Zen Box Japanese Eatery

Great Japanese «comfort food.» Not fancy, but tasty and ample.

A fun place to have lunch, and cheap too! For $ 6 — $ 9 you get more food than I can usually eat, including a soda or tea. Both the veggie and the meat gyoza are good (I ask for extra sauce), as are the shrimp and tofu. It’s worth the extra $ 1 to get the decadent noodles, but only if you’re hungry! The little salad that comes in the bento boxes is delicious, or if you prefer, there’s steamed broccoli and carrots. You can go healthy if you want and substitute the rice with cabbage, and there are plenty of vegetarian options.

good and good value

We loved it! We had no trouble with street parking, but it could be challenging if there’s a lot going on. The lunch we had was delicious. I ordered the spicy noodle soup. It was colorful, with delicious and fresh ingredients. Not particularly hot-​spicy, just flavorful. My companion ordered a pork rice dish which was good. Ample servings allow for leftovers. Service was quick and helpful, as we needed explanation of several items on the menu. We will go back!

I just started a new job in downtown Minneapolis, and have been investigating restaurants in the skyway. I wasn’t that familiar with Japanese food, but thought I’d give this place a shot since they seemed busy.
Boy, I’m glad I did. Really great, fresh-​tasting food, with quick and efficient service. I’m about halfway through their menu, and I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve ordered. I usually get the Yaki-​Soba instead of rice, but all the meat entrees are incredible.
Now I need to try their big restaurant on Washington. I’m hooked.

After months of searching downtown Minneapolis for edible teriyaki and wading through pools of microwaved chicken on thick gelatinous sugar gravy; boy was I happy when I got my bento box here. For under 7 box tasty grilled chicken teriyaki with and appropriate amount of tasty sauce served with crispy greens, green tea, and a couple pot stickers. I’m stoked to sample rest of the menu!

Pros: The food is fast (it’s assembled in front of you, not cooked to order) and you can have brown rice (for an up-​charge). The serving of brown rice is ample, the prices are pretty low, and there’s more than one vegetarian/​vegan option on the small menu. Also, there’s a little lever for soda water on the soda fountain in addition to the little lever for regular tap water. I like my water bubbly, and this is an unexpected win.
Cons: The food tastes fast. My tofu skewers had a reasonable amount of tofu on them, but the exterior was heavy on the oil and light on seasoning. They sauced them up (I got a different sauce on each skewer) but the seasoning wasn’t enough to combat the generic fried texture and flavor of the tofu cubes. I’d love if the tofu was grilled or sautéed instead of fried and if it had some marinade or other flavor on it.
The best part of my meal was the brown rice, especially the bits that caught the sauce from the skewers, and my plastic cup of soda water. I’d go back again if I needed a downtown lunch spot because they do have veg options and it’s fast enough for a lunch hour — but only after I lobbied for a place that serves fresher food and lost.

Japanese comfort food for a filling lunch. Bento box deals are great and include a drink. Fast service keeps the line moving. I like the karage — nice crisp to the chicken that pairs nicely with brown rice. The dumplings are also a nice bonus in the box.

Very disappointment in this place. Rushed to get there at 2 since they closed at 2:30 and they were already closed down by the time I got there. They should changed their hours to reflect their correct open times.

After living in Japan for almost 4 years in both Kyoto and Tokyo, I’m always on the lookout for good japanese food.
I tried the kara-​age and found it dry and overcooked. They seem to use unmarinated breast rather than marinated thigh meat, and try to cover it with sauce.
I decided to give them a second chance and tried the tonkatsu. For some reason they add cheese to the pork cutlet, possibly to cater to minnesotans or to add some moisture back. If the latter they were not successful. Again, dry and a bit overcooked. Worse yet, the cutlets were unsliced, so I only had the option of trying to nobble off the cutlet or try cutting it myself. I chose the latter, and it was not easy using the plastic cutlery available.
Normally I would give this a 1 star, but the scarcity of non-​sushi japanese food in the skyway, along with the fast service, gets the 2^nd star. If I don’t make my own bento but am craving for lunch this is one of my few options.

Zen Box is one of my favorite lunch spots downtown. They consistently have food with fantastic flavor, fair portions, and a cost that you would expect from someplace downtown in the skyway.
The employees are always helpful, and friendly.
My go to meal is the #2 Box with Noodles. I particularly like their noodles add on, as the noodles also contain chunks of chicken in them. Great value for an up charge of around $ 1.

Great food for the price. The teriyaki chicken is delicious and a healthy option. This is one of the best lunch options downtown for sure.

