The joint highest-rated cafe in Hornchurch according to Google reviews said it looks after its customers "as much as we look after our family".
Little Olive, located directly next door to Hornchurch station in Station Lane, is run by manager Alpay Nafioglu.
The cafe opened in 2022 and was initially named Coffee Co but Alpay rebranded within the first year because he wanted a brand image that was "something more to do with home".
Alpay told the Recorder: “We’re from Cyprus so we go for the nice, fresh, authentic food.
“We focus on the quality of our food, freshness and customer service.
“We always try to look after our customers as much as we look after our family – and we do the same for our staff as well."
Alpay is helped out at Little Olive by his mother and brothers as well as a small team of external staff.
With a 4.9 out of five star average rating on Google, the cafe is the joint highest-rated in Hornchurch along with The Sip House.
Alpay believes the treatment of his customers, as well as the freshness of the food, contributes to this.
“We’re a small team but we treat everyone as family," he said.
“Our 48 hour fermented sourdough bread is very popular and delivered fresh every day.
“We have Italian and French pastries – our almond pain au chocolate is very nice.
“We specialise in fresh brunch and our bread is our selling point - it’s very difficult to get freshly baked sourdough every day."
The Italian pesto and grilled chicken sourdough toasties are two of the top sellers at Little Olive, according to Alpay.
Alpay also claimed the cafe to be a popular spot for members of the West Ham United coaching staff, who he says pop in for a coffee or a snack every now and again.
He said they often come "with their shades on" to stay discreet.
“We have a lot of returning customers," Alpay added.
“We’re in a part of Hornchurch which is a little bit quieter so we tend to get the same people coming in every day and support us.
“The local community is amazing. They have really helped us from day one until now.
“We wouldn’t be here without them."
Alpay also admitted that being a business manager in the current economic climate was challenging.
“We have found it challenging at times but the community helps us to keep positive and we just carry on," he said.
“Everyone is going through challenges but we just smile and get on with it as much as we can."
Alpay said he had no plans for rapid expansion but was hoping to "revisit" the menu in the near future and hopefully bring some more seating to the cafe to fit in more customers.
He said: “We’re just trying to do what we can do best – provide a good service and fresh food.
“As we go along we might slowly expand and hopefully bring more seats here.
“But we want to gradually build and not put too much pressure on ourselves."
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