Zazios

I was in town for a work event and our group ate at the chef’s table. Chef Joe Pearson provided an entertaining evening with some very good food. The theme was grilled. The Caesar salad with roasted peppers and cheese was great. He prepared a bruschetta with burrata cheese and oil verde that was wonderful and tasted a bit like Italian sausage. We had some laughs with the shrimp/​beans/​stock course, as most of us had never tried sucking out the insides of a shrimp head. The main course was Wagyu beef with hickory smoked potatoes. It was very good, though the meat was not exceptional. The last course was grilled fruits with yogurt/​honey dip and was a nice finish to the meal. Chef Joe did a great job handling special requests and the servers did an excellent job taking care of us. I think what made this special was getting to see Joe prepare each dish from scratch as he explained what he was doing. That adds an element to the enjoyment besides just the presentation and taste.

I recently dined here at Zazios while overnighting at the Radisson Plaza… I thoroughly enjoyed my meal as well as the excellent service I was given… from the moment I walked in to the the end of my meal. I ordered the pappardelle and thought it was amazing… fresh, flavorful, delicious.
I was having trouble deciding on a desert and chef Joe was very helpful in explaining his offerings (the one I decided on and can’t remember name… has fresh strawberries a type of ice cream, chocolate, etc)
I would highly recommend this place for great food and excellent service
A shout out to great service from my server Katie and also chef Joe!

I was in town for business and the bartender and waiter could not have been nicer or more attentive. They totally got my reading a book & just wanting a glass of wine or 2 after dinner while I read.
Oh how could I forget the most important part of the review — and the food was really great — so yummy!!! lol

The «new» Zazzios does not disappoint. Chef Joe continues to provide delicious food, and the staff, amazing service. Erin always goes out of her way to make us feel welcomed and goes beyond our expectations. We dinned their last night, and after a brief conversation with Erin about oysters and the difficulty of finding them in Kzoo, she came back with a surprise plate of two oysters. We were so impressed of her thoughtfulness; it made our night! Thank you, thank you!

It has been a couple years since is have been there. It was a really great restaurant and now it just okay, small menu and strange combinations that just don’t seem to work. Too bad I use to like it and will not be going back, $ 160 for three people. Burdocks or Webster’s are the better choices if you find yourself in the Raddison in Kalamazoo.

Second time eating here. The first time was before the renovations which included a more italian themed menu. My family thoroughly enjoyed it the first time. I would have to say it was a disapointing second visit with the new menu. I liked the idea of a more fusion type menu, but the execution on the dishes were not on par. The pork belly in the BLT had dry chewy pieces, instead of being crispy and juicy. The tempura brisket also was dry like leather and the tempura batter seemed watered down. My duck was no longer warm, but the flavor was very good. The skin side was not seared, which would have added flavor. The snapper was too fishy for me, but my wife enjoyed it. The chicken with quinoa sauce was really spicy, so be forwarned. Service and Presentation for all dishes were excellent, unfortunately the execution was lacking, particularly for this price range. On a side note, the Melbec was excellent.

This place has some serious identity issues. I recently ate at Zazios for a work dinner and it went a little bit like this: The «shareables» menu is actually mostly small plates that even the waitress said isn’t really large enough to share. We had the calamari which was shareable and nice, but it’s calamari… along with tuna which was mediocre and the duck pastrami which must have been good because it was gone by the time the plate made its way to me.
On to the main course, I had the steak. Mind you all the entrees are the same price so if you’re like me it’s going to be difficult to pay $ 28 for items like their Mojo, chicken or tuna… there’s simply no justification for it. Back to my steak… I ordered it medium rare, it came out medium well and they pre-​slice the strip for you which to me is just a huge no go. Just give me a knife and I’ll cut it myself… I dont need you letting all the juices leak out before the plate hits my table. So as one could expect, it was a bit dry and overall not better than lets say Texas Coral. The consensus around the table was «everything was alright, nothing good enough to come back for».
Now the worst part and something I’m sure no one in the management/​ownership wants to hear after dumping (quite literally) a ton of money on a renovation… is the ambiance of this place. This is just my opinion but it’s something out of a bad 90’s ultra contemporary hotel design. They claim they tried to make it «laid back» but everything looks cheap and cheesy. I thought this style of interior design was dead but Zazios had other plans. The vibe and look reminds me of eating at a nicer airport food court. There’s no charm, no character, just weird shapes and colors everywhere with little to no redeeming qualities. I actually liked it better the way it was before, which isn’t saying much.
So the long and the short of this place, in my opinion anyway, is that you’re going to get good service with ok food in a bad setting while spending way too much money in the process… and this is coming from someone who ate here for free…

Zazios is closed for a month (Jan.) to rebrand and redecorating to go with a different twist rather than just Italian food.

