ZED451

I’ve driven pass this place several times, and I finally got a chance to check it out. This visit was to experience the rooftop because it’s finally feeling like summer in Chicago. Next time we will check out the restaurant. The roof top experience was nice. It was not over crowded so we were able to secure a nice tall table near the bar. They have couches as well but they were all taken (of course). The bar was pretty crowded so a waitress kindly took care of us. I had a spicy strawberry margarita which was pretty pleasant. I was intrigued by the spiciness of the drink. The bar menu had lots of items I would like try but I did not order any since I just ate. This night it was truly just to enjoy a drink on the rooftop on a nice summer night.

For a Saturday night, I expected the rooftop of this place to be loud and bustling, but it was actually calm with a little chatter. My cousins and I were comfortably able to find a place to fit all of us, (about 10 people), which was also once again, surprising.
I liked the small and intimate setting of their rooftop. The elements of wood, fire, and warm colors really made for a warm and relaxing ambience.
I ordered their original ZED Wave and a cousin ordered me a Bloody Mary, (in case you’re wondering — yes, it was a bit strange to have at night). The Zed Wave which was made of pineapple purée, lemon, housemade basil simple syrup, infused with Tito’s Handmade Vodka, St. Germain, was a fantastic summer drink that was simple and not overdone. I liked it so much, that I ordered another! The Bloody Mary that my cousin haphazardly ordered me was fairly decent, but nothing special. They did have olives stuffed with cheese, which I found pretty cool.
The only down side was that the service was a bit slow as there were only two or three bartenders making drinks. At the same time however, our waiter was jovial and friendly, and genuinely catering to each of our personal preferences.
As for their food, I have heard great things about it, so I will definitely be back to try it!

Came here for a work outing dinner and the place is huge: with a nicely laid out downstairs and popping upstairs balcony. The salad bar is stocked with a wide arrangement of salads, cured meats, cheeses, soups and cold apps. But when you’re at a Brazilian steak house, you just want MEAT! I would say as comparison, this place’s meat offerings are not as good as Fogo. The cuts of meats offered were not as tender and not as flavorful. They do have some seafood options and a wagyu, but I would pay a little bit more for the taste. The service here is nice and attentive and they do offer a nice pace so you don’t have mounds of sutff piled up before you can enjoy.

ZED451 — Chicago, 739 North Clark
We had a very disappointing experience at ZED451 on Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 8 PM. We were celebrating a major graduation with 14 guests and a tab of $ 1,233 ($ 88/​person). Regretfully, the restaurant performed way below our expectations for the following reasons:
1. The flow of meat serving was very slow, not continuous to provide continuity of dinner, the choices presented at our table were limited and the servers were approaching randomly with partial skewers (not full) and not enough for one round of food for the entire party. Once the skewer was used up, we would not see them coming back to finish the round which may have only served 3 – 5 people of the entire party. Servers were approaching at a slow pace (not as fast as other tables) with almost empty skewers. This led to interruption of dinner. There was a gap in serving amounting to an average of 10 – 12 minutes between servings which is not a good way to have dinner as you tend to lose your appetite while anxiously waiting.
2. The quality and meat service catered for rare to medium rare meat. We did on several occasions ask and requested medium to medium well meats. We still continued to get offered medium and medium rare which most of the party refused. This led to the waitress bringing out two small platters of meat after 25 minutes wait which are supposedly medium/​medium well cooked, but the meat was not neatly cut or sliced and looked like it was obtained from the small leftover meat pieces (remnants of skewers) and not freshly prepared (dry, hard and just warm). The meat looked like left over pieces from plates. The quality of the beef meat cuts was substandard.
3. At the recommendation of the waitress, we ordered 8 sides total of veggies, corn and mashed potatoes. Of course, the quantity of the sides was very small, more like an individual side about one scoop/​one cup. The guests were not really consuming the sides for fear of using up the entire portion out of courtesy to others in the party. Of course, ordering more sides after the fact was going to be another 30 – 40 minutes wait, which again disrupts the continuity of dinner. The sides are basic sides which should be standard items available at any such restaurant with ample amounts for quick service. Not at this restaurant. The sides were not in any way custom made or a la carte selection items requiring such a long preparation time, at least, judging by the quality.
4. The beef meat selection was limited to one or two kinds at the most, not like in other competitor restaurants where there are various kinds of beef cuts as filet, sirloin, skirt type and other selections (lamb). There was a concentration of service on lower grade items as sausage (a cheaper item), fish (Mahi-​mahi, raw tuna) nothing too great to write home about. Salmon choice was acceptable.
5. We were offered free desert for the graduate consisting of 3 single plate items to be shared (not individual portions) which may be the result that the manager may have noticed that the service was not up to par; a pacifier indeed. The main course of dinner (meat & sides) was awful.
6. We did order two bottles of Italian champaign (prosecco) and had an «aborted» toast because the waitress screamed across the table that there aren’t enough glasses and we needed to wait 5 minutes to get more glasses; pretty unprofessional for such a supposedly fancy restaurant with one single person serving 14 guests and not enough service staff.
Based on the above, we would definitely not visit Zed451 again. We brought this matter to the attention of the same manager who was on duty the day of the visit with no input so far — 4 days later. We would not recommend ZED451 for large party event.

