Zola Bistro

Review summary

1. A

   Amy

   Detroit

   1 review

   vip
   2.0

   1 review

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 3

   Both the Bistro and the Cafe have issues. At the Bistro it is good quality and taste. At the Cafe it is service or the lack thereof. For the price, the food is sub par: swordfish was previously frozen seemingly, not fresh, carrot purée was boiled carrots no seasoning, broccolini was basically raw. Margherita pizza was atrocious- sauce tasted like tomato paste. It seems no effort is made to season or cook properly. This location is near our home but not worth the convenience. The good food is in Detroit! Anyone describing Ann Arbor as a vibrant culinary scene is delusional/thinks Gandy Dancer is fine dining 🫤🫤🫤
   

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2. P

   Peter

   Detroit

   11 reviews

   4.0

   11 reviews

   Dined on November 9, 2024

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   The food was at the usual level of quite good but not outstanding. What was best about this visit was the service. We had a waitress who was new to the floor, although she had served in other capacities. She was most eager both to please and to learn. It was fun helping her with some of the nuances of wine service of which she had very little experience.
   

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3. M

   Matthew

   Richmond

   43 reviews

   vip
   5.0

   43 reviews

   Dined on November 3, 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   Excellent service. Very good brunch - pumpkin waffle & latte!
   

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4. M

   Melinda

   Raleigh

   3 reviews

   vip
   3.0

   3 reviews

   Dined on November 2, 2024

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 4

   Food was fairly uninspired and overpriced. Mocktail was too sweet. Waitress didn’t seem to know the menu all that well. Place was pretty dead for a Saturday night.
   

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5. B

   Bruce

   Detroit

   13 reviews

   vip
   3.0

   13 reviews

   Dined on November 1, 2024

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   Food was very good. Service was poor. We waited for 45 minutes from when we finished eating before our server cleared our plates and brought dessert menus. Our server, nor anyone else, checked how our food was or if we needed anything else while we eat our meal.
   

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6. B

   Bethany

   Columbus

   2 reviews

   4.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on October 27, 2024

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   We love the food at Zola. Since we had a reservation we were seated immediately, but after sitting down it seemed that no one knew who should be serving our table. Understandable - these things happen - but another table was seated next to ours and was greeted and served water while we waited for someone to acknowledge us. Several people walked by our table and finally had a little pow wow near us about who should serve us. The little group broke up having made a decision, but still no one got us waters or spoke directly to us. I wondered who the manager was and why they didn't notice how long we were sitting there. Finally the selected wait person got to us and said she would be right back with water, and from there on things went well. Loved the food, got pretty good service. Zola is not the cheapest place to eat. Just a bit disappointed in our initial experience.
   

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7. D

   Don

   Detroit

   2 reviews

   4.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on October 5, 2024

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 3

   The menu had nice options and the food was good. The staff was working hard but spread thin. The layout is very open with the tables close together. Fortunately, it was not too busy and thus not too loud and the staff could almost keep up with the workload. We were not dissapointed, but would not rush back
   

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8. W

   William

   Detroit

   30 reviews

   5.0

   30 reviews

   Dined on September 29, 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Never had a bad meal or experience at Zola Bistro. Food is great, service wonderful even when busy
   

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9. S

   Sun

   New York City

   42 reviews

   vip
   3.0

   42 reviews

   Dined on September 29, 2024

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 4

   Great atmosphere and good food for brunch but extremely slow service. Maitre d’ was rude and didn’t know what she was doing. But overall, a decent place.
   

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10. J

    Jerry

    Las Vegas

    3 reviews

    3.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on September 28, 2024

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 3

    The first thing we noticied is the extreme high noise level. We had never eaten here on a Saturday night post-Michigan football game and attributed it to the crowd of families and their college student/children catching up after the game. Unfortunately, rain prevented us from dining outside. The service was excellent. As were our cocktails and Caprese salad. Unfortunately, the entrees of duck breast and NY strip didn't shine as well. The next day I recalled ordering steak at Zola's downtown location once before and comparing it afterwards to a grocery store level of quality. Certainly not worth $43. My wife's duck breast was not that tender either. Our big splurge of 4 raw oysters proved to be our big mistake. We woke up during the night following with nausea and thankfulness that we had only eaten 2 apiece. Could the reason why the waiter apologized for the delay in bringing the oysters to the table have anything to do with the kitchen trying to find good ones? My other disappointment was the craft beer list was loaded with IPA's. No amber lagers to go with my steak.
    

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