ZEST bar+grille — Restaurant in Bethlehem

I came in as a walk-in with my brother after we both got out of our shifts dealing poker at windcreek. Honestly, I almost didn't even go but my brother was really hungry and suggested the place because we have both heard a lot of people speak highly of Zest and I am so glad we went. Immediately upon walking in you are hit with a very professional and upscale vibe to the place that impresses upon you the professionalism of the employees and the clear attention to detail put into everything. All of the staff are moving with purpose but not hurried and you know immediately that you can expect great service which is exactly what my brother and I got. Our server for the night was Hannah and the bartender we met after eating and going to the bar was Travis. Hannah was a perfect server, prompt but not pushy, knew the menu in and out and was able to answer all of our questions without a moments hesitation. She made my bro and I feel welcome and it was easy to relax into the quiet atmosphere and take in the amazing views of Bethlehem the restaurant offers with windows that wrapped around the restaurant and an outdoor eating balcony that I'm probably going to sit at next time. Looking at the menu it was almost impossible to make a choice given how great everything sounded and watching the kitchen staff through the pass window at work, it was immediately obvious the food was going to be high quality. I wasn't very hungry so my bro and I decided to just order a few drinks and a bunch of the apps to make a sort of mini tasting menu out of em. All in all we ended up ordering 8 different apps and everything was fantastic. I wasn't dissapointed about a single thing we ate and the way they put the dishes together and mix different flavors of savory to sweet to acidic, nothing ever felt too much or over the top. I seriously can not impress enough on whomever may be reading this, the apps absolutely slapped. I could go on and on, but I highly recommend the clams, the bao buns and the pork belly personally, but I doubt you could really go wrong. Also, on a side note, I have a girlfriend with celiac disease and finding a restaurant with a decent gluten free menu or options has been quite a challenge. Here at Zest, they have basically the whole entire menu but with small changes to accommodate gluten free allergies. I again, can not state enough how great Zest was from beginning to end. And speaking of the end, my bro and I decided to sit at the bar when everything was done being eaten to take a shot each of casa migos before leaving. This is where we met Travis, didn't spend much time at the bar but he helped bring full circle the customer service experience and professionalism felt here at Zest. The drinks were delicious, well priced and I can't remember the names of the two cocktails I ordered (shame on me) but they were well crafted and again, Travis knew what he was doing. All in all, will definitely be coming back here and bringing others with me. If you're in the Bethlehem area, there is no reason why not to try the fantastic restaurant.

Ps: I wish I took more photos of the apps as they came out, but I was having such a good time it totally slipped my mind. These photos are of the grilled octopus on rice cake, bone marrow, crab egg rolls, bao buns and empanadas. The drink with the purple flower was my favorite and tasted so good, it's a tequila drink and I wish I remembered the name

Edit: spelling errors and I think the drink with the purple flower was called heebeejeebees...

We made reservations. When we arrived, we were not greeted with love and told there would be a 15-20 minute wait. It wasn’t a problem because we explored the outside decks enjoying the amazing view. We noticed several empty tables while we were waiting, and after 20 minutes, they seated us at a four-top table. The two-top table against the window that we walked by immediately upon arrival was still available twenty minutes later. We asked to sit at the two-top instead of the four-top, and they accommodated us. The staff seemed inexperienced, I know this is a new restaurant, but at this caliber, it shouldn’t be. There should have been an experienced manager at the hostess stand.

Our table had a great view! It was cold sitting by the windows on a 45 degree night, with no heat vents visible. I can only imagine how cold it will be when the temperature plummets.

I’m following a gluten-free diet. We were told that they could accommodate me with everything by the hostess who answered the phone to the waitress. We asked about a number of items, and the waitress had to keep returning to the kitchen to ask. I finally asked what I could eat because there was a lot that I could t eat. The waitress said that the gluten-free menu wasn’t printed yet.

The restrooms had loud rap music playing, not the type of music for this kind of place. Also the hot water wasn’t working in the sinks. There was nothing but ice cold water.

We had several flights of appetizers, and the staff seemed confused by this concept because they kept asking if we would like to order an entree. Most of our things were delicious, but the clams were the worst we ever had. The broth was delicious, but the clams were large, hard, and rubbery.

The waitress told us it was chaos during the first few days that they were open. We’ll give it another try when the weather gets warmer. This is a great addition to the Bethlehem dining scene because it gives tourists another option to spend more time in town. It still has a long...

Not the best night for drinks and dinner. The hostess were great and very friendly and accommodating. Asked to sit outside, they did have tables available, but thought maybe we should sit at the bar and support the bartenders...ha well the bartenders didn't seem to care if they had bar guests. We sat at the bar and the bartender was going to come over with some menus but then saw that we had some, so just simply walked away. NO greet, no "hi, how are we tonight"...nothing. Mind you, there was NOT one customer at the bar. So we waited for a few minutes thinking she would come back after giving us a minute. Nope, just kidding..... instead greeted and talked to what I assumed was a friend or coworker the entire time... gave her a glass of wine and just kept on with conversation as if we were never there. I then made the decision to just sit outside thinking we would get better service with a server. HAHA... I think it would have been better if we just left. Long story short, the service was not great, I think there was a manager but not sure as no on came to our table and unless you know the bartenders, then good luck getting service. The food was mediocre....the mussels and clam app was amazing. The pork chop came out lukewarm and when asked if that's how it supposed the be served, wasn't really given an answer. But the filet came our hot and tasty. Drinks were good, but to be honest the staff seemed miserable and unwelcoming. There was one server on our way out that was nice and happy, and I made a comment that I wished she was our server.

It was all in all a not so great experience and our money, which is very much hard earned, could have been spent else where.

You could argue that they were understaffed, but I don't think they were, because I asked. Or that we wouldn't understand, but in truth, there were 3 industry people at the table. Just not a happy or welcoming restaurant and it showed in the...