Zest Café and Home Art

My coworkers raved about the kale salad at Zest, so I was looking forward to checking it out. Maybe my first mistake was sitting down to eat rather than taking it to go — they have exceptional slooooooooow service.
My chicken quesadilla tasted like something I could’ve easily made myself and came out cold. The salads looked fine, but nothing special for the price.
There are better places nearby for a quick salad or lunch!

Can’t wait to go back and try more! Had the strawberry, blueberry, and goat cheese salad with salmon… delicious! The shop items are very cute as well, even if a bit pricey. Great place for a casual brunch or lunch whilst shopping at the nearby home depot, bbb, pet store, etc…

So far, my review is only based on one experience although I know I will be back and I hope it’s just as great the next time! We dined here for a Sunday brunch and am glad we went on the earlier side, as his place filled up quickly. We arrived around 10:45am and were able to be seated immediately. The selection is great for a ladies lunch. Their dinner menu looked more substantial (so I may be able to wrangle my fiancé in here for a bite one night) but this is definitely in his category of frou-​frou and I’m not sure I would get him here. The three of us dining actually ordered the same thing, the quadrant, which was a ramekin of cheese grits, two eggs in the style of your choice, breakfast potatoes, and pancakes (buttermilk or griddle cake of the day, which happened to be a wonderful poppyseed the day we were dining). Everything was delicious and the portions were generous. I also liked the fact that the restaurant color codes coffee mugs based on regular or decaf, so you’re not forever guarding your mug and explaining to the waitress you would like decaf again. They also offer sugar free syrup (thank you to all the restaurants who are doing this more and more!!). Great brunch, efficient service (not overly friendly by any means, but she was polite), and cute shopping area (although the prices are a bit inflated, although on par with other area boutiques). Reasonably priced for brunch in the Raleigh area. It’s tucked away inside a strip mall, but don’t let that deter you!!! I would love to go back again and look forward to exploring their menu.

It is below the one star rating. The employee threw something at me. And said a bad word. When complained the waitress refused to get a refill of drink for us. She waked away and not come back. And not busy. It was the same behavior that we got. Walk away from us in the middle of wait on us. And we had to ask her to come back on a regular basis. Gave us food and drink. And tried to run away from us. Said not want to write the down the order. Not her job. Yelled and interrupt us, talk back rude, rush to get rid of, gave us toilet paper when we asked for more napkins. She did write down the order at our request. We had to ask another waitress to get our waitress. She would throw the bill at us. And ran away. Not come back. The hostess saw us and ran away. Not speak to us. She threw the menu on the table. And ran away. The waitress not want to come to our table. We had to ask another waitress to come to our table. And the waitress tried to see us cosmetics. That she was selling. The cashier would wait on a male and female at the same time. And only talk to male. And walk away in the middle of wait on female paying. Females had the ask the cashier to get wait on. She not busy. There are a lot of items to order. And at a good value. The décor of the store is nice. A lot of food on a big plate.

I love a good Caesar salad, and I got one here! I like everything about this place. Reasonably priced too.

I just love this place. Great food, great service, great atmosphere. I buy my daughter toys in the gift shop and they are always her favorite!

This is one of my family’s go to restaurants. For lunch or dinner it is always on our list. With a menu ripe with salads, sandwiches, and fresh entrees, we like to go for a meal that isn’t going to keep us feeling weighed down!
Located in a strip mall and sharing a space with a boutique gift store cluttered with creatively «southern» gifts. Even if there is a wait, I don’t mind because I can always look around.
I have so many favorites I always have a problem choosing and some routinely change due to seasonal ingredients. Some can’t misses are the cat fish sandwich for lunch or dinner, the turkey burger (surprisingly not dry!), and for dinner the cashew crusted chicken with sweet potato patties and peanut slaw, or spaghetti squash and meatballs.
All the salads are great (I usually sub a salad for the Cole slaw) and we ALWAYS end the meal with a slice of coconut cake and peanut butter pie. Even if it is to go. DONT MISS IT. it is so good I bought my dad an entire coconut cake for Father’s Day one year. Unheard of.
Did I mention have glass of wine on Sarurdays??? To good to be true.
Friendly service and outdoor seating with heat lamps in cooler weather. Worth a visit :)

Although I was the only male in a restaurant full of artsy-​fartsy gals, the food was good and the prices fair.
The soup was most definitely «Home-​Made», unlike a bunch of joints.
I ordered the turkey burger and it was delicious.
All of the staff were very personable and outgoing.
If I am in Raleigh again, I’ll stop in for lunch.
The test at Zest was a succest…

A wonderful spot for lunch. Friendly, efficient service and a wonderfully delicious menu. Make sure you try the seasonal offerings! Also, take a few minutes to browse the store.

