Olea Garden By Calabra - Santa Monica

Fabulous hip ambiance with nice sky views in garden setting and comfortable social distancing. Timely, fun and friendly service and yummy food. You'll enjoy the sushi selection, salads, tapas and cocktails. Please bring back guac&chips for evening dining!

Birthday celebration. Food was just, ok. Service was slow.

Little loud with a large amount of kids running around the restaurant for a birthday party. Not the usual atmosphere but still not the best for a date. Usually the garden is lovely and intimate but maybe it’s changing.

Delicious food. My mom who is a picky eater really enjoyed the whole Branzino dish and the appetizers as well! The atmosphere alone is enough to come back for!

I attempted to reserve the 8 person dining table at this restaurant well in advance for a birthday dinner, since it’s the only real dining table at the restaurant. Not sure who I spoke to, but “Calabra Reservations” was extremely unhelpful via email, and refused to reserve the table or accommodate any extra guests by adding chairs. When the time for my reservation came, the staff were surprisingly nice and let us know it was no problem to have the table I requested since basically no one else was there, and even added additional seating. I had almost cancelled my reservation due to the previous interactions I had about the table, so it was a major relief that they were accommodating. The food itself was great, (with the exception of difficulty finding someone to order drinks) until it came time for dessert. I was charged 10 for a piece of chocolate “birthday cake” with no candle, that they refused to take off the bill. I was also charged for food that never arrived, about 40 extra. In addition, they add a 20% service charge for large groups, something I missed, resulting in an accidental additional tip, that honestly wasn’t very deserved. The worst part was the seemingly random men (I assume were hotel staff) that appeared before 11 to hustle my guests and I into leaving the table by repeatedly letting us know the restaurant was closing, despite guests clearly still eating their entrees. I have never in my life experienced this at any of the restaurants I have dined at. It was honestly shocking and extremely rude. For a luxury hotel, it was unacceptable. Overall it’s worth so much more stress and than it’s worth. Don’t bother trying to book this place if you have a party larger than 2-4 people and plan to eat dinner.