Review: Twisted Olive in St. Louis

Guy’s perspective

Every time I hit The Loop, I remember a joint off OutKast’s best album – 1998’s “Aquemini.” Back when they were good. In "SpottieOttieDop-aliscious,” Dre and Big Boi reminisce about young, wild and romantic nights. Among the great lines (“Her neck was smelling sweeter than a plate of yams with extra syrup”) is a couplet about a club called Charles, “A lil’ spot where young men and young women go to experience their first lil’ taste of the night life.”

And see, after too many years of kicking it in The STL, I have to say Loop nightlife has become my Charles. More often than not, I am just too old and too jaded to enjoy what it offers. Even when a new bar enters The Loop’s fray, I can’t help but think that, unless you’re in your very early 20s and just starting to hit the town, it’s not going to do it for you.

On the second level of the building next door to the eminent Vintage Vinyl, Twisted Olive adds to The Loop’s genuinely wide diversity as the boulevard’s first martini bar and sake lounge. Strange, being that the martini bar trend seems to have peaked in the late ’90s/early aughts, but true. However, if you turned 21 within the last three years and still think Corona is exotic, you wouldn’t know.

Know this: The majority of Twisted Olive’s patrons are just that – under 25. Even so, there’s no lack of them. On each of my visits, the bar has been crowded with the assorted under-25 Loop set – nose-studded and tatted emo dudes; flat-bill crooked-hat-wearing guys; preppy dudes trying to be hip; hoodie-wearing short-haired girls; dreadlocked chicks with shirts too tight; and a few girls from the county who watched the last two seasons of “Sex and the City” in high school.

Even with the words “Twisted Olive” and a martini glass outlined with snaking Christmas lights in the front window, nothing in the space visually sticks out except some sort of lava lamp projected on a wall. Because the bar is small, it fills quickly. Sans cover charge, DJs spin nightly – deep house to hip-hop to classic rock. So, with a DJ table in one corner and a DJ speaker in another, the space is loud as hell and seems even smaller. One table on the front balcony is the best seat, with a great level-up view of Delmar, but alas, it’s only one table. All things considered, if martini bars are typically upscale and stuffy, Twisted Olive is markedly unpretentious.

Through my cynical eyes, the unaffected attitude and strong martini list save Twisted Olive. The list’s categories (Stiff, Sweet and Sassy, Creamy, In A Class By Itself) make it incredibly easy to navigate. Try a fresh fruit martini – pomegranate, pear or mango. $3 specials nightly. As is common in my columns these days, I think the beer list is horribly short. Nonetheless, even though it’s controlled by Anheuser-Busch, try Kirin Ichiban.

The straight 411 …
For a down-to-earth martini bar filled with martini virgins experiencing their first lil’ taste of the nightlife, head to Twisted Olive.

Gal’s perspective

As I ascended to Twisted Olive, up a set of grimy stairs that seemed as if they could have been a hideout for bums and miscreants in University City, all I could think of was my college days, or specifically, hippies, because of the smell of patchouli oil wafting up from the Sunshine Daydream shop below.

I traveled farther up the stairs, past a tattoo parlor, to make my way into The Loop’s newest martini and sake lounge. The smell of patchouli still hung heavy within the plain beige walls containing sparse Asian décor and what appeared to be park benches.

I discovered upon entering that my hippie instinct was still correct, just not current. College hippies had turned into hipsters in their older age. They had put down the devil sticks and picked up Purple Haze martinis. Instead of jammin’ to the Grateful Dead, they were now bobbing their heads to old-school Digital Underground. However, the nightspot does still draw the quintessential Loop crowd: anything from people with dreads to Wash U. professors.

Music sets the nightly scene at the Olive. Things start out mellow early on in the week and get heavier every day until Friday and Saturday when you can experience hip-hop and deep house music, respectively. Live DJs also frolic on the ones and twos as patrons groove on. Even when no DJ is present, the crowd is somewhat lively because the music is always on point.

The tranquil vibe of Twisted Olive somehow seems to bring back fond memories and spark discussions of when all you had to do was wake up for class, then head to the bar when it was over. Oh, how I miss my college years! As I sat and sipped on my cocktail, talk changed from what was going on over the weekend to what we did senior year when the world was our oyster and all we wanted to do was shuck it.

A menu of martinis and beers is available, though paying $9 for some martinis seems a little high considering the bar’s humble accommodations. But if you come during the week, there are specials, including the occasional $3 cosmopolitans.

Overall, Twisted Olive doesn’t have much to set it apart. It is a bar thrown together without much thought, but it really does have a decent vibe. If you want to reminisce about simpler times filled with beers on a summer afternoon and mental and literal freedom, head to Twisted Olive and relax to A Tribe Called Quest while sipping an overpriced martini.

With a few gallons of paint and some sort of inspiration, Twisted Olive could really be something. Or at least a great spot to build up some liquid courage before you head next door to the tattoo parlor.

The straight 411 …
Twisted Olive is a decent place for the ultrahip ex-hippie to sip on a Purple Haze martini while grooving to tranquil tunes.