Zax Restaurant & Bar

Recommends

vvillas

Joined 6 years ago

A Great Date Night. Vicky and I have 3 young kids so do not get out as a couple very often. Our date nights are special and we do like to try new places. Zax was a delightful evening.

We sat on the patio and could hear the faint Jazz sounds of the trio through the window. Our server was pleasant and attentive. We are not big eaters so we shared our meal. We had the cheese and olive starter. We both found this starter to be plentiful with a good variety of cheese and olives. The server offered more bread for our cheese, twice. We next had the house salad. The server offered to split the salad with two plates when she overheard that Vicky does not like bleu cheese. The salad was tossed with a house dressing and was just the right portion for 2. The pizza was next. The hand made crust was delicious and even sharing we did not finish the last slice. Altogether we had 1 soda, 2 beers, split an appetizer, salad and pizza and our bill was $23.00.

We thought this was good value and ended the evening with 2 more beers at the bar. We talked about our evening and our experience on the way home and decided that this was a great place to meet our other parent friends on a future date. Zax, thank you for a great date night.

Recommends

karencorbin

Joined 6 years ago

Assume Your Rightful Hip Place. If you're into modern hip decor this is your place. Very hot and trendy spot. Begin with Calamari, you won't be disappointed. Dine away on Flat Iron Steak-au-Poivre which is melt in your mouth yummy and delightfully pan seared with brandy and a green (not kidding) peppercorn sauce. For an added twist ask your server for a Brandy Alexander made with ice-cream (for best results) and a dash of nutmeg. It could replace a spendy not so tasty dessert you've tried so many times before. Think about having a larger group here and you'll all be glad you did. This is a dining experience for hip baby boomers as well.

Recommends

zjustice

Joined 6 years ago

Great customer service, awesome food and excellent beer selection. Good martinis too.. I always have an awesome time at Zax. Great food, great beer, great customer service. Seared Tuna and a glass of wine or Martini is the way to go..

Doesn't Recommend

johnjbriody

Joined 6 years ago

Katrina all over again, I think I saw Mayor Nagen!. From the moment I entered the front door, my experience --- I believe -- was similar to attempting to get mass transit during Katrina. It was a disaster. They showed us a table with 4 chairs - one of them was wet -- & told us not to sit in it. Took us 20 minutes to get menus (afdter I asked for them), another twenty to order a "starter" (menu name). They may change that to "finisher". When we expressed our dis-satisfaction and requested our check, the owner had the gall to ask me if I lived in Austin, as if it would make a difference. Well, I do live in Austin and I will not eat nor drink at Zax's Pints and Plates -- ever again. Believe me it was worth the $21.00 plus tip to save my money on a meal. We left - drove to another rest - and probably finished that meal before we would have been served at Zax's.

Recommends

carvelo

Joined 7 years ago

Best meal in Austin so far. I have lived in Austin for about 5 years now and I just ate the best meal I've had at Zax. My expectations for the beer selection were high, but I didn't anticipate the food to be that tasty. However, once I'd left, my impression was exactly the opposite! The beer selection is pretty good, providing a decent selection of smaller brewers' beers, but I was really hoping for more Belgian beers. They didn't have even one when I went in!

Now, onto the WONDERFUL part. I had the pork loin with rum mashed sweet potatoes and mixed vegetables. WOW!!!! The pork was the most tender, juicy pork I'd ever tasted. It was cooked and seasoned perfectly. I had them prepare it medium and that's exaclty how it arrived. The mixture of rum and sweet potatoes was novel and a huge success. For those that are very sensitive to rum, you might find it overwhelming, but I thought it was just right. Mixed veggies (squash, beans, broccoli) were nothing to write home about, but still tasted great. Seriously, nothing could have been better about this meal. Our service was great, too.

FYI, if you're concerned about the price, check out restaurant(dot)com for their cheap discounts that make this restaurant more affordable.

Recommends

kpp58

Joined 7 years ago

if you feel like spending a lot of money. this place is kind of a rip off. but its very cute and has a great selection of high-brow food and drink in a fun atmosphere. the polenta is great and the drinks taste better here for some reason.

Recommends

rexman

Joined 11 years ago

nice ambience, good service, but ordinary food. As the title says, the food was somewhat disappointing. The waiter was terrific, we were promptly seated, and I liked the decor and "feel" of the restaurant. However, if I can do a dish better than what the restaurant does, I have to wonder what's going on. Maybe I shouldn't have ordered the Chicken Parmesan. The salads the both my partner and I had were good. I will give them another chance. In fact, I think I'll go back for dinner sometime. The entrées at dinner sound pretty good.

Recommends

the_verdict

Joined 7 years ago

Hudson's should take a lesson from this place. The staff was great and attentive...lots of strange looks shot our way.. kind of made me feel like they were clones looking for new subjects or they thought we were famous..just an eerie weirdness but amusing. Anyway the bread was french and amazing.. butter could have been a bit softer, but it was spreadable. My friend wanted a chicken sandwich but apparently it was only offered at lunch? Our waiter didn't give us a hard time but we gave him a hard time (in a playful way) when he told us the lunch crew is "different" than the dinner crew..So is it beneath the dinner crew to make a chicken sandwich we wonder? Anyway, she got her chicken sandwich.. no problems. I ordered the special grilled mahi mahi with saffron risotto w/ vegetables in a butter sauce. The mahi mahi was decent but the sauce was unbelievable!!!

Hello Hudson's on The Bend.. now THIS is a sauce worth paying for!

Recommends

classycat

Joined 8 years ago

Best Omlets, Awesome Patio, Live Music, Great Variety of Brew on Tap. This place is so cool! The sign intrigued me, so I stopped in for a drink - I ended up being there all night! The decorations and live jazz band kept me entertained. They have a great variety of beers to taste (that's what kept me occupied for so long). I was not disappointed by any of them! Of course, after all that beer I had to try some food - it was amazing! They have great grilled pork tenderloin, cooked perfectly, and the grilled polenta appetizer was creative and delicious. I will be back soon to enjoy their patio dining!

Doesn't Recommend

richdean

Joined 10 years ago

Better ways to spend your money. The service is just terrible, it took nearly 25 minutes for us to place an order and our appetizer took closer to 35 minutes. While people were friendly, they were semi-competent. The wine list, if you can call it that, consists of $13 bottles marked up 2 or 3 times. Maybe you can get good bar food, but don't bother with the ham-fisted "upscale" food. Wish we had ordered beer and fries.