We’ve enjoyed this restaurant several times before.
We made a 9 pm New Year’s reservation 3 – 4 weeks in advance. Service was without out question the poorest we’ve ever encountered. It was 40 minutes to get our first drink and a basket of bread.
The restaurant was featuring a Prix Fixe menu for New Years Eve. As we began to place our selections from the menu the first person to order asked for the fresh fish selection. Our waiter politely informed our table the fresh fish selection was sold out for the evening. How can any restaurant offer a limited menu for a special occasion and then not have one of the already limited options available? It didn’t help that 3 of the 4 in our party planned to order the fresh fish.
Also, water glasses sat empty for 15 – 20 minutes a couple times during the 2 hour and 45 minutes we spent at our table.
Zazios is a much better on the average night than what we encountered on New Years Eve but I feel it necessary to make them aware when things don’t go as expected.
The food we did have was very well prepared and presented.

Just spent a night at the chef’s table. Joe was our chef and he was great — our 6 course dinner was amazing. The duck was delicious, the strip steak was yummy, the chicken and chestnut purse was our favorite. All of the drinks we ordered great: dirty martini, chocolate martini, strawberry margarita and a nice Riesling.
Top it off with a romantic setting and a capable waitstaff…
We definitely want to return!

The service is the best I have ever experienced. The hospitality feels very natural and you are made to feel at ease. I would give 5 stars but the flatbread pizza was burnt. The server did remove one from our bill without any prompt from us. The truffle fries are delicious and one order is enough to split. This is always a special meal.

Zasio’s was one of my favorite restaurants in Kalamazoo, but during my last few visits in the last 6 months, the food has not been up to their previous excellent quality. Perhaps it’s the fact that the opening of the other Zasio’s in Birmingham, MI has distracted their focus, but the food has been uneven and sloppy. As an example, I have had to send back two meals in the last three visits. I hope they figure it out, because it was great having an excellent and authentic Italian restaurant in downtown Kalamazoo.

While family was in town we wanted to experience the chefs table at Zazios since we are all foodies in our group. Well the food was fantastic. The wine pairings were excellent too.
If you haven’t been, it works like this. Chef Joe picks a region of Italy to feature in his recipes each month. We went when he was featuring Liguria, a region we have visited and loved. This is where Cinque Terre is located, so seafood was a featured part of the meal. While keeping with the Italian theme Chef Joe also focuses on using local and fresh ingredients. So it’s a blend of Italy with local foods from the farmers market and other local growers. We even saw Chef Joe at the Farmers market the next day.
Our meal was fantastic. I loved the smaller portions focused on rich flavors and several elements and courses. The chicken and risotto were my favorites. The pace was measured not hurried and we had plenty of time to ask questions and learn about what he was cooking and why.
I would recommend you try it too.

Amazing food and gluten free options. The waiter hadn’t heard of the drink I ordered so they googled it and it was perfect.

Great service. We had the most pleasant server, her name is Katie. She was very knowledgeable, friendly helpful but not in an over bearing way. Ask for her if you can.
Food was good, started with shrimp & calamari which was interesting. The calamari was fine but the shrimp in there was like fried shrimp spears, strange. 2 of us had side salads which were fine & we also had the sea bass which was great. The third member of our party had seafood soup that’s like a copino, said it was ok.
They have a really good wine list & several craft beers on the drink menu. This place was better than expected for Kalamazoo.

I want sure about this place but a colleague recommended that I give it a go. The restaurant is lovely and the service is fantastic but I just wasn’t mad about the food.
I ordered two sides, garlicky broccoli and brussel sprouts, as well as a pizza. The pizza was delicious but dripping in oil and fat from the sausage. I could barely pick up the broccoli with my work it was that overcooked, same goes for the brussels sprouts.
Maybe I didn’t order very well, I’ve heard the pastas are delicious. I’ll be back to try something different.

Wow. This place is absolutely delicious!
I had the broccoli cream soup, Cesar Salad and Brussel Spouts. So so amazing.
The rest of their food looks delicious too.
I can’t wait to try more tomorrow.
Also. The service is A++

I had my rehearsal dinner here and the service was awesome. The food was beyond delicious, especially the dessert. The atmosphere was beautiful and my guests loved it.

The chef’s table is an amazing experience! John has nailed real Italian and does a great job with the guest. I love the food!!!

Brought a date for her birthday. Bright, but cool atmosphere. The table was set and candles lit for a man who was going to propose to a woman but she never showed. Bummer of a story, but I appreciated the ambient mood setting nonetheless.
Food was excellent. I had the braised beef shortrib and she had the chicken tortelli. Well prepared, presented nicely, and tasted great.
We finished with the chocolate sampler platter dessert. Again, very nicely presented and was so sweet and good. I was very happy they wrote happy birthday in chocolate on the plate. Nice touch and made my date very happy. I will definitely come back to try other dishes.