Restaurant Review: Zoe's Kitchen

It's been a long while since I've done a restaurant review probably because 1) I don't eat out much and 2) when I do eat out it's to somewhere I frequent like I Love Sushi or Little Rosie's. Monday night, Jackie was without her little ones and we decided to venture outside of our comfort zone of raw fish or Tex Mex and tried Zoe's Kitchen which opened just last week if I'm not mistaken. It might have been the week before; at any rate it has been within the last month and we braved the new world of healthy cuisine and gave it a try.

We met there at 5:00 and there were a few people dining and no line which was nice. During the time we were there, there was a small line at times, but nothing that lasted over a couple of minutes and there were always some empty seats. There is seating both inside the restaurant and a few tables outside on the patio too. Of course, this was a Monday night so it will most likely be busier on the weekend. We ordered our food, and received some good information on the side items from the cashier who seemed very knowledgeable about all the food which was pleasantly surprising considering the amount of time they had been open. She may be an employee at another store helping out for opening, or not, I don't know; but, she knew the menu well which was a good sign.

I ordered the steak wraps and Jackie got an appetizer of hummus and pita and ordered a bowl of tomato bisque. We grabbed a small table by the window and about three-five minutes later, the hummus arrived and not long after, our main dishes arrived. The hummus and warm pita was really good. The steak wraps were amazing. They came with a fresh side item, and I chose fresh veggies which happened to be broccoli, mushrooms and onions and it had a great taste to it. The steak wraps are warm and come with Swiss Cheese (which I left off), and I think mushrooms and caramelized onions. Actually, I cannot remember for sure if the onions were on it but the mushrooms were in the wraps for sure. It was served with a yellow sauce which was probably yogurt based but most likely had mustard in it as well. It had green specks of flavor (chives?) and was quite delicious. The whole meal was very flavorful (yes, Tony, that is a word) and I enjoyed every bite. In fact, I emailed Jackie this morning and told her I could not stop thinking about those steak wraps. I will be making another trip soon to try and simmer down my craving. As for the tomato bisque, Jackie said the flavor was good, but the texture was like baby food so it wasn't a creamy smooth soup like you might expect. You could actually tell by looking at it that the texture was mushy so that might not be a good choice unless you are prone to loving the texture of baby food. I should have taken some photos of our food, but hunger prevailed.

We were there for two hours - not eating, but talking - and no one pressured us into leaving. A girl came by and took our plates for us and asked us if we needed anything else, but I did not feel rushed. Again, it was a Monday and it might be different on the weekend.

I thought the prices were reasonable and comparable to Jason's Deli or Panera - something along those lines. My steak wraps with a side item were $8.95 (that's with tax). I had water to drink. I think Jackie's soup was around $3.99 before tax, and the hummus was probably around the same price.

Zoe's offers carry out as well. They have family packs that are designed to feed a family of four, tubs of hummus, pimento cheese and other items you can purchase and of course, you can order from the menu and take that to go as well. I saw quite a few people picking up items to go. Also while we were there, a guy came in that could be the identical twin of Chad, our friend Tina's husband. I was sitting at an angle where I could snap a photo of him and the first one I took sent a flash through the whole restaurant and I'm pretty sure our cover was blown. I ended up taking two more, without the flash in an attempt to get the best shot. I should have just walked up to him and asked him to take his photo. Here are the results of my not so sneaky photography:

Zoe's Kitchen is located on Whitesburg Drive across the street from Publix. It is in what used to be Tony's Little Italy and before that Qudoba. If the predecessors of that location are foretelling then Zoe's won't last but a few years. I hope that's not the case though as I really enjoyed the food and will be putting this dining experience in the regular rotation. When I checked the web site, the Huntsville location wasn't up yet, but you can still peruse the site and see what they are all about. Here is the link if you are interested in learning more.