Zinc At 668

We decided to try this place out and I had a
coupon. The service was not good at all, even with the 10 people working the patio last night. I couldn’t believe how un-​attentive our server was. We waited and waited and waited for a glass a wine, she apologized and said the bar was busy. I was sitting right next to the bar and it wasn’t ‘slammed’. Our food plates sat and sat on the table while I watched her wash glasses behind the bar with the bartenders.
I had the mussels and frites. I was not impressed with the frites at all. I don’t plan on returning which is a shame because the patio is nice in the heart of downtown.

New Menu Alert — and Hello Happy Hour!
Zinc has changed their menu from french influence to more seafood focused. Thank goodness they kept the seafood focus because my life without their pan seared salmon would be a sad one …
We went there for HH drinks (½ off wine glasses) and mussels (devine!) last night and had a blast. Great service and beautiful ambiance!

Cute. Classy. A cool chill place to go on a Friday night with live music outside on the patio.
A friend of mine from Michigan sent me a group-​on gift certificate for Zinc, so I grabbed my foodie friend and off we went to Zinc to enjoy a solid dinner.
To start off our dinner, we ordered some zinc frites. Mmm. They were good– slightly herb seasoned and nice and popping hot. Our waitress chatted away about the food on the menu, and it was great– any question I had, she knew, without having to look down at a menu or fumble around– she knew her stuff. And she always kept the water glass full. Kudos to her! Loved the waitress.
Anyways, we got the sea scallops and the halibut. Good solid food– moist seafood, good sides, overall solid meal. Nice.
For dessert, we got the champagne sabayon. Just to try it… as I just liked the name of it. A tad too sweet on top, so I was happy I got a coffee to pair it with.
Overall, I just loved the feel of this restaurant. A great place for a date and great staff. Definitely a place to check out.

Holy effing patio.
Zinc holds the downtown Cleveland patio award in my book. This thing is enormous, but still really intimate and chill. Comfy couches, or high-​top tables, or bar stools, there’s no bad seat in the house.
Fridays usually include live music, which was just perfect for our happy hour adventure. These dudes just happened to be old hippies playing acoustic classic rock, but it was still a great time. I have to admit that I found it strange Zinc wasn’t busier on a beautiful Friday evening. It was muggy out, but not horrible – so that would be a lame excuse.
Although we didn’t eat, I would definitely come back for that king kong of a happy hour. First of all, it starts at 3. Admitting how much this excites me would probably just make me sound bad… so, I’ll skip that part. Although, that is a damn long HH! Secondly, they have fantastic cocktails for pretty-stinkin’-cheap. Lavender French 75? I’ll have that in my face-​hole, thank you.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, free fantastical frickin parking. How many places downtown can offer you that? Not many.
*Sigh* Perhaps someday I’ll try the food, but until then – I love you, Zinc Happy Hour.
P. S. There was a chick there on the patio with her dog. This makes me believe their patio is pet-​friendly, which only increases my excitement. Archie-​dog, want to go for a cocktail?

Awful service, took forever for our server to come ask us what we wanted to drink and another forever to get our drinks. Its all we had there, just plain bad service and it shouldn’t take so long to get drinks, seeing as there were only a few people in the restaurant.

My husband and I recently went to Zinc and truly enjoyed it. He loved the carefully selected beer selections and I loved the simplicity of the menu. Everything we had was a flavor explosion. Everyone, including the bus person was so welcoming and friendly.
Great for date night or corporate dinners. Fabulous patio too!

Pretty average fare … Nice patio but the music was blaring … Food was nothing to write home about

A disappointing night for us at Zinc. The space is nice, a very good modern interpretation of a French Bistro. I love bistro food, and could not wait to eat here.
Our server was friendly, but not very good. 20 minutes after ordering, he returned with news that they were out of my foie gras starter. Did he bring a menu? No. Good thing I remembered a 2^nd choice, the charcuterie plate.
The charcuterie arrived quickly, along with my wife’s salad and some most welcome bread. Charcuterie was very good, a generous portion, and fig mostarda that alone was worth the price. Sadly, my wife’s salad came with puzzlingly roquefort-​free dressing.
Main courses arrived reasonably quickly after. My wife’s veal porterhouse was cooked a proper medium, but tough. It would be tough for a beef porterhouse, let alone veal. My steak frites dish looked fantastic. The steak itself was perfect. The frites were disappointing. The ones on the top in the cone were fine, but below that first level were an undercooked, greasy mess. REALLY? A bistro with bad frites? Sacre Bleu! Steak & Shake wouldn’t have served these, ever.
Others have mentioned small portions here. I thought our portion sizes were fine. Execution was lackluster, to be generous. Zinc isn’t cheap, but if they delivered the quality, not unreasonable. Their performance on this night left me feeling that my money would have been better spent at Outback.

