Café Zola in Ann Arbor

Breakfast was awesome! 5 of us ate there and we had everything from waffles to omelettes. Crepes and pancakes were delicious too. Great waitstaff and large portions. You will not leave here hungry. Dined outside and we’re provided with umbrellas for shade.

Poor experience, no professionalism. Would recommend going somewhere else.On a not so busy day/hour, got a seat and waited there for 10 minutes without anyone attending, no water, no drinks, no waiter.Twice someone from the staff attended tables next to us, but just decided to ignore us. Maybe me and my wife are too brown for the cafe’s customer taste, possible micro aggression.So we just walked out and found another place. Never shall I let any of my friends or my cohort visit this place.Peace out ✌️

This is a review of the last several times Ive been, but inspired by my most recent (and lastZola experience. Normally I leave thinking, "great place but I cant believe I paid $20 for 2 eggs that werent cooked the way I asked". But on my last visit, it was just debaucherous. We had a reservation that took 45 minutes to fulfill. At that point just dont give out reservations and false hope. Once we were seated, it took another 20 minutes to be acknowledged. Once we were, we were given water glasses COVERED in grease. Absolutely disgusting. We ordered and waited over an hour or the food. Not a single Im sorry or recognition of the poor service from the staff. They actually went out of their way to make us feel like wed done something wrong. The only olive branch we got was them telling us that we could leave if we didnt want to wait. There were tons of excuses (real or not isnt the pointand an overwhelmingly shocking lack of professionalism. So we finish our meal (were over 2 hours in at this pointand ask to talk to a manager to get SOME sort of discount. After pulling teeth, she offered us the grans sum of 10% off. At that point we all felt like wed been held hostage and were just desperate to leave. Our bill was just over $100. So they lost $10 to the discount but also lost 6 customers for life all because they couldnt say Im sorry, treat us like humans and offer some sort of compensation for the disaster of an experience.TLDR: the restaurant is hyped, good food but over priced and has a staff that treats you like youre blessed to even grace their presence. In a place with an abundance of great restaurants, go get your $20 eggs somewhere else.

Aggressively mediocre, overpriced, and unrecognizable renditions of what should be easily executable classic dishes in an utterly unchallenging cuisine category. We waited 45min at table to order, then a further 20min to get ... Whatever you wanna call this stuff...It tasted fine/was edible, but the "crab cake Benedict" was more like a deconstructed crab cake sandwich/burger made by someone who has never seen a Benedict nor heard of hollandaise. As for the "blintz", it was a forgettable crepe in every way except for a bizarre and vaguely gummy texture. If you believe the menu, thats how they do it in Brittany - just dont tell the Bretons.

Delicious fresh-made pasta in light cheese and lemon sauce. Great wine list. Wonderful staff. Sat outside on the last day of summer.

We visited at 5PM on a lovely late summer Friday evening as COVID was receding and chose to eat outside. The wait staff was overwhelmed as the outside filled up. We experienced a 40 minute wait at the end of the meal just to get the bill and credit cards processed and returned. One guest had her meal arrive 20 minutes after the other 5 had waited overlong for theirs, and only after one of us inquired inside after its whereabouts. We left at 7:30.Four of us enjoyed our late meals. My daughter and son-in-law liked the tagliatelle. Our friends enjoyed two different fish specials. My wifes late short ribs were way too fatty, half the portion was inedible. My steak sandwich was delicious but too tough to eat as a sandwich, but the steak cooked perfectly with a very nice brioche bun and caramelized onion compote. My fries were stone cold on delivery.We have had delicious brunch at this restaurant, but this dinner experience was not worth repeating.

Service was horribly slow. Appetisers came without plates to share and had to wait another 15min to get them.I also got pouched eggs which were hard inside. Food was cold and below average. Very disappointed.

Zola sandwich, served haphazardly on dry bread. This restaurant used to be much better. Now it is reliable mediocre.

Although we got a table quickly, service was unbearably slow. We waited for 45 minutes before our server even came to the table. Another 45 minutes for our order to be served.

I loved lunch at the Washtenaw location but was disappointed with Brunch at the downtown location!My husbands order was completely forgotten with not much apology after a 45+ min wait and the crepes I had were good but not the amazing - I feel this place is overpriced for the service and quality of food.Personally, I would recommend going to Vinology or the Jagged Fork instead.

