Zelo

Zelo is not great dining. Zelo is good eating. Ostensibly an Italian restaurant, Zelo has provided diners a great place to stop for a good bite along Nicollet Mall for years. Almost nothing has changed since it opened, and it all still works. The long bar serves great drinks and the service is friendly, warm, and engaging. Food at Zelo is all good, if not memorable. Pasta, sandwiches, even the pizza, are all ample and tasty. Nothing seems to fail and the place always «hops» with life and happy patrons. As Nicollet Mall remains ripped up and restaurant proprietors along the mall wring the wrists with worry at the loss of business, Zelo hums along pleasing everybody.

The food is amazing and the service is fantastic!

This is a beautiful restaurant right in downtown Minneapolis. The beet salad with grapefruit sections was delicious, as was the pappardelle with lamb. The small portions are a good size, too. The wine list is extensive. I couldn’t even think about looking at dessert, so I can’t speak to that, but based on dinner, drinks, atmosphere and service it was a 5 star occasion.

My grandmother and I stopped by Zelo’s our first day in Minneapolis. Everything we ate was absolutely spectacular. I had the Linguini Di Mare and the Pumpkin Crème Brûlée which was heaven. Our server was very nice and knew the menu very well. I would definitely recommend eating at Zelo’s whether your a local or a visitor like us.

I had my birthday dinner here while in town for a wedding. The décor is very interesting, and the space was definitely abuzz.
The have great pizza and a wicked delicious strawberry salad. Furthermore, our waiter was delightful with a fantastic sense of humor.
I invited more friends, well more than the one that showed up, but they were all hungover from the wedding reception. Their loss.

Offers consistently good Italian options. I really enjoy the salads and the pizzas here. I’ve also tried several pasta and fish dishes there. Bread is fresh and delicious.
Zelo seems to have the same owner (and menu) as Bacio in Minnetonka. There are a few slight differences in the menu.
Zelo is a great option for happy hour on Sundays. The kale there is AMAZING. They offer great prices on drinks and appetizers if you drink/​eat in the bar (not in the outdoor patio when it is open in the summer time).

Red sangrias are amazing !! (Yeah they always add too much ice, but hey it’s worth it)
Beautiful presentation with the fruit and the taste is basically like this :
Imagine yourself on a beachfront in playa enjoying a red sangria. The refreshing fruity wine taste on your tongue just invites you to take another sip.
Winter or summer it will warm your heart and won’t be a disappointment in any form!
(I don’t drink much alcohol, but the two sangrias I had at Zelo were just perfect).
Thank you Zelo!!!

I’m not a really big fan of 5 star ratings. I feel like most businesses can make some improvements, so giving them this type of rating will basically say they’re perfect. To this day (I’ve eaten there a few weeks ago), I still cannot think of one reason why I shouldn’t give them a perfect score. I absolutely adored this place. Located in Downtown Minneapolis, this Italian restaurant just has it all. Food was so good, I even thought about living out there part time.
The hostess upon entry was beyond kind. This was a first for me… their entire wine/​drink menu was on an iPad. Full explanation of all drinks helped ease the process of choosing what would pair with your food. I really wish I could remember the name of the waiter. This guy was simply amazing. Never in my life did I have a waiter that thorough. The man knew the menu perfectly! Even gave a few suggestions on what items are most popular. Supplied the table with endless amounts of bread (which was delicious) and even gave increments on when the food would be ready for service. Kudos to that guy!
Now onto the entrée. Mannnnnn this lasagna with meat sauce? WOO! You could tell that the pasta was made in-house…since it basically melted in my mouth. A full meal with minimal chewing? I felt like a baby! It was great! Good flavor, not too salty, and not an overload of cheese where it takes away from the star of the dish… the pasta. Absolutely fantastic.
I was also able to sample their gelato. Perfect way to end the meal. They switch flavors often, and you just cant go wrong with any of them.
Going back to this city is a must. why? Zelo.

In our first night in Minneapolis, we decided to go to Zelo for Dinner. We started with the tuna Spring rolls. They were delicious!!! So we turn our dishes into a topas style experience. However, the only dishes worth mentioning were the pizza and the lobster fettuccini. Both were delicious and worth a return visit. I definitely recommend this restaurant.

I’ve been to Zelo several times; it’s one of my go-to’s in downtown Minneapolis for client lunches, because it’s spacious and beautiful and has a large patio and consistently good upscale — but not meager portions with outrageous prices — food.
The pesto crusted sea bass with wasabi mashed potatoes and fried onions in a beurre blanc sauce is always my top choice and recommendation. The parmesan crusted shrimp appetizer, mission fig and prosciutto flatbread and lo carb chopped salad are among my other favorites.

