When Grocery Store Olive Bars Are Worth The Price (And When Jarred Olives Are Better)

A specialty olive bar is the savory version of a bulk candy store: Bin after bin of unique flavors, all ready for you to pick and choose at your whim. It's an impressive selection, and can be the perfect starting point or finishing touch for your next great meal. The downside? These olives can be significantly more expensive than their jarred counterparts an aisle over. Leave it to an olive expert — namely, olive oil sommelier Emily Lycopolus — to break down when these drupes are worth the extra cost, and when to stick with jarred.

One great reason to visit the olive bar? "If you want to try a wide variety of curing methods, different flavors like lemon-stuffed, or blue cheese-stuffed, etc., you only need to buy one or two, rather than a whole jar, to see if you like them," says Lycopolus. It's a great way to explore many different types of olives and find the varieties and preparations you like best, without loading your fridge with jars of briny jewels that just aren't your cup of tea. Plus, the olive bar usually has a lot more to choose from than you'll find on the shelves. Lycopolus adds, "If you are looking for something unique and special, this is a great place to find it, instead of going to a specialty food store ... so convenience is definitely a factor."

Olive bars also often feature more than just olives. From artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers to sweety drops and pickled peppadews, you can garnish a salad or build an epic charcuterie board with a mix of flavors and textures that aren't always available in jars.

The olive bar is a great place to shop if you want to grab a few different olive styles to garnish martinis, but jarred olives also have their place. The key is narrowing down what olives you're looking for and who is producing them.

"If you're looking for a specific flavor for a recipe like anchovy-stuffed olives or lemon-brined olives, then yes, it makes sense to purchase them [from the olive bar]. Otherwise, I choose jars from quality suppliers and olives that I know and love," Emily Lycopolus explains.

For a recipe like our five-ingredient olive tapenade, which calls for a full cup of Kalamata olives, buying a jar of high-quality olives will definitely be more cost-effective than purchasing olives by weight at the olive bar. (One of our writers loved the intense, salty flavor of Trader Joe's Greek Kalamata olives, if you need a recommendation.) Since the olives get blitzed with garlic and lemon juice, the flavor or appearance of the olives solo isn't as crucial. But if you're planning on setting out olives as a snack with aperitifs, opt for the variety that only an olive bar can provide.