ABOUT

Located in a renovated 1930’s Standard Oil Filling Station,

Olio is an unusual and UNUSUALLY charming setting for a grown-up eatery and cocktail bar (kids are MOST welcome). 

Olio opened in the fall of 2012.  it is half of the story of chef/owner Ben Poremba’s ambitious culinary and urban renewal project. NEXT DOOR to Olio, and connected to it, is OLIO'S sister restaurant, ElaiA:A 30-seat fine dining chef-driven restaurant.  Equally unusual setting for a restaurant, Elaia is situated in a renovated 1890’s house- the same house that was once occupied by the original owner/operator of the gas station, mr. kinsworhty.

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the sister restaurants are located in the Historical Botanical Heights neighborhood in South St. Louis. Just a couple blocks north of tower grove park and the missouri botanical gardens.

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TO READ MORE ABOUT how Ben cooked up a neighborhood, CHECK OUT Evan Benn's review of the restaurants in st. louis post-dispatch. 

 

FOOD

The FOOD at olio is Rustic, bold, and comforting. 

Poremba describes his cuisine as Middle-terranean 

or  Tel-Avivi: a colorful melange of Mediterranean and middle-eastern, traditional & contemporary, with nods to southern Europe and north Africa. The menu offers  revolving selections of MEZZE, salads, spreads, pickles, charcuterie, slow-roasted meats, and tagines.  

 

The motifs are bread and olive oil.  STANDING TALL, OUTSIDE in olio's patio, is a beautiful, custom-made hearth oven.  our baker, JOE STEIN, makes bread the way it was made centuries ago: mixed, shaped, and crafted by hand, naturally leavened, and baked in the wood-burning hearth. joe uses freshly-milled Missouri-grown wheat. read more about missouri grain project here. 

 

DRINK

OUR bar program focuses on classical cocktails, re-invented by our bar crew.  over the years, we have amassed an impressive list of vermouths, aperitifs, amari, and anissettes. 

 

olio's list of wines-by-glass includes thoughtful selections of producers, varietals, and regions both familiar and esoteric.

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elaia's award-winning BOTTLE list is alWAYS available.