Olives and Plates at Wits: A Cake Bonanza

2Summers | 8 July 2025

If you live in Joburg and like to eat, you’ve probably heard of an upscale breakfast and lunch chain called Olives and Plates. There are several Olives and Plates restaurants around town, mostly in fancy neighborhoods like Sandhurst and Hyde Park. But I suspect some of you might not know about the original Olives and Plates, hidden away in a historic Cape Dutch building on the campus of Wits University.

Outside Olives and Plates at Wits — The Wits Club’s distinctive Cape Dutch exterior. Don’t be deceived by all the empty tables; I took this picture mid-morning. Olives and Plates is always packed for lunch.

Or maybe (like me, up until recently) you know about the Wits Olives and Plates but haven’t gone there, because getting into the Wits campus is such a pain. But I’m here to tell you, it’s worth it – for both the atmosphere and the food. I went for the first time about nine months ago and have been back several times since, for meals or just coffee and cake. The photos in this post were taken across multiple visits.

Getting to Olives and Plates at Wits

Everyone hates Empire Road (or at least I do). But just do it: Make the trek down Empire to Wits’ Yale Road entrance (don’t use the Enoch Sontonga Avenue entrance, even if it’s closer for you, because security might turn you away), submit yourself to the university’s gauntlet of security checks, and wend your way to the sprawling Wits Club parking lot. Look for the big, shady courtyard, the fountain, and the tables under the trees.

Outside Olives and Plates. There are parking lots on both sides of the restaurant so you might not see this sign. Even with Google Maps, I always get lost in the Wits campus. Allow extra time for a few awkward U-turns.

The courtyard fountain at Olives and Plates — The courtyard fountain.

If it’s a nice day (it usually is), ask for a table in the courtyard. Then go check out the restaurant’s foyer, where you’ll come face-to-face with an enormous, round table full of cakes – at least 12 to 15 of them.

Don’t get distracted by the cakes just yet, though. Olives and Plates has an extensive breakfast and lunch menu to focus on first.

A chicken and feta wrap from Olives and Plates — A chicken and feta wrap that I ordered once. Look at that salad presentation! The wrap was delicious; the salad was mostly for show but I loved it anyway.

Okay, back to the cakes. (Yes, that was a very quick diversion away from the cakes and back again. It’s obvious where my priorities lie.)

I definitely can’t name all the cake flavors – I think they change often, anyway. There are always a few chocolate varieties, a few citrus, some decadent-looking cheesecakes, red velvet, lemon meringue, carrot, etc. When I go to Olives and Plates for cake, I just walk up to the table when the time is right and choose at random.

Lemon chiffon cake slice. — Lemon chiffon – my first Olives and Plates cake ever. Every slice is accompanied by a generous dollop of cream.

Fiver and carrot cake — Fiver and her carrot cake.

Pam and baklava cheesecake — Pam with what I believe was a slice of baklava cheesecake.

Heather and chocolate cake — Chocolate + caramel? I can’t remember. But I know it tasted great. (Photo by Fiver)

Now you know where to go the next time you have a cake craving. The end.

Olives and Plates at Wits Club is at 7 Yale Road, Parktown. It’s open every day for breakfast and lunch (until 4:00 p.m.). If you want to learn more about Olives and Plates and the two dynamic sisters who founded the company, read this 2020 Daily Maverick article.