Zaxby’s

Just tried the ranchero zalad at Zaxbys and it was amazing. .large salad with delicious and flavorful grilled chicken! I’ll be back again soon.

This is a totally new place that I recently found. It is very clean and the menu is good. They don’t serve any alcohol. It is like a fast food place but way better quality.
I like there combo menu:)

My SO and I stopped by here on 5÷28÷14 after a visit to my Doctor at Green Meadows down the road. It was not a spur of the moment visit, we wanted to compare it to Raising Kane’s which does have several St. Louis locations and a place we like. We arrived around 7:30pm and they were by no means «busy», but there were several customers inside and a car or two in the drive-​thru.
We had looked at the menu before leaving for Columbia and we both ordered a large chicken finger plate as well as an order of the white cheddar bites and an order of spicy fried mushrooms and two large drinks. Our total came to around $ 28 which is a bit pricy for «fast food», but had if we had ordered a regular chicken finger plate, a regular drink, and perhaps a single appetizer we would’ve been around/​under $ 20 which is not McDonald’s cheap, but not bad.
The have one of the Coca-​Cola Freestyle machines, which my SO likes a lot — I prefer plain Coke. Since they only have one, I can see an issue during any high volume period as another reviewer mentioned. We’ve been places such as Fuddrucker’s that have two which helps keep any lines down. Perhaps with the newer counter-​top Freestyle machines coming out places like Zaxby’s may add another — although it’s my understanding that the counter-​top machines can’t make as many different drinks.
We got our drinks and sat down, our order came up within 4 or 5 minutes if I had to guess, they call you by a ticket number. Both our original cashier and the expediter that had our food on trays were incredibly polite.
Once we got the food back to the table, my SO went and got us some napkins and ketchup — they use a bulk dispenser and those tiny white paper containers which isn’t a huge deal for me, but I wish they had bigger containers. We ate the appetizers first, the white cheddar bites come with a container of marinara and were very good. The mushrooms were even better, they come with what appears to be a spicier version of the Zax Sauce. If we were to order only one appetizer it would be the mushrooms, but either one is a winner.
Our dinners themselves were a bit of a mixed bag. The cole slaw had separated a bit and most of the «dressing» was in the bottom of the container leaving most of the «slaw» a touch dry. There were two pieces of texas toast which was good, but not great. The french fries were reasonably portioned and surprisingly good, they have some sort of seasoning on them that I really liked. The only issue with them was that the seasoning wasn’t distributed very well, some fries were incredibly heavy and other fries had almost none. This leaves the chicken fingers (or fingerz in the Zaxby’s world). The large plates we ordered came with 8 each. Frankly I thought they were exceedingly small, about the size of two McDonald’s chicken nuggets placed end to end — for $ 8.99 I was a touch disappointed. However, they were very good and the Zax sauce that came with them (two of those with our large orders) was also very good.
Between the appetizers and the size of the large plates we ended up taking 8 of the fingers home, which meant the cost of dinner was basically divided another way which again made it more reasonable.
Now I struggled with a 4 star or 5 star review — I wish 4 ½ was an option as I wasn’t sure they were truly 5 stars, but they were better than 4 stars. I judged them against Raising Kane’s which we’ve been to a few times as I mentioned above. I felt the chicken strips were a bit smaller than Kane’s. I also felt the food wasn’t served as «hot» as it is at the Raising Kane’s we’ve been to, but that could simply be perception since they don’t have appetizers and since we did have them here our food sat a few minutes before we ate it. I did not want to ding them for the heat of the meal since it did sit a few minutes. They did get extra points for the Freestyle Coca-​Cola machine so I felt they were about even; and since Zaxby’s has a larger menu and we really liked the appetizers I would have to rate Zaxby’s higher than Kane’s. I wish there was a closer location than Columbia as I only get up there every few months and we’d definitely visit Zaxby’s more often if there was one closer.

Stopped here after an MU game and thought the décor supporting all the local teams was nice. The employee taking our order at the counter was very friendly and helpful since it was our first time at a Zaxby’s.
Hubby had the chicken fingers plate and thought all of it was good including the Texas toast, which is usually a throw away item in my opinion. I thought the fingers were excellent as well. I had the Cajun club sandwich. It was a high quality sandwich, but if I ordered again I would skip the ranch dressing that is automatically on there. All of the food seemed very fresh and not as fast food like.
We both said we would go back again!

I had never been to a Zaxby’s before, but I’m glad I did yesterday. This place has excellent chicken strips/​fingers. My husband and I went together with our two year old, and even with the toddler eating off our plates, the three of us were STUFFED. All for less than 20 bucks!
It’s like fast food, only not. There is a drive-​thru. Orders served quickly. You do order at a counter and the price is cheap. However, the store is really clean, the quality of the food is fantastic and the staff are really friendly and helpful. It’s like ten steps above your average fast food joint.
What’s more, my daughter is disabled and the low lighting in the store is PERFECT for her sensory issues and vision problems. We went around 2pm, so it was quiet in there too. I’d say if you have a child on the Autism spectrum, this may be a good place to visit during their slow hours. It’s quiet, with no bright lights or loud music and the staff are very understanding and helpful. I know how hard it is to find restaurants when your kid has special needs, so I thought it might be worth mentioning. Their rush hours are a different story though.
We will absolutely be back. The food is so good.

We have ben to a Zaxby’s in Georgia on our way home from Florida this last year and found out there was a new one in Columbia, MO so we stopped in and again loved the food.
I thought it was interesting that they have a sign on the wall as soon as you walk in that says how many stores and were they are except that they don’t show Missouri as having any even though we are standing inside of one reading said sign. :) funny stuff.
The ordering process is super easy as they only have chicken and sides to choose from. We get the 20 piece chicken tenders for $ 14.99 which in my opinion is a steal compared to fast food that charges allot! more for crap tasting gross breaded junk.
These tenders are hand breaded and so friggin tasty! They also have this sauce (Zax Sauce) that is amazing and has this awesome pepper taste to it. I would love for one to open in St. Louis but I am afraid I would be a frequent dinner and I am not sure that would be a good thing.
The only thing I didn’t like was the digital drink dispenser it seamed slow and cumbersome which made a line for because there is only one dispenser. It was nice that they had a water and ice fountain separate for those of us that just drink water. I think the whole area around the drinks could use a different setup.
Great place for some great chicken!

Great food! There is NO microwave in the whole place. All the chicken is top quality and prepared fresh. Wow! I am a food Nazi and not big on chains at all but this was really great.
A really terrific addition to Columbia.