Zin Bistro

We were really hungry and saw this place here on Unilocal,saw all the 5 star ratings, and decided to do the take out. Amazing, the lamb shank was so very good my husband stole some from me. He had a pasta chicken sausage in a white sauce I tried his too! So good! This is our new favorite American style restaurant!!!

Excellent! What a treat. Fantastic service, greeted promptly, very friendly. We had a reservation which is recommended. Only 10 tables, they were all taken by 6:30. Good beer selection. Fresh salad first. Then he had pan roasted chicken. Which was served with a light brown well seasoned gravy type sauce. I had the fresh fish of the day. Salmon cooked perfectly. Light and flaky with a mango coconut sauce. Both dishes were served with rice and broccoli rob. We split a chocolate mouse that was delicious.

We came to this restaurant based on the recommendation of several people at Vineyards we visited in the area.
While the food was decent, we realized after ordering that our server omitted to tell us about most of the specials, and when we brought this to her attention, she barely seemed to care. We most definitely would have ordered differently if we had known all the options as they were being brought to other tables. The other waiter in the restaurant serving the other tables seemed to be doing an amazing job describing the specials, that were not offered to us. Our bad luck.
Good service can make up for bad food, but bad service just ruins everything. We most likely will not come back.

The food is fresh, nicely presented and delicious. Service is prompt & professional. I’ll be back for sure.

Zin Bistro is quite the find in Lodi, CA. Small with no frills, that’s ok because you go for the food which is really tasty. My colleagues ate steak and the chef prepared a special vegetarian wild mushroom pasta for me. Nice wine choice, I love the Lodi Red Blends. Also, the service was great. This is a must visit family owned and run restaurant.

Tiny. Rather loud. Funny server. GREAT FOOD. I’ll be back!

What a gem! ! The food was excellent. I enjoyed the bistro filet and my husband had the salmon both were perfect. We also had the pasta of the day for our appetizer chicken with mushrooms in pesto sauce delicious.
Services was spot on.
We will definitely be back

The best Caesar salad of my life! Pork chop cooked to perfection! Superior service! Will definitely go again!

We came for my husbands 60^th birthday dinner with our family. Great service and food. Brian was so very helpful. My daughter has a gluten allergy and he was very helpful finding out her options.

Oh My! I just ate one of the best dinners of my life! Being a huge «foodie» and in my 50’s, that’s alot of dinners to compare it too. I just moved to Lodi from the East Bay and came across Zen Bistro on accident. The entire experience was outstanding! From the beginning, Jeff who welcomed me and made me feel right at home to Walter the Chef, who made the most wonderful fillet with rice and veggies. So delectable! I will be going back again and again!

Fantastic food and service. Wish they were open Sunday as that is my usual day to visit Lodi.

We had a great dinner. Jeff was our server and was very helpful. He let me taste 2 different wines so I could be sure I’d like what I ordered. The cream of mushroom soup was yummy for a first course. For the entrée, I had salmon, my husband had the NY Steak. We both loved our meals. Great service, great atmosphere, yummy food and wine! We’ll return for sure. Glad we made a reservation because they were booked all evening and even turned one party away that hadn’t made a reservation. We recommend Zin Bistro with thumbs up!

First time here and lunch was GREAT. Read reviews and decided to ask longtime friends to meet here… glad I did. Friends loved their meal and Brien was so friendly & sooo much fun to talk with. Melissa was fun to watch in the kitchen, hollered at her thru the window at how much we enjoyed her cooking and got a great big smile in return.
…not a morsel left on my plate. I will return with friends again and again!

The Zin Bistro definitely deserves 5 stars. This may not be a restaurant for everyone, and maybe not even a restaurant I would typically frequent, but nonetheless it was a great spot.
Let me start off by saying it is such a small restaurant which I think really adds to the kind of exclusive and intimate environment. Zin Bistro appears to be going for a «higher end» feel and I will say the interior is very well decorated.
So on to the food! I had a wedge salad which I loved! I highly recommend it. I also had the pork dish (I forget the exact name) with rice, capers, and green beans. Delicious! The only thing that night turn some away is the portion size. You may find yourself hitting up a McDonald’s on the way home, but that’s exactly what they’re going for… high end food doesn’t usually come in large portion sizes.
My only other disappointment was the soda in a can (no fountain). Again, they specialize in fine wines so I understand, but soda is very important to me! But that should not effect my overall score of the service and food.
Speaking of service… the staff is great! Extremely friendly and warm and welcoming. You have to give it a try if you haven’t already… and remember to call ahead or make reservations!
Yum!