As far as ambience goes, there is nothing to say other than this place is wonderful. Tall ceilings and multiples fireplaces in a restaurant which is surrounded by glass. The food, however, left much to be desired. The salad bar was really boring as it lacked a lot of substance. It’s as though is was more of a gimmick than a stand out which is available at other places of similar culinary experience. The cuts of meat were pretty good, but we thought they were under seasoned. In addition, it was tough to get anyone around us to bring us more meat that we desired. They kept pushing the sausage on us which was not really that desirable. Glad I tried it, but not for me.

First & only visit. There was a lot of us there & with the rest of the patrons combined it was like 400 people squashed in a Tuna can that smelled like Brazilian BBQ & B.O.
We drank. A lot. Fantastic drinks. I liked the meat & cheese bar the best & left the rest. I’m not a fan of buffets period.
Its a gorgeous place but I wouldn’t return.
Zed is dead.
RIP

The service started slow, but our server Nina took matters into her own hands and ensured that or dining experience exceeded our expectations. She even took into consideration our time crunch and offered the shuttle service for us to make our show. She was amazing!
The food was cooked perfectly for my taste! The chimichurri sauce for the hanger steak was amazing. The sirloin was exceptional. The seafood offerings were perfect for a break from the beef. The duck… best I’ve had in a long time. The chicken had a nice heat to it and was full of flavor. The wild boar ribs were tender. The jalapeño and cheddar corn bread was awesome.
Overall, this was an amazing experience and I would definitely recommend this restaurant and will return in the future.

The brunch here is incredible! I went for a friends birthday and we all loved it.
Let me start by saying that Zed451 has a free bus that will pick you and your group up from your apartment/​wherever and bring you to the restaurant. And the Zed bus will drive you home too if you tell the host stand. You just have to call the restaurant to request the bus to pick up your party. Our bus driver was so accommodating and very nice. How cool is that?!
The brunch was amazing. The buffet had basically anything breakfast or lunch you could possibly want. Wish I could tell you one main highlight from the buffet but it was all delicious. Then on top of the extravagant buffet, they have servers coming around with different kinds of meat. All of the meat was really good! The chicken and waffles was a bit interesting with the mix of flavors: buffalo chicken, the waffle, and syrup. The best meat was the sirloin so make sure you save room for that. Also the cinnamon rolls were to die for! Probably the best cinnamon roll I’ve ever had. Apparently they’re made fresh every morning and you definitely could tell.
On top of the great food and free shuttle, our service was fantastic. We had Adam as our waiter and he was so great! We honestly couldn’t have had better service from him.
Zed’s brunch is a great spot if your looking to celebrate a special occasion or just splurge for a great brunch!

Beautiful modern restaurant with central fireplace, white candles and decadent salads and cheeses placed tastefully on dark marble tabletops.
I blame myself for not doing research, but this is not your typical a la carte restaurant! For $ 49, you’ll have full access to their salad, cheese, soup bar as well as bottomless meats.
We end up opting for small dinner tonight: (1) togarashi seared tuna with cold soba noodles in ginger sauces, and (2) wagyu beef tartar was chunky, soft and marinated in egg yolk.

My sister-​friends and I truly enjoyed our experience here. It was ultra cool, modern… just the perfect roof-​top setting for a girls day.
This probably would be a a great place to take a date, too (but only if they’ve never been… LOL).

