Ollie's

I come on to be seated and the place is crowded with college students around dinner time. I was placed so close to a neighborin table that when the patrons got uo there but was literally in my dish. The waitress was rude, and yelled at me when I asked her to repeat herself. She also ignored me several times when I asked her to bring me something. When it was time for me to leave I got up to put on my coat and the rude waitress who had been ignoring me my whole time there rushed over and asked for a tip for the service. I had not even gotten my wallet out to give her the tip before she came over to ask for it. I thought that was very rude. Maybe because her customer service was so bad she thought that she was not going to get one. I WILL NEVER GO THER AGAIN. The food sucks it is to greasy and the service sucks even more. Cons: Rude, Rude, Rude more

I went there the other night with my girlfriend. We were seated promptly and politely. There were several groups of Asian students - including a mom, pop, and daughter - already eating and clearly enjoying the food, which I usually take as a good sign when I go into a Chinese restaurant. I had the pork and pickled cabbage soup, my girlfriend had the sizzling chicken and ginger platter. Both plates were very large - good enough for two-three people each. I'd had this soup at other restaurants and the amount they provided was easily twice that of other locations for roughly the same price. I also had unsweetened green tea, which was good if a little more bitter than usual. When I asked for chopsticks, the waitress retrieved them very quickly for me. For desert, I had a couple red bean buns. They made a mistake and gave me a pork bun along with my red bean bun, but when I pointed it out they took it away and got me the correct one with much apologies. They were clearly very concerned about my experience and wanted to make everything go smoothly. It seems their service has been greatly improved over the last several months since the previous reviews. One side note: don't order the avocado milk shake. I tried it on a lark and while you can taste the avocado in it, that's a mixed blessing. I definitely intend to eat and order from here regularly during my stay as a student! Pros: Excellent portion sizes, delicious food more

exceptionally rude service and greasy food. it was probably one of the few times in my life when I did not enjoy a dish of lomein. more

This was awful. I hated every minute of my experience there. I had egg drop soup. Funny thing is, they... more

This was awful. I hated every minute of my experience there. I had egg drop soup. Funny thing is, they forgot the flavor. I also shared an order of... more

The menu is a bit pricey for the type of food, though it is so good, fast, and diverse! The restaurant is quite crowded. Pros: Great Food Cons: Crowded more

A local recommended Ollie's and I thought I would try it out despite all the negative reviews. I went in with a positive attitude and no one was rude, the service was extremely prompt and overall I recommend it. I arrived at about 5 pm which is early for dinner so I had no problem getting a seat. By the time I left at 6:30 pm it was packed. The staff lines up against the wall and whoever notices that you need help comes over right away. They are very well staffed. It is a well oiled machine as another reviewer commented! As for the food, I thought it was pretty good. Perhaps it used to be better, but I'm pretty picky and I thought it was fine. They have dozens of choices, perhaps a hundred. There are dozens of vegetarian options and a special section of ""healthy"" choices. My one complaint would be the over use of sauce. My tofu and veggies were absolutely swimming in a sweet sesame sauce. It was delicious, but the left overs were oversaturated with the salty sweet sauce. Next time I might ask for the sauce on the side. The portions are quite large and include white or brown rice, which I appreciate- most places don't offer brown rice. The spinach wonton soup is good but for some reason they put an enormous amount of noodles under the wontons. I would prefer a few veggies and no extra noodles, but I suppose noodles are a cheaper way for them to beef up the portion size. In summary the food and decor are decent and the service is speedy. The location at 116th and Broadway near Columbia makes it a ""must try"" for students and locals who are on a budget. Pros: Good food, vegetarian options, speedy service, fair prices Cons: Very crowded by 6 pm more