We drive almost an hour just to eat (and shop) at Zest. Have eaten here many many times and have never had a bad experience. House salad with chicken or salmon: excellent. Catfish sandwich: excellent, my personal favorite. Soups very good. Always a lot of people there; sometimes must wait 10 – 15 minutes, but not a problem.

Overpriced mediocre (being generous) food.
Menu from the 90s — do they even have a chef?
Terrible service — probably some of the worst ever and it’s not a fluke — expect it to happen from the host and the servers.
The «Home Art» area is like Etsy vomited its rejects onto chintzy racks. It’s an assault on the eyes that must be an homage to Myrtle Beach junk shops.
Ladies-​who-​lunch patrons walk around with their noses in the air and should try to mind that when they bring all their bags and coats in, it’s not okay to let them spill into other’s seating areas.
It’s always packed when I walk by — I only go in when it’s a business lunch and I don’t have a choice. It’s «fun» to be professional and act like an adult and ignore, well, everything wrong going on. I’ve seen the staff argue with patrons so there’d be no point in saying anything anyway.
Don’t go in with a baby stroller. Ever.
It seems popular, and I’m glad a local business is thriving. I just have no idea why a place trapped in last century with ornery staff, an atrocious atmosphere, and obnoxious patrons would attract anyone.

The service at zest is horrible!!! They took my order onsite and 10 minutes later told me they where closed. I spoke to the manager and she also refused to fulfill my previously placed order.

The Zest Café food is always good, but their menu offerings are not what you would expect from a typical café. Given this, it’s not café I’d be interested in eating at more than a couple times a month.
Having said that, the gift shop/​gallery is AMAZING. It features jewelry, soaps, clothing, and kitchen/​home accessories that you’ll have a hard time finding anywhere else. They typically switch out some of their products based on the season. This is my first stop when look for gifts for any occasion or person and I rarely walk out empty handed. This shop is a true gem!
I would have rated a three if not for the shop.

I have to Unilocal that this is my new favorite spot for brunch!!! Feels like a Christmas, so nice!!! When I first came in, their shopping stuff just caught my eyes, so much art stuffs for the house and cute stuffs the kids… So warmth and lovely!!! The staffs who works here are super nice and friendly, most people who come here are families with kids, and they got good selection for brunch as well!
I never like shrimp and grits before because it’s always heavy and grease, but when I saw someone next table ordered one and it looks amazing, I decided to give it a try, so I ordered the fresh squeeze orange juicy with shrimp and grits!!!
When the food came, and I took the first bite, omg it was like the best I have ever had and the best I have never expected!!! So light and tastes; the diced eggplants and bacons gives amazing texture!!! The shrimp is wile caught so it gives really fresh and good taste!!! which has also perfectly grill!!! The grits got the cheese flavor but not heavy at all!!! And the other fresh mix diced vegs there make the grits taste even better!!! Trust me, defiantly taste better than what I could describe! You won’t regard to have!

One of my favorite lunch spots in Raleigh. A great place to take friends, clients and relatives. The Home Art store provides great ideas for gifts and their gift wrapping service is very unique and memorable. The food choices are great for brunch, lunch or dinner. My current favorite is their Kale Salad which I order with or without grilled Salmon depending on my hunger for the day. The staff is friendly and always smiling. I look forward to going to lunch there today with a customer!

I had the pleasure of introducing a good friend to this jewel in North Raleigh. At 12:30 pm, we needed to wait 10 minutes for a table. We spent our time wandering the store to admire all the beautiful things. I had an eggplant dish from the main menu. My friend had the seasonal salad which had plums and a wasabi dressing. Both really hit the spot. Service was nice but not intrusive so we were really able to carry on a conversation. I purchased a card with a scene of downtown Raleigh.

Hmm. Where to start. Okay, so I was pretty excited to check this place out. I have been hearing about it for awhile and the idea of fresh ingredients was definitely a plus.
First, the shop: very very overpriced in my opinion. I saw a few things I liked, but the prices for the products didn’t match in my opinion.
The restaurant: we had the Brie with blueberry chutney. It was served with pita points. It lacked flavor and had a small amount of cheese on the plate. I wasn’t impressed. (For $ 9)
For my meal, I ordered the hummus platter. ($ 8) It was overrun with pickled peppers and tons of olives. It was a small spoonful of hummus on a giant bed of lettuce. With tons of pita points. Okay, fine. The flavor was non existent. I know good hummus and this isn’t it. I was under the impression this place had fresh ingredients. It didn’t taste fresh at all.
One of my friends had the brats and potatoes and my other friend had the crabby cakes. Both of them were underwhelmed. They said their plates lacked flavor and left the plates unfinished. For local businesses I do not send stuff back as to at least support them. A review, nonetheless, is required. If you are looking for food that leaves you hankering for more afterward, skip this place. I wanted to love it, but unfortunately it pales in comparison to other local joints nearby and even food trucks that are taking the farm/​garden to table approach. NEXT!