One of the better quality skyway food options. Always get the teriyaki chicken with yaki soba noodles and always love it. Yummy cabbage salad and dumplings make it a plus from my value proposition perspective. Seating is at a minimum which is a minus when you can’t find a seat. Comes with a soft drink as well if you like that sort of thing.

Downtown Minneapolis offers many lunch choices at many types of restaurants in all different price ranges.
If you come across Zen Box as you wander through the skyway on your lunch break and are looking for a quick lunch with relitively healthy options and great tasting food, then you should stop in!
This is a much smaller version of the full Zen Box Restaurant located on Washington Ave. (I ate there last year and it was fantastic!). Just because it’s small and only offers limited items, each time I go I feel like I get decent, tasty and quality food for a very reasonable lunch price.
I order the veggie Gyoza, a Japanese style dumpling. For my side I get steamed broccoli and carrots. The vegetables are PERFECTLY steamed every time! I mean, they are so good, not mushy in the least. I get steamed brown rice to go with the Gyoza and then a side of edamame. And, I love the Gyoza! I like spicy food so I usually use the hot red sauce.
I have eaten here several times and always been pleased. It’s great to have a convenient lunch option with good food in the warmth and convenience of the skyway
Stop in and try it out!

I have been there three times now. Love ramen, karaage, and Takoyaki. Cannot wait to try others there again.
I also liked retro Showa Japanese decorations (that is the time and place I am from!).
Noodles has a really good al dente level and soup of tonkotsu has lots of umami (a bit too thick to adjust to cold Minnesota climate?).
Karaage is very crispy and juicy inside and I can tell good seasoning preparation before frying them.
People there are very friendly and nice to complete.
Hope I live near them!

Simple, fresh and tasty japanese food. I love grabbing lunch there, whenever I work downtown. The staff is also very friendly and helpful.
Cuisine japonaise fraiche, simple et savoureuse. J’aime bien manger ici quand je travaille au centre ville. Le service est excellent.

I’m easy to please!
They have «actual» items on their menu «actually» labeled «vegan», LoL!
For someone who lives where all the restaurants have no vegan items — and have never heard of this, and don’t care, and are shocked/​offended that such a thing exists — That was all i needed to see!
Ha ha — I’m talkin, «Sure, you can order a salad — but you have to beware, and be sure to make sure you tell them to not put any eggs or cheese or bacon on it — and even if you do tell them, there’s a good chance the salad will be delivered to you with all those items still on it, even though you told them to leave them off!»
Anyway — Back to the review — I usually get their Tofu Skewer Bento lunch. I’ve also had the Veggie Age Gyoza, and the Soba Salad. I liked all of them. Also I like the fact that they have brown rice too, not just white.

I’m a huge ran of the Izakaya version and this one’s no different. Sure the concepts are different, sky way lunch vs. dinner time sit down meal.
In both cases, I can tell they care a ton about their food and it’s clear they’ve thoroughly considered all the ingredients to add to a perfect lunch.
I stopped by and ordered a Chicken Kara-​age lunch box. Honestly, it’s a steal. To make a crispy, non soggy kara-​age during a lunch time rush with amazing sweet soy sauce and a healthy cole slaw to boot (plus pot stickers?).
Come now, this ranks as an awesome, super filling meal, right up there with some of the best food trucks down town.

This review may be misleading. I would rate Zen Box overall 2 stars, but since they started serving the soba salad, they’ve gone up in my esteem.
I’ve tried their other fare a few times, and nothing ever knocked me out. It was pretty standard Asian food court food. But the place I used to get Bun salads closed, and I found myself on the search for a good lunch salad. Something that was more than lettuce, dressing, meat and other bits. I saw the sign for the Soba Salad and it was like the perfect bun replacement.
A huge mound salad greens, soba noodles shelled edamame, a few carrots and sesame seeds, and a really tasty ginger-​miso type dressing. I usually add chicken, which $ 1 for 3 pieces is a little steep. But the first time I muttered through my salad about portions of poultry, I ended up with a huge chunk at the end. So, in the end, the small portion chicken usually balances out.
The Izayaka location also serves the salad, but no chicken option. (sad face)

LOCATION: Located in the skyway near Marquette and 6^th street (near Wells Fargo). It’s to the left of Taco John’s.
LUNCH: Bento #1 — Fried dumplings over rice ($ 0.75 extra for brown rice) and a cabbage salad. Comes with a drink for $ 7, not bad. Having dumplings with rice is kinda weird to me, but I enjoyed it. The staff was friendly and fast.
The place is small and there isn’t much seating. The food is cheap and it tastes good.