What a great surprise Zed451 was.
I met my son for dinner on a Saturday night. We used OpenTable to make our reservation. This feels like a top-​shelf Brazilian Steakhouse (similar to Fogo but higher end), without having to empty your pocket book.
The waiter was very helpful. Explained their setup and recommended we try their Harvest Table (an upscale salad bar setup on several stations surrounding a fire pit), but be sure to leave room for the real meal.
I had several of their unique dishes on the Harvest Table. I loved the Pulled Pork Cole Slaw. It was actually light and tasted so great. They also had a Charcuterie station. So fresh. Really interesting cheeses that were fun to try.
Finally we went for the main course. They had the standard beef cuts like top or bottom sirloin. They had a twist on them, like buttermilk soaked etc. It was very good, but similar to other very good places (NO complaints).
Most came with a recommended sauce or accompaniment.
Aside from beef, they had chicken and even some game-​meat. But what I loved were the homemade Bacon and Ale sausages with accompanying mustard, the Mahi Mahi, Crab Cakes and Salmon. The Chef’s were great.
The desserts were tempting. We ended up getting the Butterscotch Bread Pudding, had a small taste and took it home. We were really full.
The wine and beer list were great!
We will definitely be back and bring others. You have to be really hungry. And if you live or work downtown, they advertise a great happy hour. Check it out!

The ambiance here is as amazing as when I first came in. The food itself hasn’t changed much and this time my girlfriend and I entered this establishment for lunch. The staff are all very tentative and with good humor however the food itself I felt could have had a bit more variety– though it’s not bad overall. Parking is available across the street as we booked reservations for parking at $ 15.00/all day parking.
Towards the end of our meal I did notice the staff being less tentative — not sure if this was due to our bill being paid or if it was the abundance or influx of people that came in to dine.
Good breakfast/​brunch starters, meats, some poultry and a good amount of grains, oats and fruits can make for a healthy meal!
Overall a very good experience that brought up previous memories that were nearly forgotten when it came to the city life. I would recommend this place for lunch or dinner as well as it being previously experienced, it’s not one to disappoint.

Mm. the first time I came here was about 2 years ago and it was such a great Sunday brunch experience I thought that this would be the perfect brunch spot after Easter mass at Holy Name.
Fast forward 2 years though, the brunch went up from $ 35 to $ 38, the mimosas from $ 3 to $ 5, and the bloody mary’s from $ 5 to $ 7.
Still relatively reasonable considering the crazy prices some other places were charging for Easter brunch so I thought, meh, why not?
Well…things started off a little rocky. I could not understand my waitress. Literally, I just nodded and pretended to kind of know what she was talking about. But it’s a partial buffet so who cares right?
As others have commented, their brunch is set up like their dinner buffet — you go to the self-​serve area for salads, etc. and then the servers come around with skewers of meat and slice them for you as you’d like. I’ll save you the extra reading as to what was served — my fellow Unilocalers here have covered enough. Everything was good.theoretically. However, everything was SO SALTY. Holy sodium! I downed so many glasses of water, all I could do was keep running upstairs to empty the bladder. Everything was so salty even my bloody mary tasted like relief from the sodium.
Twenty four hours later, I still feel a bit shitty.
So.$ 100 later? will I be back? Probably not.

I attended a dinner function at ZED451. I imagine this may have been quite different from the typical dining experience, where you can apparently eat at will from a gourmet buffet at a healthy price tag. Our food and drink was catered for our group, but I imagine some of the food items were similar to what you might be able to find as a regular diner. First of all, I must say that the service for our group was impeccable. The food and drink were flowing, the water glasses were constantly filled, and we were never left to want anything.
Our food selection was actually fairly extensive. I tried yummy BBQ brisket sliders, a mini burger, mini hot dog, a variety of flatbread squares, bacon wrapped dates, mini samosa, sweet potato tartlet with a hazelnut. Desserts included lemon meringue tarts, chocolate covered strawberries, and mini cupcakes. Everything I sampled was good to very good. I also enjoyed the Bell’s Two Hearted Ale (always looking to try a new beer at a dinner function!). Perhaps I will have to impress someone with a full ZED451 experience sometime.

I found the décor mesmerizing. Even if you don’t eat meat please stop in for a drink (even a non alcoholic one) and immerse yourself in the stunning surroundings.
Please be aware although Brazilian steak items are featured, this establishment does not make a claim to this type of cuisine. This is obviously an advantage if you have a non red meat eater in your party. Personally, I wish more steak selections were offered and I was disappointed regarding the lack of a garlic steak preparation. I appreciated the extensive and creative salad selection. However, if you like meat make a careful selection and save your appetite for the steak. Our server was personable and highly recommended the brunch and outdoor patio seating.