Our party of 4 was in tonight for dinner.
It was excellent. Our server Brian was attentive & friendly. I had the sort ribs on a bed of mashed potatoes with green beans. It everything on the plate was perfectly cooked & delicious! Topped it off with a chocolate mousse which was perfect! I’d recommend reservations the location is small but the kitchen is mighty!

Had an awesome meal here tonight. The waiter was friendly and handled all the tables by himself with grace and ease. There was one chef in the tiniest of kitchens throwing down some bomb grub!
Had the mushroom bisque and I’m not even into shrooms (bad experiencelol) but I loved it. Ordered the filet rare-​medium rare and the waiter said «the chef knows what that means». It was served with a flavorful wine sauce and bleu cheese, and they paired wonderfully. And the filet was ONLY 15 $! WHAT! Chocolate mousse for dessert hit the spot. Wonderful dinner, equally as good as school street bistro, rosewood, etc for half the price. Keep it up Zin!

Nice little (truly small only a few tables) wine bar in a nondescript strip mall on the heart of Lodi. Heard good things about this spot and decided to give it a try… glad we did!
Servers were very pleasant and accommodating, really seemed to know their menu and wines. We were both in the mood for red meat, but got different dishes. I chose the hanger steak and my wife selected the bistro filet. The hanger steak was a bit on the rare side for my medium rare taste but the flavor was good. It had a slightly sweet flavor due to the caramelized onions. My wife;s filet was delicious and both meals came with fresh vegetables and potato.
Excellent meal in a quiet setting, would love to return if in the area.

Cozy little restaurant. Food is good. I had the pork chop on kale. My son had kobe burger. I would come back here for dinner.

We went to Zin Bistro for my mother-​in-​law and her boyfriend’s birthdays because they really likes the place. I was looking forward to it because I had heard so many good things about the place. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.
First off, the waiter was completely scatter brained. He rambled through the specials so fast we had to have him back up and repeat a few times. He forgot to bring me my drink. It wasn’t until the table next to us (who arrived about 20 minutes after us) got their drinks I heard him say «oh yeah, I owe you a drink». I felt like saying, «well duh, I only ordered it almost a ½ hour ago».
I ordered the Bistro Fillet and my wife ordered the Pork Scallopini. The food came out in reasonable time, seeing how busy they were. The scatter brained waiter, couldn’t remember which dishes went where and gave several plates to the wrong people. Once I received my dinner, both the fillet and the mashed potatoes were luke warm at best. The fillet had almost no seasoning, it and the wine reduction were rather bland. Likewise, my wife’s scallopini was luke warm when she got it and had a rather strange flavor to it. She ate very little of it and tried to pass it to others at the table. Nobody else wanted it either.
They did bring a complimentary chocolate mousse to each of the birthday folks, which was nice. But then gave spoons to everyone else and said to pass it around, which I thought was rather strange. I had planned to order my own dessert as the mousse look rather good. However, the waiter never even asked us if we wanted dessert and we didn’t see him again until he brought our check.
All in all, it was a VERY underwhelming experience. LIke I said, I was excited to try it as I had read an article online raving about the place as well as the many great reviews here on Unilocal.However, between the bumbling waiter and the lackluster food, I doubt, very seriously, we’ll ever go back again. Sorry Zin Bistro, but we’re voting you off the island.

So glad this little gem opened up in Lodi!
Zin Bistro is a small space in a tiny shopping center and it’s easily missed while driving down Lodi Ave. But it’s worth stopping by as this is one of the best meals I’ve ever had in Lodi. I recommend reservations as the word must be spreading and this place fills up quickly.
The seafood risotto was one of the best I’ve had. The shellfish was plentiful and cooked perfectly which left me with tender scallops in a rich creamy sauce. The biscotti dessert was a surprise when it came with a delightfully chewy center and a rich chocolate ganache.
The menu is small but everything looks amazing and I’ll definitely be back to try the rest.