A friend of a friend lives upstairs from this place. Came here on a (thirsty) Thursday. The patio space is awesome, but it was too hot and muggy out, so my friends decided to sit inside.
My review is on the 1 cocktail I had and the oyster platter we ordered. I’m obnoxiously particular when I order my cocktail– I like it clean, not sweet, with fresh purees. The servers mentions most of their cocktails and martinis are sweet, but the bartender can make me a cucumber martini. Sold! The drink was forgettable.
On the other hand, oysters were unforgettable, because they were the worst oysters everrrrr, in life! Nothing is worst then having an oyster chalk filled with sand and shells. In a platter with 12 oysters, I wouldn’t be a big baby if it’s in a couple of oysters, it was actually in ALL of the 12 oysters. Ewww! Happy hour $ 1 oyster special, no thank you!

Zinc is the perfect destination for a corporate happy hour or business function. I’ve been there many times for such things and the atmosphere and space are perfect for work events. For dinner with your friends, eh… it’s okay.
We had a $ 75 groupon to share with three people and we were fairly satisfied by the end of the meal. For more than $ 20 a person just on appetizers, I’d think we should be though.
Everything we received was delicious, although small in size and slightly over-​priced.
MC: I enjoyed the Mac and Cheese but it came in a tiny little crème brule dish and I honestly would have been disapointed if I legitmaly spent the $ 10 menu price. I would like to note that the crumb topping was spectacular though.
TT: The tuna tar-​tar was nicely set up with wasabi, soy and sesame oil but even the waiter didn’t know how to instruct us to construct our tuna wafers. After some fumbling, it was quite good though.
PF: The pommes frites were average. Compare to Lola or Farenheit.
CC: One Crab cake for $ 9. It was fresh and flakey although they scrimpt on the aoli and personally, I hate splitting a single crab cake as an appetizer. I’d rather have two or three small cakes rather than everyone come in forking each other trying to figure out how to cut it evenly.
BC: The baby carrots were delicious. I was happiest with them actually.
We also each got a small salad which were crisp, light and perfectly acceptable.
I guess I just wasn’t blown away with anything. It was all very good and on scale with some of Cleveland’s other nice restaurants, but honestly… it just didn’t do anything for me in comparison to them.

I’ll make this quick. Went to Zinc before the Glee concert (don’t ask) and had the very best charcuterie (sp) platter that I have ever had! It was outstanding and a pretty good value @ $ 12. Gotta dash.
Whoops — almost forgot to mention that my wife said that her salmon was epic.

I went to Zinc yesterday randomly on Memorial Day… Saw people sitting outside and since it was a beautiful day, I said why not, lets try this place. Well just for memorial day they had all you can eat bbq ribs, steak and chicken, with potatoe salad and potatoe chips for $ 20. I thought it was a bit overpriced, I thought about it and said, well thats what I want to eat, so lets do it, I’m tired and I dont feel like looking for another place and so we sat and ate. I myself, don’t like all you can eats, b/​c one I don’t eat that much, and neither does my fiancé,… BBQ was fantastic,… I only gave it 3 stars because of the price, I wish I had the option of just one plate of bbq for like $ 15 or something… Anyway service was good, food was good, but a little pricey.
I would give the BBQ a five star, but I don’t think they have that all the time, I am not even sure if they have that on the menu.

We had dinner on a recent Saturday evening. It was not very busy up front but seemed quite lively in other parts of the restaurant. Our service was extremely good and the waiter was attentive. The food was excellent; I had a striped bass meal that rivaled dinners I have had a Lola and other top restaurants. My wife had a bistro sandwich that looked good and she enjoyed. I am a bit disappointed now that we did not try the bread pudding dessert; maybe next time. The priced was reasonable and I would go back again.