Excellent meal here again for Sunday brunch. Service was on point. Half price mimosas on Sunday is the way to get your day of rest started. In spite of a full house, the wait staff swarmed us when drinks were even half full.
Had the breakfast burrito. FILLING is an under statement. Served with a great salad with a light berry vinaigrette. Thing tasted great, wasn’t dry and had an excellent salsa to compliment it. I added avocado because nutrients and fiber, but it certainly didn’t need it.
Lady had the quiche which she swooned over in ways that made me want to put on some Al Green and wink at her. Based on her reaction to each bite, it was an experience to behold. It was served with a cornbread so sweet and moist that it bordered on birthday cake. I didn’t sample the quiche because it has cheese and that’s bad for my digestive tract in particular, mmkay?
She had a fresh fruit medley on her plate as well which she claimed was extremely fresh n’ juicy. Good stuff all around at Zest once more!

I love this café. All the items on the menu are delicious. It’s very busy at lunch which means the food is great.

Love this place! So fresh and innovative food. Healthy but flavorful. I’ve never had a bad meal here. Just don’t be in a rush since it can take a little time, but so worth it.

Zest Café is great place to go and eat — always great food and lots of home décor. Zest has catered a couple gatherings for us. Both took place in the morning, so we had brunch foods — quiche, fruit, chicken salad wraps etc. Ben was very helpful during the entire process with useful advice. I recommend Zest for both catering and eating in!

I went to Zest for brunch on a Saturday. We were seated right away. Our server was very pleasant and handled my questions with ease. I ended up geting the Zestwich, which for the record is delicious! I wasn’t a super fan of the chipotle-​herb potatoes that came with it, but the sandwich was delicious. I got a taste of my boyfriend chicken and waffle; I would give that a thumbs up too! They have such a unique take on simple but delicious dishes and, in my experience, they nail it.
Another great thing is that you don’t have to worry about Zest breaking the bank. I think the price and quality met in the middle and I walked away very satisfied. If you are looking for a nice lazy brunch with a neat atmosphere and a sure-​to-​satisfy food menu, Zest is your next stop.

I have been going to Zest for about 12 years and have seen many menu changes and some staff changes through retirement, etc (though they don’t have a lot of turnover really). I like supporting mom & pops, and Zest at times has been hard to love, though things have gotten better lately especially since the son is there more (don’t know if the dad retired or what, but the son seems to be running the place).
They used to not seat you unless your entire party was there, which was really annoying, especially to us regulars who came practically every week, but that is relaxed now. One of the regular waitresses who recently retired, used to act like she had never seen us before every time we came in, but it is nice that the other staff know my usual drink (raspberry ice tea) and bring it out when they see me. That’s what I’m talkin’ bout!
My favorite is the turkey burger, nice and juicy with great aioli. They mix it up seasonally, and I usually like the variations, though one time it was a dud. Even the waitresses said customers didn’t like it, and said the owner was adamant he was going to keep it even though he was losing sales, and they expressed how much grief they were getting over it. Oh well, it is their restaurant, and I just stopped going there a season until they change it up. The wait staff is nice about letting me modify my order with the foccacia bread instead of the bun, when they switched that feature of the turkey burger. My second fav are the pizzettes when I like the toppings.
The worst incident there was when I ordered a pizza, and is was sugary sweet, and that wasn’t mentioned on the menu. I commented on it to the waitress, and she said she would check on the ingredients. She came back and said the chef said it was due to the onions on there, as they get sweet when baked. hmmm. I didn’t buy it as I’ve had many types of onions, every which way. When I told her I don’t think so, that doesn’t seem right, she then admitted the chef said he did add sugar to the sauce but not to tell me, just say it was the onions. Liar liar. At least her conscious got the best of her, though too bad the chef felt it was okay to treat the customer like an idiot without working tastebuds.
Overall, I am a regular and can’t help myself but to come here, and I’m glad the next generation is working to make it a more enjoyable place to frequent.

Nice place to meet a friend and grab a bite to eat. Then you can shopping afterwards in their gift shop. I ordered the veggie wrap and thought it was good but did not like the poppy seed dressing it came with. It tasted good but just not with the wrap. The salads looks delicious and want to try one of those next time!

