zest kitchen & bar

avoid!. bland! i have been vegan/vegetarian/raw-foodist for 2.5 years along with my wife. we have been to many restaurants catering to organic/raw/vegan, etc. food and made many dishes at home. had high hopes for this restaurant. interior looked nice. server was pleasant. food, however was not good. it didn't taste awful, but i can't see how anyone would actually pay for it. everything lacked flavor. had jalepeno popper appetizer and it tasted like, well nothing. my wife had black bean sliders and i had portobello mushroom dinner. both were totally lacking flavor. the chef has an obvious aversion to garlic (vampire?). themenuwas very eclectic, but after tasting the food we could tell that the ingredients were put together just to look eclectic, not because they had fantastic flavors. even the party next to us were joking about how their food had no flavor. we saw the good reviews and maybe they changed chefs. we will never go back, however. i strongly caution anyone from spending their hard-earned money here. there are far better healthy/vegetarian restaurants in the slc valley.

saying that zest kitchen & bar is unique is a bit of an understatement.  just trying to categorize it is proof that it’s different from everywhere else in salt lake city.  it’s a restaurant specifically focused on vegetarian cuisine, conveniently making it vegan- and gluten free-friendly.  it’s also a bar, so visitors must be 21.  it’s open late, at which point its focus shifts primarily to a bar, complete with a dance floor and sometimes a dj. the black bean sliders were one of the highlights of dinner. i went to zest a few weeks ago to try out the bar scene and was excited to find out that they play house music on fridays (a rare find for salt lake city).  the crowd was intimate and the vibe was energetic.  anxious to try the food side of zest, a few friends and i returned last week for dinner. the whiskey sour, emphasis on the sour. the cocktailmenuhas some creative concoctions on it, but i was disappointed that most of them were on the sweet side.  the high west whiskey sour (lem

warm & inviting. had dinner and cocktails there tonight. we were greeted right away and brought menus and water (i love not having to ask for water). the server was attentive and likable without being fake-friendly or rushed, another plus in my book. we ordered sweet potatoes fries (awesome), hummus and veggies (also very good) and a salad with an avocado stuffed with the most amazing chopped walnuts and spices. i could have eaten just that all night.

the best things though were the cocktails. we both had the ginger spice which was made with fireball whiskey. so delicious! i am normally a beer drinker and i liked that themenufeatured a lot of local beers that i love but i am glad i ordered the cocktail. i am not vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-intolerant, just the opposite in fact, but i really enjoyed my meal there. we will for sure go back if just for that stuffed avocado salad and the cocktails.

in response to hl. hey there! we are sad to hear about your experience at zest last week. we definitely value your opinions and put all suggestions and comments into review.
we are for sure going through some growing pains and getting kinks ironed out. we are constantly working on improving our menu.
you caught us on our summer/fallmenuchange and maybe the server didn't talk to you about some of the fall replacement menu.
i'm sorry the drinks took that long! i'm not sure why but i will talk to everyone on staff and make sure things like this do not go unnoticed. we really value feedback from our vegetarian friends! i am approachable when it comes to issues because i want this to work. the reason for creating zest is to offer more healthy veg. options in salt lake. i am sorry if i gave off that vibe. i am more than happy to talk to any guest at anytime there is a problem.
i would hope in the future that you will be willing to give us another try. :)
our newmenuis out and ready for fall!
my sincere apologies,
casey staker
owner/operator
zest kitchen & bar
please feel free to email me if you have any other questions or concerns.
thank you.
casey@zestslc.com

trying too hard.. some friends and i came upon zest after enjoying the downtown gallery stroll last friday night. when we walked in, there wasn't a hostess in sight, then we come to find her eating at the bar. after being seated (at a table that did not have any place settings, we had to grab them off the surrounding tables) it took the waiter at least ten minutes to even approach our table. the wine and beer was average price, nothing to complain about. looking through themenui was very hopeful. i am vegatarian and prefer not to eat gluten, so they had a lot to offer. after waiting almost a half hour for our drinks to arrive, we finally got to order. all three of my original choices were shot down because the restaurant had run out. mind you, it was dead empty in the place when we walked in at 8:30 pm. what restaurant runs out of three things on a smallmenuin the middle of a friday night? what i finally ordered was the goat cheese with chives on cucumbers. it came with five dried out cucumbers and cheese that looked like it was squeezed out of a toothepaste container by a two year old. and it cost $9 dollars.
this restaurant will not last by the end of the season, much less a few months.
worst service, horrible atmosphere, elevator club music playing too loud, pretentious owner and the worst "healthy" food i have ever had. stay away from this restaurant.