I ate at Zelo on Nicollet Mall for the first time St. Patrick’s Day, and I had a bit of a mixed experience.

I was invited there for a birthday dinner for my friend Rick (why he wanted his birthday dinner on St. Pat’s–not his birthday–I’ll never know), who picked Zelo for its central location and moderate classiness. I have to say, the restaurant itself is beautiful. It looks like it was several different restaurants, or at least shops that all got merged together, into one. Each room is slightly different in decor and design, but all of them are pretty cool.

The food was amazing. I had the calamari as an appetizer and it was the most tender calamari I’ve ever eaten. I had an inexpensive glass of wine, a red zinfandel, and it was actually very tasty. For the main course, I had spaghettini pomodoro, also very tasty, and the pine nuts was a nice touch. I tried some chicken that someone else ordered and it was delicious. I have a feeling I would’ve enjoyed anything I tried.

Now for the down side. Our waiter was one of the biggest assholes I’ve ever had the displeasure of being served by. Maybe it was busy because it was St. Pat’s. Maybe it’s because we were a large party (two tables, one for 8 and one for six). But he was a JERK. Incredibly high pressure sales for food and drink. The little dance he would make empty glasses do was not cute. His little spiel about how his name is Tony and Tony spelled backwards is “Y NOT”, also not cute. Maybe if he smiled JUST ONCE during the entire time, my opinion would be different, but he didn’t. There was no charm, there was no connection, just him being an ass and pushing us to buy more and more and more. I left before the bill came, throwing money on the table, so I don’t know if the check had the gratuity included, but if it had been, I think this is one time I would’ve complained to the management to get them to lower it.

I’ll go back to Zelo, but I’ll probably just eat in the bar, having a glass of wine and the calamari.

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