Was wanting to try this place ever since I had heard about its opening roughly a year or so ago. I had seen a few of their previous seasonal menus online and they looked tantalizing. I wasn’t too impressed with their current spring menu — seemed like a lot of the same things you’d find on any French American bistro menu. I could swear I had seen more seafood variety on their menu only months earlier, but perhaps that’s a seasonal variation. I may need to return to Zinc during a different time of the year if it is in fact the case that their menu changes frequently and all the seafood options that I recall having seen make a comeback onto their menu.
The ambiance of the restaurant was very nice. What you would expect for a nicer bistro.
Our waiter was a trainee. He was very nice but unpracticed and still learning the ropes. I was really surprised that a «première» restaurant in the heart of a city would let unseasoned waiters wait tables during prime dining hours (and on a Saturday night!). I was under the impression that most fine dining establishments usually only allow servers to wait tables when they have had previous experience. He seemed really unsure of himself for the first half of the dinner but then gradually seemed more confident and calm towards the end of the evening.
The other thing that was a bit of a letdown was that they had run out of several key ingredients. I think we counted a total of six. When we sat down to order at a normal dinner hour, they already had run out of: mussels, foie gras, scallops, brussels sprouts, pear salad, veal osso bucco… and possibly something else, but that is the short list of items they did not have. This narrowed down the dinner options noticeably.
The food we did order was delicious. It also reheated well as leftovers, especially the croque madame sandwich. The spinach salad was awesome. The «charcuterie» that came with my succulent double-​bone pork chop was little more than sauerkraut, which was sort of disappointing. Mashed potatoes were standard, but smooth and creamy. The fries were unremarkable as were the grits. We did not order dessert, figuring that it would probably not be mind-​blowing.
Would definitely like to try this place for lunch sometime, or whenever they next change their seasonal dinner menu. I would like to see what they are capable of in regards to seafood.

Good food but a tad overpriced. My favorite thing about Zinc– its large outdoor patio for enjoying the summer months.
The patio is a great place to grab drinks and you can also dine outside as well. It’s set back about 20 yards from Euclid Ave and it truly feels like an urban oasis at night. The atmosphere at night is very relaxed and quiet and having a conversation at normal volume was never an issue. The size of the patio and the tables make it a great place for large groups.
Inside, Zinc has a little bit of a stuffy feel but I think that’s what they’re going for. On my most recent trip (a weekday night) the restaurant was almost completely empty. So, I guess, is the life of a downtown establishment after the work day ends.
The food was good — we had appetizers, our main course and dessert — but it never really struck us as being worth the high price. It’s not a knock on the place or the food, I just never thought ‘Wow, this is amazing’ and because of that, I questioned paying ~$ 25 per main course.
Point worth mentioning: When asked why menu items were missing from July to November, our server informed us they switched chefs over the summer.
Don’t forget to take full advantage of the complimentary valet service!

Fantastic menu selection with well executed dishes and great presentation. Vibrant atmosphere and the service was awesome the day we went. The bartender staff was friendly and very knowledgeable when we asked her random questions about French cuisine.
We went there for dinner before going to basketball game. Duck confit was outstanding, Foie Gras appetizer with waffle was perfectly cooked. Croque Monsieur had that «melt in your mouth» tenderness but Fries were just alright. Zinc can be pretty pricey however they have happy hours menu and cheap beverages if you don’t mind sitting at the bar. Some items listed on the menu may not be available due to the season or well… they just run out of the items. Not a very good excuse. Anyhow, I had a pleasant experience overall contrary to what some reviews said. We’d have to check out patio seating when the summer arrives.