This place was pretty nice, the food was good quality and tasted well. The waitress was little bit sassy in the beginning, but she did well the rest of her job. I had an omelette with salmon, it was pretty good, Americano coffee was decent, I tried better before. I love to have my breakfasts outside, and this place is one of the best to do that! Be ready to spend more than 30$ per person , this is not Denny’s or ihop, but it’s worth it.

3.5 would be most appropriate. The waitress was personable and engaging. Food was really very good (better than expected). Overall the service was slow due to the kitchen, not the waitress. It felt as if they were more focused on the outside tables vs. the inside. The restaurant essentially doubled its capacity for outside seating and couldnt keep up with the volume of food. Old fashioned was delicious (I had 3). Id definitely go back with the expectation of a slow casual dinner.

Food is always fantastic. I am a fan of their American Kobe burger with seasoned fries. Order it medium and it has great sear on outside and pink/red all the way through. Wife and kids vary up what they get each time and have never been disappointed. Entrees range roughly $20 - $35 per person. Bartenders also make very good drinks. Expect it to be busy on weekends in particular. People love this place for a reason.

Ordered Hediye’s breakfast without mushrooms due to a food allergy. It arrived looking beautiful and loaded with mushrooms 😳😑Asked them to remake it without mushrooms, waited and received a breakfast with paper inside. It seemed to be the cheese wrapper 🤷‍♀️ Anyway, it was disappointing to say the least. I have no reason to go back.

The location, ambiance, food and service are great. Very friendly servers, but are a little short in number considering the crowd. The food was very good with good portion sizes. The moroccan octopus, whole fish en papillote and bodrum shrimp were all very nice.

The food was okay, but I witnessed (who I assume to bethe owner verbally assault her employees for a mistake that didn’t seem to be their fault. It was completely unnecessary, and she was being far too agressive and hurtful towards them. I no longer wish to support this restaurant as the management seems to have no respect for its employees.

Poor service staff. Food is fine. Don’t go during rush hours.

Adorable place. I had their waffles and they didnt disappoint! They were crispy on the outside but light and fluffy on the inside. My daughter had the crepes and it was good. However, she had the 5 berry smoothie and she really didnt like it. It had a very odd after taste. But overall, pretty good food and service was fast and great!

The food and service were excellent! Cafe Zola came highly recommended to us, and it did not disappoint! Our servers, Savannah and Sarika, were attentive, knowledgeable, and so delightful! We will definitely be back!

Bad value. Small portions and extremely expensive for what it is and what you get.For that, the flavor of your meal should knock it out of the park but its just basic. You can get the same at Coney Island. If you want a flavorful breakfast that is worth the penny spent go to Avalon down a couple blocks.I wont be giving it another shot for dinner because I was so disappointed. ☹️

Great brunch food, attentive servers, reasonable prices for the quality of food.In particular, the honey lavender lattes are amazing, and the asparagus goat cheese omelets are sublime.

My husband and I had lunch here. I ordered the chicken salad sandwich and he ordered the Cuban. Mine was mainly bread. The chicken salad itself didn’t have much flavor. He said his was just ok. The service wasn’t great. The person who took our drink order was then replaced by someone else and then someone else got us refills and we didn’t see our waiter again until we flagged him down for the check. The sweet potato fries were good. Bummed they don’t have ranch dressing

I am a former employee here. The management at this place is terrible. the gm told the employees that she sent to train me that I wasnt allowed to touch any of the food. Which I find disrespectful with all things considered that Ive worked in the industry for 6 years and worked in various high end restaurants. The kitchen workers refused to give my respect but I guess it is an ego check when youre the youngest person in the kitchen and have all this intellect about the industry as a whole. Their cleaning standards are not up to par. the kitchen and managers had problem with me getting a sanitizer bucket so I could wipe off wipe off my cutting board. they also a problem with me using a scrubby so I could get the grime off the walls. cleanliness first please.

the person who seated us didn’t even gave us any attention, the waitress forgot to order something we asked for and then she also didn’t even give us the right order which we didn’t even realize till we had to pay cause we just assumed she got our order right and we just read the description wrong. No one could do anything about it and I get it, they were nice and they tried, but it was the most lousy experience and the prices did not feel worth it.

Historically this place was pretty good but it’s really gone into the toilet. Awful, slow service with items for forgotten and incorrectly ordered. Waited 30 mins to get a check. No water for the table. Waitress went missing for periods of 20-30 mins. Ricotta pancakes had so much ricotta and were so dense it tasted like eating a block of cheese. Huevos rancheros were below mediocre. Overall One of the worst brunch experiences I’ve had in Ann Arbor.

A very nice dining experience. Zola caught our eye as we walked through downtown Ann Arbor seeing several establishments with outdoor seating. The evening temperature was right and Zolas menu seemed appealing. So we sat outside and started with a fruit tea and spring water. We selected the half roasted chicken and a couple of shrimp tacos. The food was delicious and the service very good. Dinner was enjoyable, giving Cafe Zolas a well earned 4 stars.

Wonderful espresso martinis, sesame crusted ahi tuna, and short ribs. Great flavors! We sat at the bar and had the best service from a lovely bar tender. Will definitely be back before we head back to Austin.

Don’t waste your time or money at this restaurant. The food is over priced, mediocre, and you get tiny portions for the quite frankly outrageous prices. The restaurant is boiling hot. It feels like it’s 80 degrees. We were sweating the entire meal, which was over an hour and a half long due to slow service. Some dishes were served cold when the food finally came. Also, the owner does not seem like a respectful person I would want to do business with. We overheard her berating the staff all night long. I can’t imagine what goes on behind closed doors, given what we heard in front of customers. I will never eat here again, and discourage you from trying. The owner does not care about her staff or customers. I would give it zero stars if possible.

Had reservations this past weekend and it we left after not receiving our food and drink for almost and hour. Seated at 1:10 with orders taken five minutes after. We received water shortly after but weren’t attended to again before we left which was around 2. They table behind us had 1 less person than us and were seated 5 minutes before and had their food and a second round in that amount of time. Same waitress. I’d blame it on them being busy but that wasn’t the case. Heard the food was good but I wouldn’t know.

Took 1 hour and 45 min to receive our meal. The appetizer took 50 min to receive and i laughed when we got it because the portion size was so incredibly small we finished it in less than 10 secondsAlso... 7$ for water???? The entire experience was horrible and there was another couple that ended up cancelling their order and leaving. The restaurant was literally empty so why in the world did it take 2hours to get a meal?The food i received was also burnt to a crisp. Don’t waste your time here as you’ll end up having to wait for hours and your bill will be extremely expensive

Food was great, I love that I can get brunch all day. Easy to get seated and nice outdoor seating area. Sometimes food can come a little slower, especially when theyre busy, but if thats not an issue, everything is great!

The first time we tried this place the service was slow and pretty lackluster. We figured that it was just a fluke — that they were having staffing issues, training new staff, etc. The second time we visited we had a reservation but still waited for 25 minutes just to get water. Once we got water, it took another 20 minutes to get coffee. An hour later, we had finally put in our order, and waited for what turned out to be pretty mediocre food. The servers never apologized for the horribly slow service, never checked on our table once we got our food, and were generally unfriendly and indifferent. Please don’t waste your time and money at this overpriced and underwhelming establishment.

We love the atmosphere at Café Zola, but unfortunately we will not be returning. Our server was nice enough, however, the items we ordered (two Cesar salads, and one chicken salad sandwich), took over an hour. We originally were going to order breakfast foods (as they claim they have brunch available all day), but our server told us that because Randy was working in the kitchen (and apparently he hates making eggs), she wouldnt recommend it as it would take forever and he would be spiteful....? I do appreciate the transparency, however, maybe Randy should understand if the menu offers breakfast all day, he should be willing to prepare it.The side of chicken for the Cesar salad was maybe four slices, and an additional $12 dollars. The salmon that was ordered with the Cesar salad was a VERY small filet, and an additional $16 dollars. I completely understand that things are more expensive these days...but honestly that is insane. Neither Cesar salad had dressing on them, and we were charged $2.50 for a side of dressing...Overall, absolutely over priced and not worth it. Ann Arbor has a ton of other restaurants, so I would recommend everyone checking out one of the many other options over Café Zola.

My experience wasnt the best. My mother and I decided on Zolas for a late lunch. The waitress was very nice though. The food was room temp when it arrived. It was alright, but definitely not worth the money. Most importantly why would they have the janitor sweep and mop literally under our feet while were trying to enjoy our meal. Not to mention he kept yelling at customers for using the restroom.

Brunch at Cafe Zola is always delicious! Check out these mouth watering photos…

had a delicious dinner at cafe zola! definitely on the pricier side, but worth it for a nicer occasion or celebration!! started with the goat cheese & bread board and had the penne in chianti sauce for my entree - so good!

The service was excellent 👍. I really really enjoyed my salmon burger. I will definitely come back and try something different next time.

The portion was not that big. We came very early and no one was in the restaurant however it took them 40 minutes to bring a coffee. And I didnt like the service. The location was nice and inside was pretty though. Nice place for chatting if you come early.

nice place. food was good. price is slightly on the higher side and service is a bit slow. But the waitress was

Excellent breakfast!! The food was very tasty, particularly the salmon burger!

Service and food was good, but I did expect better for the high price. Great place for a lunch date. Drinks need to be a lil more boozy for the price fr

Had a pleasant brunch with a nice French Press Put of coffee, Cacio e Pepe, Turkish Eggs, and a Zola Classic Waffle. Everything was top notice.

The food was good. Orange juice tasted fresh. On a hot day make sure you get a table that is not in the sun because if it is a busy day, it might take a minute for your food to come out.

We love eclectic food and Cafe Zola did not disappoint. Its within walking distance from Downtown Home and Garden which was our our reason for a trip to downtown Ann Arbor. Reservations are highly recommended and we were reserved a nice table by the window. I ordered a Truffle Mousse Breve which was an amazing flavor combo of hazelnut and mocha. For breakfast, I ordered French Toast with Michigan Rhubarb-Strawberry Compote and Orange Mascarpone which was just as good as it sounds! Fresh ingredients and lots of fruit and complex flavors. The meal was great, although the waitstaff could be a little more friendly and courteous. Thats the only thing keeping this from being a five star review. Staff did not move aside as I passed them going to the restroom and as we were leaving, a server was coming in the door from serving outside. She busted right in the door and did not offer up an "excuse me" or "have a nice day". FYI, she was empty-handed.If you are looking for a $3.99 breakfast platter, this is not the place for you. However, if you are looking for quality farm-to-table food with an eclectic twist, this is the place for you! We will definitely be back!

This place us overpriced for its hit or miss quality. I got cold fries, an over cooked / dry "Angus" burger with cold grilled onions (how is that even possible if the food was fresh). It came with an slice of yesterdays tomato. Couldnt get it all down. On the other hand, the wife loved her veggie crepe.

Nice restaurant and friendly staff. We just waited forever for someone to take our order although it wasnt busy. The food was overpriced for the small portions served. Overall, alot of food on the menu to try from and good atmosphere.

My antipasti was great. Everything else was barely warm, there were flies all over the place and one landed on my sausages, I was in a war with the flies my whole visit. My latte would have been better if it was hot and I was able to add sugar, but they didnt have any condiments at the table. When I asked my waitress for salt and pepper, it took for ever to get handed a few salt and pepper packs.. Service was SLOW 🐌 and it was only 2 other tables occupied, and my waitress seemed annoyed.. this place has so much potential but to bad I wont be back.

Had a interesting time at Cafe Zola. Grabbed a sidewalk table to enjoy the evening outside. Started off a little slow and strangely our appetizer came before our drinks...... Dinner was ok i ordered the shrimp. It was 6 or so good sized shrimp in a onion tomato crock covered in Feta and some olives i should have asked to be removed upon ordering. Shrimp were about all i ate as the bed of onions should have been rice or noodles or something different. Pasta and suasage had such a twang of wine I just couldnt get in to it either. Staff was great and the atmosphere was pleasent. Im sure if we go back id probably enjoy a different entree.

Great food and usually very friendly waitstaff. Pricy but that is too often the norm in Ann Arbor now (would eat there more often if not for the expense). Breakfast menue is one of the largest and most diverse in town. This is the original location (where the Cracked Crab used to be for those familiar with old Ann Arboranother, larger, location is on Washtenaw Ave. on the far east side of the city.

While the variety on the menu and the atmosphere were great, it was more expensive than I would have expected. The food was very good and the selections plenty. They offer organic food, gluten free, and healthy foods. The place is great to go out and meet up with friends or just with a date. For 2 ppl, brunch, we spent $75 with a tip. We will return as a splurge.