Zealous: User Reviews

We recently had dinner at Zealous and were not impressed. The restaurant space is great but that was the highlight of our experience. The hostess was not very welcoming - no hello when we got to the stand. We arrived prior to our reservation time and were asked to wait in the bar area, though there were several empty tables in the restaurant (it was a Saturday night).

The bar area was nice and lounge type music was playing, however it skipped repeatedly. We reviewed the extensive wine list. Unfortunately, the bar tender was working in the restaurant area and not behind the bar. After about 5 minutes he returned to the bar and poured our drinks. The wine was good but it was strange to sit at an unstaffed bar.

We were seated at our reservation time and ordered dinner. The menu had quite a few interesting options. Ordering was a slow process and we waited a long period for the food to show up. The food was just average - portions were small and entrees were expensive.

Given the cost, I would have expected a much better experience overall. Based on the service, I would have guessed we were at a brand new restaurant.

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My sister had a small family wedding, with a dinner reception at Zealous. It was aweosme! We started in the bar and had great service from Justin...great atmosphere, we had the bar to ourselves...it was fantastic. Then we went into the private party room which was so cool...the tables were arraigned in a large square and there were 16 of us. Perfect setting for a great celebration. Andrew took great care of us...we all loved him ! The best part though was the food. Every course came out perfectly...the dishes kept getting better and better. For a large group it can be difficult to ensure all courses are on time and warm, etc...and Zealous was 100% spot on! We had a perfect evening and I cannot wait to go back to Zealous. Thanks to all who made my sister's wedding so perfect!

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Had a girls night out at Zealous. Wanted to try it after a great experience at Duchamp. It was really remarkable. I live in Bucktown and wasn't very familiar with this restaurant but it has it all - the interior is gorgeous. Nothing like it in the city. It's reason enough to check it out. The menu is sophisticated yet accessible - you will find flavors and combinations you won't see elsewhere. I had the mango pancake with fois gras appetizer - sweet and rich. One of my friends had the taco dosa, another friend had the sweetbreads with adobe sauce. All absolutely delish! Our entrees included a rich, delicious lobster pasta dish, a moroccan chicken pot pie, and someone else had the filet with creamy polenta. All wonderful dishes. After we told the chef we were fans of Duchamp, he sent out a complimentary dessert plate that had a carrot cake and pumpkin beignets. Out of this world, and as full as we were we wolfed them down. Great food, hundreds of wines and a great group of friends - we had such a wonderful experience here.

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Great experience at Zealous. My firm recently had a large event here and I came back to try more of the menu with a friend. It was great. I had the oxtail appetizer and 1 lb rib eye which i liked better than Hugo's. My friend had the pancakes and fois gras ap and salmon. Enormous wine list which was impressive. Good service - very accommodating especially since my friend has a few special requests. Must be an NBA hangout. Michael Jordan was eating at the restaurant when we were there, and last time I saw Juwan Howard.

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My boyfriend and I wanted to take my visiting parents out for a nice dinner and after reading good reviews, we decided on this local neighborhood spot. Overall, I have to say we were extremely disappointed by the food. The environment was beautiful and relaxing. Our waiter (Christian) was wonderful - the service was impeccable. Even though we only tried a few things on the menu- I wouldn't recommend any of the dishes we tried to anyone. Our lobster bisque was not only boring- but served luke warm. The sea bass, by far the best meal of everyone's did not exactly taste anything like it was described on the menu The lightness of the fish did not match up with the dark and heavy accompanying items. The veal presented like chewed up leftovers... it tasted and smelled similiarly. Needless to say, it was a terrible dish. Couldn't stand to stomach the rest. The filet was tasteless, and paired with tasteless root vegetables and grit like potatoes. Interesting. After we told our wonderful and understanding waiter about the veal... he bought our dessert... which was sadly, no compromise. The carrot cake tasted like a ginger bread cookie... from last Christmas. No moisture. No flavor. Overall, Zealous was disappointing and rather frustrating since everything on the money was relatively expensive. I won't recommend this to any of my friends, and I won't be back to dine there myself.

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It was supposed to be a celebration with 9 of us in the "special bamboo garden" chef's table. Unfortunately, it took the waiter half an hour to even bring us menus. We sat their for what felt like forever to even have drink orders taken. We were easily a four wine bottle table, but they came by so infrequently to take orders, we sat without drinks and they lost at least a bottle from the table. Normally a 3 hour meal can be a wonderful experience, but when they just abandon you for that time, it becomes extremely irritating. And when we tried to complain, the owner/chef was rude and defensive to my wife. I honestly enjoyed my food, but our evening was ruined because the server ignored us and they couldn't apologize for the delay. Then the fact that there was one valet person in a rain storm for 10 people trying to get cars and cabs put the perfect capper on the evening.

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The room is sparse and sleek, the service is attentive and well informed and Michael, the owner, is always around to put that "owner's touch" on things. Those are the things that I see people write about in reviews; and they're all there at Zealous--but that's not why I go back. It's the food. Zealous is a Chicago high-end dining experience--no put on airs or pretension--just attention to the food. My recent favorite, their ribeye is a real piece of meat--not some speck in the center of a reduction-drizzled but otherwise empty plate. My family's Italian and Zealous has a lot of things that are borrowed from meals I remember growing up--my grandma's kitchen--but I 'm sure someone who's Korean, or French, or Thai, or Eastern European could say the same thing. However they do it, their menu is a jigsaw puzzle of different culinary traditions. This, my fellow Chicagoans, is why we go to high end restaurants: to reap the benefits of the mixing together of tastes we couldn't possibly do on our own. Go, get a bottle of wine, relax and order something you've never heard of before.

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Zealous came very recommended to us and we were really looking forward to it . We were so disappointed. The restaurant was completely empty except for about four or five tables . The bar was empty except for our party of six. It was boring and had absolutely no atmosphere. The food and service at best was mediocre and the wine list is outrageous.
I would not recommend it.

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Our recent dining experience at Zealous was

awesome. The food was excellent with flavors and textures right on the mark. Staff was professional and friendly. Had a great time and look forward to returning.

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i can agree with the reviewer below regarding the fact that there are not enough customers, and there seems to be a buzz lacking. BUT, i cannot understand why it is not packed. the venue itself is stylish and cool, the service was perfectly fine, and the food is really really good-beautifully presented and cooked. we all enjoyed our meals. i will recommend this restaurant, and i think they should hire a new pr agency to get things moving, it is a very good restaurant, and deserves a bigger clientele.

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