Olive Cafe to take root at new site
Popular Mediterranean restaurant to reopen in 2025
Olive Cafe is closing its doors Saturday and and plans to open in a new location next year.
Owner Tony Mashaal said he needs to move his popular Mediterranean restaurant, 935 S. Kansas Ave., because his current site in downtown Topeka has limited parking availability.
“I think I just need a place for myself with parking,” Mashaal said.
When he first opened the restaurant in summer 2022, customers were more understanding of the limited space, he said. Now, he said they’re frustrated and not always the “happiest or nicest” about parking.
Where will Olive Cafe relocate?
Mashaal told The Capital-Journal that Olive Cafe will move to 801 S.W. Topeka Blvd., which is currently the location of LendNation. That’s about half a mile slightly northwest to the other side of the Kansas Statehouse.
Mashaal owns that building, which is 9,375 square feet, and owns several
The Kansas Senate passed a bill criminalizing organized retail crime, a form of organized theft from a retailer for the purpose of reselling the stolen items.
The term typically refers to thefts by groups of people and includes stealing cargo trucks, shoplifting, cargo theft, and smash and grabs — where a protective barrier like a display case is destroyed in the process of a theft.
The bill in Kansas, Substitute House Bill 2144, doesn’t require multiple parties and opens up anyone who stole more than $3,000 worth of goods over the past year.
The bill would establish a penalty for people who have stolen between $3,000 and $15,000 as a level 5 nonperson felony with sentencing between 31 and 136 months, and greater than $15,000 as a level 4 nonperson felony with sentencing between 38 and 172 months.
The National Retail Federation reported a rise in organized retail crime last year, and at least nine states passed laws imposing harsher penalties on organized retail crime between 2022 and 2023. The bill was supported by state and regional chambers of commerce, Walmart and Attorney General Kris Kobach, who would be authorized to prosecute organized retail crime under the bill.
other properties in Topeka as well. He said LendNation’s lease is about to expire, which will allow for work to begin on making the location perfect for Olive Cafe.
A year of preparation is anticipated before the Olive Cafe will reopen, Mashaal said.
Will there be anything different at the new location?
New Mediterranean menu items can be expected when Olive Cafe reopens.
Mashaal said he would like to keep daytime hours at Olive Cafe the same, along with more intimate dinner options that would be considered a “date-night” choice.
The current menu includes such dishes as shawarma sandwiches — chicken, fries, pickles and white sauce inside of a grilled wrap. Other traditional recipes incorporate gyro meat, a blend of lamb and beef, as well as vegan options.
When is the last business day for Olive Cafe in downtown Topeka?
Olive Cafe’s last business day at its current location will be Saturday.
“It’s tough to get all the customers satisfied, but I did my best to make everybody happy, and I did,” Mashaal said. “But there is always someone who will tell you something. But it is a really big challenge. It’s not easy to make everybody happy about your foods.”
“I built with my team, a big name. They built it with me. I’m nothing without them and that big name.”
Mashaal said those efforts will go on when it cafe opens at its new location next year.
“We’re going to continue that big name,” he said. “I’m opening a 100% back, and I will open way stronger and way better.”
Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT.