Zesta Cucina

Always delicious food, great service and nice ambiance yet not stuffy. Great value for the quality of food. My kids love the salmon dinner — such a nice change from the normal kids menus at other restaurants.

We have eaten here twice. The first time was excellent. The second time was terrible. The waiter was unfriendly and the steak medallions was absolutely flavorless. The waiter did not even ask why I didn’t eat my food. Very disappointing.

This restaurant is my favorite in town! I love the Cedar plank Salmon with veggies and risotto. Extensive wine list with a plethora of local choices. Delicious beer on tap. They have a fresh sheet that’s changed biweekly that offers a variety of Pacific Northwest cuisine and Italian favorites. The presentation of food and cocktails is unparalleled! Happy hour from 3 – 6 on weekdays has great prices on wine, cocktails and food. Such good prices! You can also choose to be seated in the dining room for a romantic dinner, or a family friendly meal. I can’t say enough good things! Consistently great service. This restaurant is a must!

Our favorite restaurant in Yakima!!! It is consistently good and always fresh. The staff Are always sweet and remembers our family. Even though I am a vegetarian I find items on the menu and am able to do substitutions. Love all the pastas and the flatbread pizzas are absolutely yummy!!! And not too mention beautiful inside and great atmosphere

Loved the food. Loved the service. Great atmosphere. I went there for the first time for a friend’s farewell party. We had a good time. The prices were a bit high for my budget, but for me it was a one-​time experience. If you can afford it and like good food, you should check them out. We sat on the upper level of the restaurant. It was a little more private, but they also have the business office there. I thought people going in and out of the office disrupted the atmosphere somewhat. If that’s the case with you, you may want to choose a place at lower level. The servers were very attentive and nice.

I would actually give this restaurant 3.5 stars.
Ambiance: 4.5 stars
The ambiance was fabulous: warm and romantic. I loved the use of fairy lights and colored lanterns and beams. The linens were lovely and the seating comfortable. This is a great place for a romantic dinner, but I think that it might get loud when at full capacity.
Service: 4 stars
This would have been higher, but we stood in the entrance for a good five minutes and were seen by several employees before someone asked us if we had been helped. Once we were seated, our server was pleasant and efficient and accommodated a request for a different cheese in the salad.
Food: 2.5 stars
The descriptions on the menu were mouth watering, but, while nothing was horriblea, nothing was knock my socks off either, and I was so hoping it would be! My husband started with the clam chowder and I with the Autumn salad. The chowder had a lovely flavor, but the consistency was off for me; it was very thin and milky and I prefer chowder to have more body. The salad was large (I could have just done that for dinner) and I loved the candied walnuts but it was overdressed (you may want to ask for dressing on the side). My husband got their seasonal special Deconstructed Beef Wellington: it was nicely plated and a generous size. The beef was tender but the taste profile missed the mark. Good, but not great. I had the peppered kabobs. The cream sauce was very good (though too salty) and the beef itself had good flavor but was quite dry. It needed the sauce! The best part of the meal was the lovely, warm slices of homemade bread that came out at the beginning. Yum! Bottom line: good but not great: the food did not match the ambiance. That being said — I might come back for just the ambiance and I am curious to see if their other dishes have more of a wow factor…
For the two of us to eat and have one non-​alcoholic drink each was $ 73. So for us this would be a special occasion place. But I think we’ll try some of the other nicer places in town first.

It’s ight steak is pretty good. Definitely a place you want to take a date. Service is cool. Best pasta place in WV

Although the food was great, I had a pizza, the service was lacking. Our waitress was very nice but slow and didn’t check on us very often or keep our drinks full. They generally seemed understaffed as I didn’t see anyone else working the tables and she as all over the place. While the waitress was dashing all over, the hostess was going around spraying the fake branches with compressed air. I felt that the forming dust cloud 10 feed from my food wasn’t very professional. The only thing that saves them from 2 stars was the great food. I hope they were just having a bad day.

I ordered the chicken piccata and it was definitely one of the best piccatas I’ve ever had. The chicken was tender and moist. The risotto was seasoned perfectly with the right balance of capers and lemon butter sauce. Décor was warm and comfy. Service was friendly and attentive. I’ll be back!

My daughter told us her birthday dinner had been at Zesta Cucina so she suggested she, my wife and I have brunch there this past weekend. From the Italian bread with olive oil and Balsamic vinegar on the side to the Mista Salad to my American Kobe Short Rib & Mushroom Risotto entrée to the reimagined ‘Smores dessert and a mixed berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream dessert (don’t see these listed on the online menu) the meal was both superb and memorable. The sauce with the Kobe Short Rib dish was so good my daughter ordered it on the side to use as dip for her Dungeness Crab «BLT» entrée. That sandwich was packed with fresh crab. My wife greatly enjoyed her Chicken Cannelloni entrée.
Our server was exceptional. This is one of the best dining experiences we’ve ever had from both service and food standpoints. Can’t wait to return and try other dishes on the menu.