After reading the review of Zinc from the local newspaper’s internet site, I felt compelled to write about my own experience. I do caution, however, that I am in no way representing that my visit to Zinc was typical. Still, given the newspaper’s disappointing review of 2 out of 4 stars, I think my own review can, at the very least, highlight what a great place Zinc can be.
Background: As part of a celebratory dinner, three friends and I decided to partake in Zinc’s tasting menu. The first hurdle, however, was that Zinc did not offer a tasting menu. Because of the occasion, we tried contacting the restaurant – initially by e-​mail, no less – to see if they would be willing to make arrangements, which ended up being a seven course tasting menu with the additional proviso that one of the guests was a vegetarian. What followed was an outstanding culinary experience unrivaled even among top Cleveland restaurants.
First course: Royal Miyagi Oysters with red verjus /​Vegetarian Puff Pastry with tomato vinaigrette. I am no connoisseur of oysters, but I thought this was a great way to start the meal and at the same time feature the restaurant’s raw bar.
Second course: Beef Tartar /​Beet Tartar. What I really enjoyed about this course was the vegetarian substitution – nothing wrong with a little tasty word play during a meal. It also highlighted Chef de Cuisine Michael Gorman’s overall planning to make a «regular» tasting menu and a vegetarian tasting menu that complimented each other.
Third course: Squash Blossom — goat cheese, mascarpone, lemon-​orange zest, and basil served over tomato, capers, and olives. A very complex taste and, according to our waiter, one of the more difficult things to prepare on our tasting excursion.
Fourth course: Grilled Melon Salad — pork belly, shrimp, ginger, harrissa vinaigrette, mint, pickled onions and arugula. /​Vegetarian Grilled Melon Salad — ginger, harrissa vinaigrette, mint, pickled onions, arugula, goat cheese, and heirloom tomatoes. My favorite dish of the night. The pork belly was delicious, and the grilled melon was excellent – combining the disparate but familiar sweet taste of the melon with the smoky taste from a grill.
Fifth course: Wild Mushroom and Spinich Crêpe — pea and carrot salad with a truffle vinaigrette and carrot emulsion. I thought the presentation on this dish, with the crepes on top of the carrot emulsion and topped with the pea and carrot salad, was the best of the night.
Sixth course: Lobster-​Bacon Risotto with summer corn and celery leaves /​Wild Mushroom Risotto. Lamentably, by this point in the meal, I was starting to lose steam – and just as we were hitting the main entrees. So, unfortunately, the Lobster-​Bacon Risotto seemed a little heavy to me. And even more unfortunate was…
Seventh course: Short Ribs with creamed spinach and chef’s garden vegetables /​Fettucini with parmesan truffle cream sauce. The Short Ribs were extremely good – incredibly tender and tasty. I think it’s a testament to just how good the Short Ribs were that, completely stuffed by six prior courses, I still finished them (albeit, I could only peck at the creamed spinach and garden vegetables).
Eighth course: Bread Pudding with golden raisins, candied pecans, and bourbon butter. When I first heard that the chef added an eighth course, I really had my doubts whether I could muster even a little more appetite to take in another dish. It felt like I had just completed a marathon (of food), only to find that I needed to go back to pick up something I had dropped three miles back. When I heard the course was Bread Pudding, I felt like I would be running those three miles carrying a piano on my back. Fortunately, the opposite was true: The Bread Pudding came across fairly light and was a great end to a long but spectacular meal.
I do not give out five star reviews often. I try to stick to the standard of a Michelin three-​star restaurant: an exceptional experience worth a special journey. Alas, I am no Michelin reviewer, and even if those reviewers deigned to visit our humble city, they would probably hold close their sought-​after stars for their own miserly safekeeping. But, in my opinion, given the care that Chef Quick and Chef Gorman put into the experience, the excellence in the food – in taste, presentation, and creativity – as well as the superb service, Zinc certainly merits five stars.

Located just around the corner from the popular East 4^th destination, Zinc is the latest endeavor in Cleveland’s Euclid Corridor.
My first impression of Zinc was of admiration and courage. Zinc is a very expansive and inspiring space. Located on the first floor of a large office and apartment complex, Zinc calls home. Overall, there’s 4,000 square feet of dining space, with quite possibly the largest outdoor dining spots in all of downtown. Said to seat near 100, this massive outdoor space is tucked far enough back from Euclid Ave. that dining can be privately enjoyed without distraction. Striking images of the metropolis’ skyline can be seen from the patio while sophisticated tunes serenade the outdoor crowd.
Indoors, it’s more of the same elegance. Seating is spread out and plentiful. Ranging from the semi-​circle tall backed booth, to the more traditional table, seating is also available in an above loft space that overlooks the long zinc-​topped raw seafood bar.
The menu, both the food & drink selections seemed well varied and French influenced, although everything seems very approachable. While tempted, we didn’t partake in any food this evening as we already ate beforehand. Instead, we enjoyed the rest of the evening with a few cocktails. I had the Grand Garnier which consisted of chartreuse, grand marnier, orange and lime. Served in a martini glass, this drink was fresh, flavorful and packed quite the punch.
Fitting enough for a more refined crowd, this type of venture is a nice alternative from one of the many nearby loud clubs or generic sports bars. During our time here, I couldn’t help but wonder how a place such as Zinc had open tables on a Friday night, yet those generic clubs were probably packed. As ambitious of a space Zinc is, it needs your support to survive. Now get out and support your local restaurant scene!

Disclaimer – On our maiden voyage to Zinc, we only tried the cocktails.
But we were impressed. The server was excellent. The rest of the staff looked happy to be there (that makes me happy to see).
Their patio, which is huge, is more of a plaza. Set back from the street in the location of the former Dollar Bank building on Euclid (just east of E. 6^th), we were really impressed by how invited we felt. There wasn’t any way we could resist sitting outside although it was clearly about to storm. In fact, it did start storming and we had to move inside. They were completely welcoming to us, although I made it clear we were only ordering cocktails; they sat us at a booth in the bar. I ordered the Tiger Rogue and it was served on ice in a pint glass. Our cocktails were excellent, but mine got soupy as the ice melted.
Stealing from fellow Unilocaler Keith Charles, I must mention the talent. After all, «going out» is about people watching. The talent was in full force… if you are a single dude looking for a cougar. I spotted my male friend eyeing several well dressed leggy women a good dozen years his senior as they walked past our booth in the bar. Hubbida hubbida may have been the words he used. It was a «classy crowd» and it should be. The dining area and bar carry out a French, romantic, bistro ambiance.
The menu is French inspired and accessible to all; they even offer a burger. They have an extensive option for seafood, and we all loved the big pile of ice with lobsters poking out. We felt like we were on the East Coast.

