The Olive Tree
Mediterranean
3185 Hilliard-Rome Road
Hilliard
614.527.8812
Colonel Gaddafi may be dead, but his favorite breakfast lives on! According to The Olive Tree’s owner David Mor, Gaddafi was a fan of shakshuka – a Middle Eastern dish that is also popular in David’s country of birth, Israel. Shakshuka has become one of my favorite brunch items. A thick stew of tomatoes, onions and peppers in which two eggs are poached. The dish is served in a cast iron skillet (be careful you don’t burn the roof of your mouth) and can be spiced up with merguez sausage, feta cheese, or today’s special – eggplant.
Each pan of shakshuka is served with a pile of pita triangles to dip into the stew and (my favorite part) the runny egg yolk.
The brunch offerings at The Olive Tree (served 10am-2pm) on Sundays run the gamut of the Jewish diaspora, ranging from bagels and lox to Challah french toast and jachnun – a traditional Yemenite Jewish breakfast dish, cooked slowly overnight so that one does not have to cook on the sabbath. Jachnun is a crunchy pastry dish that is served with a hard boiled egg, fresh grated tomato and a hot sauce called s’chug.
It’s hard to resist adding an order (or two) or the burekas. A crispy, cheesy puff pastry dish that’s always perfectly golden brown.
David and his wife Tammy are always at the restaurant and are extremely friendly. David loves to interact with guests and is willing to share his fascinating life story. He was formerly an exercise physiologist and soccer coach before fulfilling a dream of owning his a restaurant.
The Olive Tree has a broad lunch and dinner menu that represents many different Mediterranean countries as well as a few American staples. It’s definitely a something-for-everyone kind of a place. There are a number of dishes that are less commonly found in Columbus. Two of my favorites are the two dips machmusa and matbucha. Machmusa is made from sauteed eggplants which are slow cooked with tomato and onion. Matbucha is a tomato based Moroccan dip slow cooked with roasted red and jalapeno peppers, garlic and olive oil. We also enjoyed The Olive Tree’s rendition of baba ganouj .
alt.eats.columbus 
This resturant is a staple in my life. The owners and staff are wonderful, and the food is second to none!
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This place is awesome. Eat In or Take out and you cannot go wrong. If you eat in Try a Turkish Coffee. MMMMM!
We visit today. Was worderfull. The Server Olivia was amazing service. The manager and food wa exelent. We come back soon..thank you
The Olive Tree is now under new ownership. The new owner came to our table and introduced herself. How nice. A very special person. She plans to add Lebanese food to the menu. Sounds like an adventure. We’ve been there twice for our grandson’s soccer tournaments. The food is delicious. Our grandchildren enjoyed it as well. Highly recommend going there. Easy to find from the Hilliard Rome exit.