Brandon “Bud” Carter had a tall order ahead of him when he opened Olea. Following up a massive hit is never an easy task, whether you are an actual rock star or a rock-star chef like Carter, whose previous hot spot was the Butcher’s Block in Long Branch. Olea exudes a bold, sexy confidence from its space, on the ground floor of the Shore Club hotel in Spring Lake.

Crimson drapes, brick accents and soaring olive trees harmonize with sleek, modern furniture, while dim lighting and a fireplace create a vibe romantic enough to make Olea—which landed on NJM‘s 2026 Best New Restaurants list—the go-to date-night location in Spring Lake.

Unlike the Butcher’s Block, which is known for its steak, Olea concentrates equally on pasta dishes, seafood and steaks, with a Mediterranean flavor tying the whole menu together.

The cocktail program is inventive and serves as a fine starting point. Drinks include everything from spritzers and martinis to batched cocktails, mostly named for various pop and rock groups from decades past. The Bananarama earns high marks for its spirit-forward blend of rye and aged rum accented with banana slices that are coated in raw sugar and torched to create a divinely drinkable tip of the cap to bananas Foster.

Apps here are playful and fun. I couldn’t resist ordering the crab cake Rangoon, which was enjoyable, but ultimately just tasted like a crab cake that didn’t really need the wonton wrapper. It’s a fancy twist on crab Rangoon, but not an improvement by any means.

The crab cake Rangoon appetizer, with a fennel-and-herb salad and Old Bay agrodolce. Photo: Shilpa Iyer

The Caesar salad proves that one need not reinvent the wheel in order to impress. The whole leaves of baby gem lettuce come lightly coated in a fabulous dressing with a nice hint of citrus, and the toasty bits of garlic, along with fried capers and Parmesan, each up the ante without overwhelming the salad.

In America, any dish worth eating seems to also be worth offering Buffalo style, and while I want to be annoyed by this overdone trend, often it just works. Case in point: the Buffalo octopus appetizer at Olea. The peppery house-made sauce has enough kick to give your sinuses a proper clearing without making you run for a glass of milk to chug, and the octopus itself is toothsome, with an impossibly satisfying bite.

Carter’s tenure at the helm of the Butcher’s Block has ensured he knows his way around a steak, and Olea offers six different cuts, with everything from an 8-ounce filet to a 48-ounce Prime tomahawk.

The filet is a perfect choice for anyone looking to get their feet wet and still save some room. It slices like butter, which is as much a compliment to the tenderness of the steak as it is to the quality of the knives at Olea. Bravo for both.

Whatever cut you choose, be sure to pair it with their rich and luscious Olea butter, which I suspect could make a pair of wrestling shoes taste delicious if poured over them directly and served at the proper temperature.

Squid-ink tonnarelli. Photo: Shilpa Iyer

The squid-ink tonnarelli is a visually gorgeous dish and features the most marvelously al dente pasta I have ever tasted, but its butter emulsion is too acidic and, for the $60 price tag, should contain more king crab. The restaurant’s chicken dish, listed on the menu simply as “chicken,” is fine, but forgettable enough that its uninspired moniker seems perfectly fitting.

From churros in cruller form to elaborate sundaes, desserts at Olea are anything but an afterthought.

A lemon tart with whipped-yuzu ganache, a white-chocolate shell, lemon-curd, shortbread crumbles and toasted meringue. Photo: Shilpa Iyer

The surprising standout of the bunch: the lemon tart. It scores points right out of the gate for masquerading convincingly as an actual lemon, but beyond the illusion, it’s also one of the most enjoyable desserts I have had in some time. Lemon desserts don’t often wow me, but the whipped-yuzu ganache, white-chocolate shell, lemon-curd, shortbread crumbles and toasted meringue come together very well. I’ve rarely been so pleasantly surprised.

HOW WE REVIEW: Restaurants are chosen for review at the sole discretion of New Jersey Monthly. For our starred fine-dining reviews, our critics visit a restaurant at least twice with a guest, always maintaining anonymity to avoid preferential treatment, and the magazine pays for their meals. Stars are assigned by the dining-section editor in consultation with the reviewer.

Four stars = extraordinary; three stars = excellent; two stars = very good; one star = good; half a star = fair.