Food was good. Fresh, kind of simple, and healthy. Stuff that I would normally cook at home. Which is a good thing since I’m so picky. Nice to know it exists for those nights I get lazy.
Service was good. Waters stayed filled and they knew the menu.
Atmosphere is good in the dining room, it’s bright and folksy in a good way. The attached store was separate enough it wasn’t an issue for us. Browsed a little, nothing we would ever buy.

The food is really good and very fresh. They change the menu often enough to keep you coming back to try new things. The servers are friendly and attentive.
You won’t find anything fried on the menu, not even french fries, and the portion sizes are not too big. I feel like I’ve eaten relatively healthy after a visit here.
Oh, and if you like anchovies on your caesar salad, they’re one of the few places that offer that! Yum!
My only knock is that there’s something about the layout inside that makes it feel cramped and noisy. The outside seating is the best option and what I tend to prefer.

Our family has visited Zest on several occasions – brunch, lunch and for gift shopping. Always a lovely (and yummy) experience!
Food is fresh and service is great. I am a fan of the various salads – I usually add chicken or salmon – which come with amazing salad dressings (vinaigrette’s). For brunch, my husband is a fan of the Brunch Burrito and I have enjoyed the Quadrant – 2 eggs, 2 griddle cakes, herbed potatoes and grits. Delicious!
Aside from the yummy food, Zest is a great place to find gifts and goods of various sorts home décor, baby gifts, jewelry, candles and more.
— Public parking lot available – tends to be busy during the lunch hours.
— Outdoor seating is an option

Seven of us went to Zest for lunch to celebrate a birthday. Most of us had been there many times and enjoyed it. However today, the service was bad
and the management was indifferent to our needs.
One gal in our party had to eat gluten free but there was no gluten free bread or salad dressings. My friend ordered a salad but asked for a substitute for the bread that came with it. The waitress offered chips. When the bill came she was charged for the chips.
As the birthday girl was leaving the restaurant area to shop, she inadvertently knocked over a vase in a very crowded aisle. The management was argumentative about the aisles being crowded and required her to pay for the broken vase. The owner in fact was uninterested.
All seven us agreed we would not eat there again simply because they were so rude.

Zest is everything I really like… interesting menu, healthy options, veggie-​friendly, one-​of-​a-​kind, friendly service, clean (excellent sanitation rating)…why oh why it’s been years since I’ve been here… well, I have NO excuse.
Thanks to Unilocal for reminding me when I did a search Saturday night for Sunday brunch ideas, it was time to finally get back to Zest. Love that they open at 10 on Sundays, and although we were certainly not the first ones there, there were plenty of open tables. Husband ordered coffee (which he liked very much), and I went with iced tea (which was good also). Both of us noticed everything that came out of the kitchen looked great.
Husband went with:
brunch burrito
grilled chicken, scrambled eggs, peppers, roasted potatoes, feta cheese, tomatoes and shredded lettuce stuffed in a flour tortilla with fresh salsa and mixed green salad
10.95
I had already spotted online what I was going to get:
breakfast burger
open faced turkey burger with smoked pimento cheese, chicken bacon and shredded lettuce topped with a sunny side up egg on homemade focaccia bread served with zest mix chipotle — herb potatoes
9.95
Can I just say… YUM! Everything was really fresh, plentiful and delicious. That being said, I was very glad to be able to steal some of Husband’s salad and salsa, as my burger meal really needed something spicy or acidic to cut through the richness of all the protein. So if I were to order this again, I would probably ask for salad instead of the potatoes, although the potatoes were very good… a mix of white taters and sweet potatoes, but I didn’t detect any chipotle flavor as the menu said. To mean chipotle means spicy. Not so. Also didn’t detect any «smoked» flavor in the pimiento cheese.
Husband enjoyed his burrito very much, although he did say he would probably order something different next time because «it became too much».
So the moral of this Zest story is… GO, and SHARE. Everything we had was very good, but mixing and mingling the items made them more enjoyable. If I could have Zest heaven it would be a buffet to try a little bit of everything!
Love the saying they have painted over the entrance to the restaurant: «Until we eat again».
Also love the store! Whether you’re waiting for a table, or have finished eating and want to linger, the store full of interesting gifts is the perfect place to do so.

Trying the fresh lemonade even though it is cold out.
Zest was slipping down a few notches. Not like a sliding board, more like bumping and tumbling hitting a few rocks on the way to break the fall.
Cold food, listless waitstaff, nobody smiling like they were happy for you to visit.
I gave it a break… keeping them in mind, but choosing others when out and about.
Came to visit this past weekend.
Did the café live up to their own namesake?
After eating their trademark zest home fries (really hash browns)
and splitting a pizzesta, I can say the food is once again edible.
Not much else has changed.