Came here for brunch on Saturday, had high expectations, but was unfortunately a little let down.
Going in it was great — very clean, well lit, and spacious. A lot of different sections that granted efficient use of space without sacrificing design. The service was also pretty good, with people coming around frequently to inquire how we are doing etc.
Then onto the actual food (where it didn’t work out so well).
First I tried the salad bar. Nothing was out of the ordinary: bread, charcuterie, kale salad, potato salad, some cheese; exactly what you’d expect. Decent but didn’t blow my mind. Then there are just things that are OH MY GOD SO SALTY. Like the sauteed mushrooms? At least it was still borderline edible, but I had to stop after 3 bites. Then there was the grilled zucchini and tomato that just took it to a whole another level. I felt like I’m ingesting salt cubes that somehow look like vegetables. If I wasn’t at a theoretically fancy establishment I might be guilty of just spitting it out…
Then onto the sampling of their «real food.» Perhaps because it was lunch, there really wasn’t a lot of variety. However I have to give them credit that whatever was actually served was all good. The turkey was perfectly tender, the catfish was fresh, and the chicken & waffles was very well seasoned. I gotta say though as a beef lover I was very sad that the only beef choice was top sirloin (and apparently I’m at a steak house?).
Then after all that I actually had the stomach to visit the dessert counter. The berries parfait was pretty good and the chocolate cake was very smooth. Saving grace.
Overall though I was definitely not impressed and for the same price would much rather go to Fogo de Chao.

Came here for restaurant week with a friend– the menu looked amazing and I was all about the ability to try so many different things. Honestly, I was pretty disappointed. The wine was good and reasonably priced, but our service was only so-​so.
Food:
–My favorite things were actually the brussel sprouts salad (not as good as Café BaBaReeBa but I did go up for seconds) at the salad bar as well as the potato salad, and then the steak as the entrée.
–I‘m not a curry fan and the morrocan chicken spices were a lot for me to handle, and the salmon did nothing for me.
–My dining companion loved the flourless chocolate cake– however it was too rich for my tastes.
Ambiance–
A++ I would definitely come back in the summer as I heard their rooftop is amazing and they have cheap drinks ($ 4.51 cocktails). The indoors also was awesome with a very impressive wine room right when you walk in, a free shuttle to take you home if you have too much of that wine, and really cool décor.
Overall? Wouldn’t rush back for dinner but would come back for a summertime happy hour for sure.

This place was excellent, but doesn’t even compare with Texas de Brazil when it comes to Brazilian steakhouses.
The salad bar was really impressive. Multiple types of salad, potato salad, a whole charcuterie table, two types of soup… all in all, I think it was five tables.
We went for restaurant week, so we only got three of the 12 available meats. They were all fabulous though. However, I was really disappointed in the service. Two of the three meats came while I was up at the salad bar, and one (the steak) never came back. I ended up eating steak that another person at my table had gotten and decided they didn’t want. The other meats only came by once. As someone who is accustomed to Texas de Brazil, where they keep giving you food even when your card says you don’t want any more, this was shocking to me. It might be due to the rocks– you put a stone on your table to demonstrate that you want more, as opposed to TDB’s bright green and red cards. I kept wondering if maybe they didn’t see my stone, because they’re pretty small and blend in with the wooden tables. Either way, the service was disappointing.
The flourless chocolate cake was really good, but it was really just super thick mousse with frosting. Calling it cake was a bit ambitious. I put on the reservation that we were celebrating my uncle’s birthday, so they put a candle on his slice of cake. That was nice.
For the RW price of $ 33 it was worth it, but it’s not worth the full price of $ 50 (even with 12 types of meat).

