We’ve all been watching the development of Olive’s, on the corner of Hubert and Greenwich, closely — it took owner Nick Hartmann nearly a year (and a dog’s year of blood and sweat) to get the place in shape. But now it’s a perfect corner-store hangout that seems like it’s been there for ages — think of it as Cafe Clementine with beer taps. They soft-opened in June.

The program is simple and old school: the menu of soups, sandwiches and salads changes daily and specials sell out if you show up late. There’s no app or social media but you can call in an order. (Eventually you will be able to order from the website as you can now for the original Prince Street location, but that system is not a go yet for Tribeca — it is waiting on what has become a months-long saga with the gas exhaust and the Landmarks Commission, and of course frustrating up-costs for the business. I’d go into more details, but it’s just too exhausting — pun accidental but applicable.)

Nick’s wife, Toni Allocca, opened the original shop 33 years ago as one of the first gourmet to-go spots in Lower Manhattan. The couple met there — Nick was a devoted customer first. “She knew my order,” he told me in an interview last year. “Finally one time she brought a cookie out and said we should do something. After five dates we knew.”

They expanded with a second location at Brookfield and were there for a decade before taking the lease here, in the former Sweetgreen space across from Citi HQ. “We walked by this space and we said, why are we in a mall?” Nick said. “This building has the coffee roasters sign on top, and the view of the river. This is much more us.”

They offer the menu to go or to stay, and the 12-seat bar is for beer flights (there are 14 on tap), their homemade beverages like their lemon soda, “Lemonesso,” iced tea and lemonade, and coffee, which they also offer in flights. The idea is to taste-test higher-rated coffees and see what you like. The breezes come right in from the river, especially since the doors are flown open with a counter facing west — you could watch the sunset.

The key is the super fresh ingredients, including all the breads, and the sauces. That’s what elevates them. The chipotle mayo on the marinated chicken; avocado mayo on the turkey; tomato-shallot vinaigrette on the spinach salad. You can get a half sandwich; a full runs around $14.

This is not the beginning of an empire — this is the second location and that’s it. “When you know the fabric of your product, you do this out of the love of what you do,” Nick said. “And you can make a living. You won’t make a heap of money — the rents are through the roof, the number of departments that monitor restaurants are through the roof, the fines are through the roof. If you are not passionate, it’s not worth it.

“We always say to each other, when do we want to stop doing this? and we say, when we don’t love cooking and coming in every day.”

Olive’s
443 Greenwich at Hubert
olivesnyc@me.com
212-858-0111
Monday to Friday, 7a till the last person leaves (8 or 9p)
Saturday and Sunday, 9a till same as above