to many other Italian restaurants in the area from the outside. One nice feature is they have a separate entrance for the bar area, in which you can also order meals to go. On a recent Saturday night my wife and I waited in the bar area after putting out name on the waiting list and had a drink. The bartenders there pour a very stiff drink, so you can enjoy nursing one while waiting for your table. Despite this being the Saturday after Valentine's Day and us arriving at prime dining time (6 p.m.), the wait was only half an hour. This surprised us considering the large crowd in the waiting area and the bar. They are very efficient though at clearing tables to seat you quickly.

This is an Italian restaurant where you really don't need to consider their appetizer section. Yes, it has the standard offerings, but they are a little overpriced ranging from $6 to $10. The one exception might be the crab pretzel, which is a non-traditional appetizer at an Italian restaurant. At $9.99 though, again it's probably best to take advantage of the free appetizer they bring to your table in the form of salad and bread sticks. Many Italian restaurants do this, which negates the need to order an appetizer. I do have to say my wife and I were pleased to find the dressing comes on the side even without you requesting it ahead of time, that is unlike others that pre-toss your salad with the dressing. The salad has a nice collection of peperoncini peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and onions. The bread sticks are warm and fresh and not overpowered by the garlic flavor on them.

For entrees, you have a selection of over 30 choices. These range from traditional pasta dishes, to chicken dishes, and also include a large selection of seafood choices. The sauces at Olive Tree Restaurant in Glen Burnie range from traditional marinara, to a spicy diablo sauce for seafood dishes. I will say that my wife was dissapointed in past trips with their alfredo sauce. The entrees come with a variety of pastas as well. Some of my favorites include the chicken parmigiana and the rigatoni with sausage. Their italian sausage has a lot of flavor and just enough kick to keep it interesting.

On our recent visit though I had Chicken Cacciatore. I was very impressed with the sauce as it was a mixture between their marinara sauce with a touch of wine and some extra spices. The dish had a large amount of peppers and onions in it which was nice instead of the small portions of the vegetables some restaurants offer. There was also a large amount of chicken. There was less pasta than at some restaurants, but then again I'd rather have more peppers, onions and chicken and less pasta than other restaurants serve so this was great. Overall I was very happy with my entree at Olive Tree restaurant in Glen Burnie, MD. I will admit I took half of it home though.

My wife had the Luciano Seafood entree and was really happy with it. It was a scampi dish, but instead of just shrimp it had crab in it as well. It was a large portion, and at the $19.99 cost was worth the price. She was unable to finish her meal as well and brought home half for dinner the next day. This is one of those advantages of the free all you can eat salad and breadsticks. It allows you to have two meals from one at Olive Tree Restaurant in Glen Burnie, Maryland. My wife's entree was a good representative of seafood entree costs at Olive Tree Restaurant in Glen Burnie, Maryland as they range from about $16 to $22. Chicken entrees tend to range from about $11 to $15. Finally, pasta ranges from about $9 up to $15 as well.

My one dissapointment this time was the desserts. It appears they are now having them brought in from a local bakery instead of making them on premesis. At least that is what it appeared from their slections on the dessert menu. The portions that we saw being brought to the tables also seemed much smaller than you would expect.