Well. Let’s start with the good:
+ Beautiful patio and space
+ Well constructed menu reminiscent of a French Bistro
+ Varied, rare cocktails at great prices for what you’re getting
Unfortunately the bad outweighed the good:
— Wine by the glass at exorbitant prices
— Server Marisa was less than enthused to serve us. After dinner we were sitting at the table enjoying our cocktails and had a friend join us. She actually had to walk to the bar to order as Marisa was apparently through with us.
— Duck confit was a bit too salty
— French onion soup was full of entire cloves of garlic and bay leaves. Kitchen 101 teaches you to remove those items before serving.
— I had ordered the lobster roll. Took a healthy bite into it only to bite right into a huge hard-​as-​a-​rock piece of lobster cartilage. When I (very nicely and discreetly might I add) brought this to Marisa’s attention she said she’d let the chef know and walked away. No apology at all.
— We split the bill between two parties, and had the wrong items on the wrong bills, but I can see that being solely a server issue and not the fault of the restaurant.
Would I go back? For cocktails — yes. To dine — never.

ZInc is new and they really should have hit 4 stars, but they barely earned 2. Why?
It started on a high note with complimentary parking (probably because of the Indians game — they were backed up). We started with drinks at the outside bar. The bar was nice, the patio was open and enticing to eat on (it is set back a few hundred feet from Euclid) and I had a fun drink with Cachaca, Limoncello, Chambord and the largest Raspberry I have ever seen. The drink was good ($ 10 is ridiculous in Cleveland but whatever).
There was some confusion with our table, we had called to try and get a patio table, but nobody wrote it down. This turned out to be great as 2 hours later it was raining (hint).
We ordered some appetizers and a bottle of wine. As is typical for Cleveland I was bummed with the wine selection. There were 2 glasses of red under $ 10 and I am not psyched to spend $ 13 or $ 15 on a glass of wine that sells by the bottle for $ 26. We got a Zinfandel from Lodi that I can’t remember but it was drinkable. It was one of 5 bottles of red under $ 45. For a new restaurant, they could put a little love into the wine list and find the $ 30 range that makes the meal more enjoyable and encourages us to drink 2 bottles!
The East coast clams were served well, but the dipping sauce was an oily salad dressing, none of that typical red spicy sauce. The clam eaters were slightly disappointed. We also ordered the house made Fettucini noodles and it was ok. The noodles were very good and perfectly cooked. The sauce was kind of strange reminding us all of sour cream potato chips. We also tried the lobster risotto, which was ok, but not clean your plate delicious. Are you kind of getting a sense of where this evening is headed?
The beet salad looked better than it tasted. I ordered the house salad with a crustini covered in olive tapenade. It was dressed appropriately and refreshing, I’d get it again.
An hour after we finished the appetizers, the waiter returned and checked in on us. This was just strange. I asked for more bread twice, because the bread didn’t come the first time. By the way, the bread was quite good, I hope they actually made it there. When our food did come, the excuse was the kitchen got backed up because it started raining outside and everybody came inside. Huh? Same number of tables to serve, right? I looked around at the 5 empty tables around us in disbelief. The manager stopped by shortly and told us he was buying us a round of drinks and gave us the same story. The drinks were nice, the story was unprofessional.
The food was ok. I enjoyed by mushroom risotto, although I couldn’t identify what was in the green sauce around the outside. My buddy Jon did not like the Coq Au Vin, he complained that the skin was missing and the chicken didn’t taste good, in fact he left most of the meal on the plate. The mussels were fine, but once again the sauce was disappointing.
The overall experience just kind of sucked, we decided not to risk going further down the slippery slope and skipped dessert, yeah that kind of sums up the whole night. Nobody even wanted to see the dessert menu. Because I actually did enjoy the house salad and the risotto, I gave them 2 stars. Was it worth paying the baby sitter, driving downtown and watching the rest of my table have a below average meal? No. I was glad to see the manager reduce the bill accordingly, it was the right thing to do. I might try it for lunch, and if they have worked out the bugs, try it again some time.