They have an excellent selection of seasonal cocktails on happy hour, and I’ve vowed to only ever order the truffle fries when at Zelo on happy hour. Their other appetizers are good too, but just can’t surpass the truffle fries. The fries are perfectly soft and extra thin — my favorite kind of fry! …then in walks the truffle aioli and this girl falls love-​struck.
I’ve also stopped at Zelo for a sit-​down lunch and fell desperately in love with the wild mushroom flatbread. Oh my, it’s just too good to share. I’d love to make it back to Zelo for a date night sometime as the atmosphere is a perfect balance between whimsy, classy, and whimsy.

* Welcome Experience
— Ordinary
Was greeted and seated gladly by the hostess.
* Establishment
— Outstanding*
Very cool décor. Deliberate and cohesive designs everywhere. Unique look and feel. A fun atmosphere…
*The exterior is undergoing renovation as of today, 9÷23÷2015 which makes for an unpleasant aesthetic which isn’t the restaurant’s fault.
* Service
— Outstanding
Our server Michelle was glad to tend to our table. She was attentive and personable. She made conversation while ensuring all our needs were met. She described the specials enthusiastically and made us feel glad we were there.
* Food Quantity /​Quality /​Presentation
— Outstanding
Bread and butter was brought before the entrees.
Heirloom Grain Salad — ⁵⁄₅ — Extraordinary!
This salad was full of delicious flavors and textures, with small cubes of provolone, avocado and grape tomatoes. The warm grain was a perfect addition. The shaved Parmesan and cracked black pepper made it all work together. I added grilled chicken. This meal was plenty and was enough to be considered a full lunch /​dinner!
Walleye Sandwich — ⁵⁄₅ — Extraordinary!
The two people joining me for lunch ordered this. I did not get to try it. Pan fried with a light Panko breaking and hand-​cut fresh fries, both of them raved about it!
* What I’ll remember
Michelle’s warm attentive service. And dat salad. OMG it’s so good.
* What I can’t wait to forget
That there’s no Zole’s where I live, I’ll have to make this myself and visit when I’m in MN!

Dinner on the patio before the theater. Beautiful evening for al fresco dining on Nicollet Mall. Many choices of eateries but we settled on Zelo mainly because neither of us had been here before. Service was friendly, attentive and top notch. Had the edamame appetizer salted with sea salt — nice light starter to share. Ordered the flatbread with tomato and avocado– delicious toppings and beautiful colors atop what appeared to be a a fried (?) crust. Bit pricey at $ 12.00 and unsure about the fried crust — bit greasy as a result and would have preferred a baked or wood-​fired flatbread better, but still enjoyed it. Two glasses of Merlot at $ 9.00 apiece to top it aide. Friend had a very nice salad. Very enjoyable evening, one star off for pricing and odd crust. Will return.

This is my go-​to for a nice lunch with a colleague or client. Consistently delicious and not in the oceannaire or manny’s price range. I love the salad with a salmon fillet, the ahi tuna burger, the wild acres turkey burger… And I branched out yesterday to try the pesto crusted sea bass and it was great.
There is outdoor seating when weather permits! Although I don’t think they have the most comfy chairs.
Service is always top notch and the food comes out reasonably quickly.

I went here for lunch a while back and got the margarita flatbread, but didn’t Unilocal about it. Came back a second time and I was pretty impressed. The atmosphere is definitely swanky with more business folks than you might find at Crave or Masa but still accessible to most. Located in the medical arts building you can either take the sidewalk or the skyway.
For my second time around I got the the ravioli since I had a craving for pasta. It came with fresh chopped tomatoes, a healthy dose of garlic and Parmesan. You can order a small which has 4 raviolis or the large that comes with 6. It was sooooo delicious. The perfect blend of flavors for a lunch time dish and just the right amount of food.
For dessert my compatriots and I each got different items. I ordered the crème brûlée, my friends got the raspberry pie and the sorbet/​gelato sampler of vanilla cinnamon, chocolate and a cherry sorbetto. Good fricken lord. I know ice cream is technically food but you actually feel and taste like you’re eating the food itself. The chocolate gelato tastes like the perfect dark chocolate bar you’d want with fruit and the vanilla cinnamon tasted like I was eating cinnamon spice (but without the whole choking on powder thing). My taste buds were like ‘whhaaaaaaaa’. The cherry sorbet was refreshing and perfectly cold without being icy.
My actual dessert was delicious with bits of vanilla bean flecks. However the brûlée was more of a pudding texture than custard so that was a bummer. I still ate it all, let’s not get it twisted. But I do like a firmer texture to my brûlées. The raspberry pie oddly enough was more like a custard pie with a mixture of rhubarb and HOMEMADE whip cream. What the what! Homemade whip cream is one of those things I can eat straight and look like a fatty doing so. But I don’t care. There’s nothing that beats it when paired with fruit. I think my mom makes a better fruit custard pie but clearly the chefs don’t know her. Overall it was a great lunch and I’ll go back to try more items.