The food isn't spectacular at Ollies but I occasionally eat here b/c it is open late and across the street from Columbia. I have noticed the huge decline in ratings on message boards and I can confirm it is clearly related to the way the customers are treated. Over the past 10 yrs, they have gotten so rude. It's almost like they don't want customers b/c I don't understand how they would behave like they do and expect people to return or, worse yet, stay without walking out. \r \r I walked out last night b/c i just couldn't take it any longer. i walked in at midnight (they close at 2AM) b/c i was up at columbia and it was open. the minute i walked in, they told me 'cash only'. when i asked them if this was a new rule or if the machines were broken, they wouldn't answer. perhaps they didn't understand but after i politely stood there (looking confused) for about a minute waiting for them to answer, they said it was ok and i could use a credit card.\r \r i'm guessing they like to close own the credit card machines 2 hrs before closing and just expect the customers to comply. it's kind of crappy but if they were nicer in general and didn't behave as others have described here, i might be able to forgive it. \r \r so, as they told me it was okay, i walked out. i don't need any favors from them. i have to tell you that not one table was taken in that restaurant. there was one person waiting for an outgoing order and that was it. this is very rare for ollie's to be empty at midnight during the semester. they are digging their own hole after they spent tons of money to renovate. Pros: large enough servings. food is ok. lots of choices. not too expensive Cons: THEY ARE EXTREMELY RUDE AND NASTY. more

I have frequented the Ollie's on 67th & Broadway and am amazed at how good the wonton soup and egg rolls are. The service (at the take-out) was rude but I have (unfortunately) gotten used to that so I can have the delicious soup. Anyway, I decided to try the upper west side Ollie's at 116th street (I live in the area) and this place is the PITS! The server's and host are RUDE, RUDE, RUDE. There were easily 10 empty tables in the middle of the day and I was barked at to WAIT and wait I did...for no good reason! The soup and eggroll were TERRIBLE! The 67th Street Ollie's soup was filled with lots of juicy, delicious wonton's, scallions and other green stuff (seaweed?) and the egg roll was a perfect combination of crispy and greasy and YUMMY! The 116th street Ollie's must be part of a different chain (aside from the rude employees). There was scant wontons, no green stuff and the egg roll was room temp, greasy and just plain bad. I had the lemon chicken at the Ollie's in Times Sq. years ago and that was good so I am really baffled about the difference in quality and taste in the food on 116th. I have tried contacting the group that owns this chain but can't locate who it is. I did this because my UWS area really lacks GOOD Chinese food and I thought I at least scored a good place to get good simple wanton soup and egg roll. Avoid the 116th Street Ollies and go to the one on 67th & B'dway! Cons: Everything...bad food, bad service. more

They need to teach the person who answers the phone what customer service means. She is rude and mean over the phone. I called in for an order to pick up and she asked me for my phone # so I told her I am calling for pick up. She said it really LOUD AGAIN, PHONE NUMBER. I felt like she was yelling at me so I told her forget about my order. I will never call them again. With so many restaurants in the area, Ollies needs to upgrade their customer service. more

We placed an order online. An hour and twenty minutes later, I called to see where our order was. The woman told me that they don't always check that. I had to place the order again. It didn't get here for another hour. When it did, the food was terrible, incredibly overpriced and cold. To top it off, no apology whatsoever for the 2 1/2 hour wait. Cons: Terrible service, Cold food, Too expensive more

I just ordered take out from Ollie's on 116th, and when I arrived at my office on 168th street I realized they had forgotten the Roast Pork Bun (highly recommended!) that I had ordered. I called and they were incredibly nice and offered to deliver it up to 168th street. That is amazing service for a $1.50 bun. I was very pleased and will be a loyal customer. Pros: fresh, fast Cons: standard fare more

Some great things at ollies that I've discovered: the fish & tofu casserole, shredded pork & pickled cabbage noodle soup, eggplant & chicken with garlic sauce. Service is pretty fast & easy during busy hours. Pros: Great dishes, Quick & easy service more

Pretty good!! The luncheon specials are great!Altogether a good place to eat in CU area. it's a little pricey though. more