Zesta always has great atmosphere and food. However, if you aren’t up for the refined and unusual palate type foods, you may have less food options. Foodies will love the place. Works well for kids too, with tablecloths to draw on and bread to get you started. A gem and staple in Yakima.

This is probably my favorite restaurant in Yakima. Delicious food with a fair variety of options to choose from. There is a full bar with good drink options to pair with your meal including wine and beer lists.
The atmosphere is what makes the restaurant. It’s a lot fancier/​nicer than most places in Yakima. Provides a good place for a romantic dinner or a friend get together or any night on the town. Is a little more expensive but worth the money.

My favorite dinner is the filet mignon with asparagus and risotto. Also have great martinis and appetizers during happy hour. My favorite is the blueberry martini and the truffle fries.

Another restaurant in Yakima that makes you feel like you are in a big city with an amazing foodies scene. It doesn’t seem like a restaurant you would find it in a small town. The place is decorated nicely. The service was good.
I had the Cedar salmon dish. This is one of those dishes that not only engages the senses, it grabs a hold of them. It is visually stunning. Seasoned beautifully. Each bite is better than the other. The salmon and risotto are cooked perfectly. The aroma is infatuating. The vegetables are a nice compliment to the dish. Overall, extremely satisfied.
The crème burlee was good, although it had too much caramelized sugar on top. The flavor of the crème however, was wonderful.
I recommend this place to anyone.

Had dinner here with our company and the food was amazing. Be sure to order their specials and you’ll never go wrong with their Kobe steak. It pairs very well with their red wine and they go above and beyond to provide great customer service with great food made from local market ingredients. It was here that I discovered the Left Bank Red blend from Gilbert Cellars winery. It paired well with my Kobe steak infused in ravioli. Our server is also able to split the checks (there were 10 of us.

We’ve been going to Zesta for years, and we were excited to take our classmates who aren’t from Yakima. Unfortunately, something went really wrong with the service tonight. We had a reservation for 5:15pm in the bar (which we specifically asked was possible, and the host said it was). Upon arrival, we were told we did not have a table in the bar (where Happy Hour was), and ended up claiming a table for 6 on our own in the bar. Our waiter, though very polite, had a really tough time tonight. Though it’s natural to want to blame him, we all noticed he was not being supported by any of the other waitstaff, and honestly, we felt bad for him. He seemed stressed, repeatedly apologized, and kept a professional demeanor. We waited 45 minutes to order our food and drinks, which ended up being at 6:02pm (2 minutes after HH ended). When we received our bill, we were charged full price for everything. We asked our waiter about it, he very politely told us he would notify a manager. The manager took about 15 – 20 minutes to talk to us, and though he corrected most of the charges, he repeatedly stated «I’m giving this to you» or «I took care of that for you», or «Happy Hour, is everyone Happy now?» loudly in front of other patrons. I couldn’t imagine him talking to a group of 50 year-​old patrons the same way, and it left us all feeling very awkward, like we were just trying to get something for free. When we should have had a great night enjoying the company of our friends, our night was dominated by asking where our food/​drinks were several times, receiving the wrong items, and trying to get our bill corrected. Next time we decide to dine out, I think we’ll skip Zesta and check out one of the newer places in town.

Delicious Chicken Marsala and great service from Devyn! The Tera wine blend amazing! ;)

I really wanted to give them five stars but I think four is more accurate for this visit. Good food, good service but something was missing. I came in around 330 pm, apparently it was happy hour. I don’t live in town and picked this place due to Unilocal reviews. No one greeted me at the door, I waited a minute or two. I wandered in, picked a table in the bar since that seemed to be the only place the staff was. The restaurant looked lovely, tables were set, atmosphere is nice. Bar area was nice and I was greeted shortly after I sat. My waiter was fine, he was nice and semi attentive but I had to ask for a dinner menu-​twice– (since I was in the bar and it was happy hour), then I had to ask for a cloth napkin, I had to ask for fresh ground pepper on my steak… I think these things should be offered without my asking. A paper napkin felt weird with a good steak and glass of wine. What I really liked about the service was a couple of guys came around with water refills, I drink a lot of water. Another waiter came by when he saw I had a different need. The owner came out and randomly asked if everything was good. Actually that encounter was kind of comical. He was standing behind me, over a partitioning wall and spoke very softly. I believe in Italian. Very cool. I’ll be back and see if I can give them a five next time.

I kid you not — I just consumed the best Chicken Marsala in my entire life here this evening. Do keep in mind, that is my favorite dish almost anywhere I go. (Chicken Piccata is a close second.) The place — tucked away in an unassuming strip mall — has a very mod interior. A bit loud — but what place isn’t nowadays? For dessert? An inspired peach crème brûlée — one that’s served IN a hollowed out peach. Shut. Up. Plus, who knew Yakima, WA would serve up the holy grail of Chicken Marsala? Destination eating at its finest …

This is a great place for a business dinner whenever we are in Yakima. It is a little far from the downtown (most of our business associates are in the downtown and lower valley), but worth the drive. The service, food and drinks are excellent.