My husband & I decided to try it out for date night after reading rave reviews on Unilocal!The restaurant itself is beautiful! A couple things to note:
1. Noise level– Very loud! I could barely hear my husband at times. It sounds like you are at Buffalo Wild Wings during a game. Not so romantic if you ask me!
2. Service-I’m not sure why the ratings on here mention such amazing service. It may have just been who we got as a waitress. We had Kathy. She was OK but I would not recommend her. She did not go out of her way to ensure an enjoyable experience & barely talked to us.
3. Food– It was good. I wouldn’t say it was amazing. I could go across the street to McCormicks and have a better meal. (We ordered the tomato bruschetta & fries for appetizer, I had the fettuccine with chicken & my husband had the margarita pizza).

We walked in on a Friday night at 11:30pm.not too many people yet not completely dead! We got seated at the bar and Sharon was our bartender. Great gal, very fun and chirpy!
Now this is why I give it 3 stars. we went on a not so busy night and the food that we ordered took forever to come out. We mainly had drinks and ordered a mushroom truffle flatbread which took sooo bloody long to get in our
around one we ordered the desert budino which was fantastic but took about 30mins to get to us!
I was expecting quicker food service-​I hope it’s better the next time I go cuz I did like this place a lot. Until next time Zelo you handle my 3 stars!

I was in town for a conference and had a reunion dinner here with some attendees. We had multiple small tables, rather than a huge one, which could have resulted from us changing the time of the dinner that day — regardless, I actually preferred this and getting up to talk rather than screaming across a giant table.
We were seated right when we got there, and the service the entire time was wonderful! The wine that was recommended to me was great. Everything came out on time, and our server was just very attentive and friendly.
The food was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! The bread basket was great — so soft and warm and delicious! As an appetizer, I ordered the tomato arancini — so good! What was even better and made the dish (and I wish they would have given me more) was the dollop of basil aioli that was on each arancini ball. YUM. I ordered the Margherita pizza as my entrée and that was just as delicious! It was plenty for my meal plus leftovers for another (or a late night snack like we used it for)! As far as the pizza vs flatbread goes — the pizza is actually thin crust pizza, just a bit chewy. The flatbread is basically a crispy tortilla like base. I know I’m usually going for thin crust and tend to gravitate to flatbread, but I’m glad the waiter suggested the pizza rather than the tortilla flat bread.
Finally, even though I shouldn’t have, I ordered the nutella and pretzel affogato — don’t worry, I shared! Nutella and vanilla gelato, espresso, caramel mousse, and pretzel and cookie crumbles?!? YES PLEASE. It was beyond delicious! Every.last.bite. I HIGHLY recommend it!
Overall, it was a great experience — food and service! I would definitely recommend it for a date, nice dinner, etc and will definitely have to come back next time I’m in Minneapolis!

2 main points: Service was AMAZING. I can’t remember his name but he was one of the best servers I have ever had. Also, the Ahi Tuna is out of this world. Get it.
Okay. It was my first time here and we just sat ourselves in the bar. I ordered a drink off the happy hour menu based upon the server’s recommendations and it was delicious. I ordered the ahi tuna and the $ 5 happy hour brussels sprouts. My friend got the pork chop.
Let me tell you about this service. Top notch, over the top amazing. He was great. Made honest recommendations, very polite and friendly, the perfect amount of attentive without being awkward and crowding us.
The food was amazing. The wasabi mashed potatoes were good, with a hint of tang. The ahi tuna blew my mind. Amazing. Brussels were also GREAT. His pork chop was enormous– I couldn’t believe it. He made some substitutions and they were happy to accomodate.
I want to go back and order everything on the menu because my neighbor’s food also looked amazing.

Last week I went to Zelo with a friend before catching a show at Brave New Workshop. We almost went to Crave for convenience sake and I talked my friend into walking the 3 blocks to Zelo instead. Good decision.
We ordered drinks and decided to share some small plates instead of having dinner. We shared muscles, an ahi tuna spring roll, and brussel sprouts.
The muscles were the star of the evening. They were prepared in a delicious tomato and saffron broth. It is fair to say we demolished these — and wiped the bowl clean with the delicious bread that accompanied them.
Coming in at a close second were the brussel sprouts. They were divine. Caramelized and served with toasted almonds. I can’t believe I hated these little orbs of goodness as a kid. I think it had something to do with the fact that my Mom bought them frozen and then boiled them until they were mush.
I wasn’t as pleased by the ahi tuna spring roll. I expected it to be more sushi like –but it was fried… lightly, mind you… but when you’re expecting a cold spring roll with ahi tuna it is a rather rude awakening to get a fried tuna fritter. It was edible — but it was the only thing we did not finish that evening.
I’ve eaten at Zelo at least a dozen times. I love the food there. Normally I’m being treated by my office and not footing the bill myself. This time it stung a little more. It is not a cheap place to eat. But damn, it’s good. I have never left Zelo disappointed.