Dining Pick of the Week: The Olive Mediterranean Grill and Hookah Bar

The Olive Mediterranean Grill and Hookah Bar

3850 E. Sunset Road, 702-451-8805

The entrance to the Olive Mediterranean Grill and Hookah Bar is surrounded by a game room with pool tables and the opulent lounge with a combination of traditional dining tables and couch-filled areas. The food is primarily Mediterranean, with a variety of hummus-based meals, shawarma and salads. There are also a few offerings for the less adventurous, such as chicken fingers and grilled cheese, but most patrons who are there for the food come for the stuffed grape leaves, baba ghanoush, falafel and tabouleh. Most food items cost $4 to $8. The menu also includes a page of specialty cocktails and another devoted to flavors of hookah tobacco. The air is permeated by the fruity perfume of hookah smoke, which some might find off-putting, but most patrons embrace it as part of the experience. The Olive Hookah Lounge has special events and live entertainment several nights a week. On Fridays and Saturdays, there is a live disc jockey, with belly dancers added to the mix on Saturdays. On Mondays, there is soul music. There are also monthly drumming and dancing events, and Wonderground, which takes place on the third Thursday of each month, is a live variety and magic show, with a liberal dusting of a Burning Man vibe mixed in. The Olive Hookah Lounge is open from noon to midnight Monday and Tuesday, noon to 11 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, noon to 3 a.m. Friday, 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday.