Opened in 2000 and located at the corner of East Houston and Allen, Oliva has been a popular destination for Spanish fare and top shelf wines and cocktails for nearly ten years. Oliva’s intimate yet lively setting caters to a diverse clientele of New York City residents. The Restaurant’s unique charm, which includes live music, lends itself to groups of all sizes. Oliva is owned and operated by Christian Bari and Julio Dominguez. Julio Dominguez was born in Mexico city, he arrived to NYC in 1998 pursuing his passion as a film director. In 2002 he started working at Oliva by mistake as his friend Camarena, an Oliva bartender, had a job opportunity in Ecuador, and asked Julio to fill in for him. That’s the way everything started in Oliva, Julio became very close to Eduardo Fontan (the original owner). Since Eduardo was simultaneously running a lounge adjacent to Oliva, called Carnaval, upon Cam's return he was moved to the new place and it allowed Julio to keep the job.