Zed’s NOT DEAD, baby!
Those who’ve seen ‘Pulp Fiction’ should quickly pick up on the reference, but in case you’re not a big fan of Tarantino movies, all you need to know is that of the Brazilian churrascarias throughout Chicagoland, «451» ranks in the upper echelons.
We arrived on 1÷14÷16 to celebrate my turning 26 and upon arrival were immediately greeted by no less than 84 hobos asking for money. After what felt like forever, the restaurant manager came out and politely shooed them before the valet whisked our car away (at least, we think it was a valet… maybe we turned our keys over to a homeless guy). The inside was lightly but tastefully decorated and had a lovely, warming ambiance.
Our server, Eric (nice name buddy!) greeted us and asked if we had «experienced Zed before», which we had not, so he continued on with the house rules. He explained things well and came off as a consummate professional, which I would expect at a place such as this. Overall he took excellent care of us, as did all the other waiters in between. Water glasses never needing refilling and the dining area was immaculately clean.
My main criticism of an otherwise *outstanding* dining experience was this: I found the ‘bring me food please/​GO’ and ‘cease with the meats already/​STOP’ system to be totally arbitrary and asinine. At Fogo de Chao – a similar place that gets equally high marks – they utilize a red/​green — face up/​face down drink coaster as a means of conveying when you want more of anything.
At ZedFourFiftyOne, well… they use rocks. As in, tiny polished stones that rest in a small dish in the middle of your table. When you’re ready for the parade of waiters, you’re supposed to removed a rock from the dish and place it… uhhh, in front of you? On top of your head? Perhaps throw it across the dining room to attract attention… none of us were entirely sure, since the placement/​location of stones had absolutely _​zero_​impact on whether we were attended to or not. Stone in the dish = we got more meat. Stone in the middle of my place setting = nada. Stones in both nostrils = every waiter comes by my table and wishes me a happy birthday. Madness I tell you!
Inherent silliness aside, I’m hard-​pressed to think of another time when I ate as well as I did here. The ‘salad bar’ was stocked with delightful charcuterie, ranging from aged cheeses and pickled asparagus to poached pears and hearts of palm. Very impressive, I could’ve easily made an entire meal out of just the breads (5 kinds) and homemade butters (3 kinds). But we were cautioned to restrain ourselves, which was wise advice…
…because then came the carnivorous cavalcade. The meats. OH, the meats. No less than 4 kinds of beef, pork, chicken, fish; the selection was more than ample and I found no shortage of things to enjoy (although at one point I did run out of room on my plate). I’ve taken the liberty of listing all the things that eventually landed me in a blissful food coma:
+ buttermilk sirloin + Argentine hanger steak + Moroccan chicken + ribeye + duck breast + pork sausage + seared tri-​tip + Wagyu beef sirloin + crispy pork belly + parmesan salmon filet + wild boar ribs +
About an hour into our meal I developed a serious case of the meat sweats. I had to explain this to my mother that yes, it’s a real thing, and yes, I had succumbed to it. And I didn’t care. I loosened my tie, unbuttoned my pants, and trekked onward. You better believe that I more than beat the cost of admission (roughly $ 50USD/​pp). I loved virtually every item that was brought by, with the one exception being the wild boar ribs, which I found to be tough and barren. The Moroccan chicken, buttermilk sirloin, and parmesan-​crusted salmon were standouts.
The wine list was extensive and they offered lots of incredibly high-​end liquors, like a Louis XIII de Rémy Martin that was priced at more per ounce than I care to type here. I was surprised by a lovely sauce painting and birthday ‘dessert shot’ from the house, finding out later that the shot was made with vanilla vodka and Rumchata, intended to taste like a piece of birthday cake. Nice touch.
Bread = 5+
Circuses = 4.5
Although no fault of our server, they ran into an issue with running my dad’s (a.k.a. Mister Mealticket’s) Amex card, so he had to use his secondary plastic. ‘Twas a mild inconvenience during an otherwise flawless experience, but an inconvenience nonetheless, and for that I’m docking their ‘circuses’ half a star [no effect on overall rating].
I would not recommend this place to two types of people:
1) vegetarians and 2) light eaters.
Everyone else should indulge to their heart’s content and can bank on an exceptional dining adventure. Heck, even my wine glass had a custom monogram with the name of the restaurant on it. Truly, a magnificent meal from start to finish.
ZED LIVES ON! LONG LIVE ZED!

Love this place! Was there right before NYE and even though it was crowded it was not crazy or hectic. My friends wanted to go to a Brazilian steakhouse restaurant so I suggested ZED given they had never been here. Both of them were impressed with the food and the service received!
This place will keep the food coming and are more than happy to answer any questions you ask about the food or drinks. The chefs walking around with the different meats are super friendly and will accommodate any requests for meat (prefer well done or medium rare, etc). Some of my personal favorite were the pork belly (which was great mix and shockingly good), rib eye, and the salmon. My least favorite was the duck but I was glad I tried it and knew I wasn’t a fan. Duck is an acquired taste to me so please at least try it and see for yourself if you are a fan or not. I want to go back in the summer and sit on their outdoor patio and just enjoy some drinks out there. I will def be back in the future and have also recommended this place to several other co-​workers.