Zanzibar Soul Fusion — Restaurant in Cleveland

To say disappointed would be an understatement to the terrible service my party of 15 received 2/28. To start off we had a reservation for 8pm , when we arrived they were pretty packed and it took them about 15 minutes to seat us- mind you we were all there on time. It took almost an hour just to get our drinks and about 2 1/2 hours to get some appetizers along with some cold bread. Everyone was very patient until we started realizing they were serving multiple other parties before us , laughing and eating in the kitchen & didn’t even come back to check on us until they heard my party complaining. I understand that it was a Friday night and the last day of black history month but to leave a party waiting for over 2 hours without our ordered appetizers or any bread was very frustrating especially when we had a toddler with us who was becoming very cranky because she was hungry. Around 10:45 ish is when our food finally came out and that led to even more disappointment. Almost everyone yams were overcooked and mushy and the chicken we received wasn’t pleasant either, & then to top that off they waited until everyone received there food and came up to my sister and said they didn't have anymore turkey chops and offered her something else - which was completely unacceptable because they knew they didn’t have anymore and made her wait almost 3 hours to let her know and I feel as if they didn’t serve multiple parties before us , she would’ve gotten her order . The waitress wasn’t terrible he took off a lot of things off the bill and gave us some free appetizers for the wait but they gave 15 people 6 soul rolls and a platter of green tomatoes ??? How does that even make sense ?? Then to top that off he charged my girlfriend card twice , which we didn’t notice until this morning. I just don’t understand how we made a reservation almost 2 weeks in advance and witnessed multiple parties being served while we waited to almost 11 pm to get our food ?? That just isn’t right and then we weren’t even satisfied with what we received and one person from our party didn’t get anything at all. Then we were getting ready to leave around 11:30 because everybody was just over it and didn’t want to eat anymore and then that’s when they finally bring out my one year old nieces food ?? Mind you she had to eat off of someone’s else’s plate because they didn’t bring it out until everyone was getting ready to go . This restaurant completely ruined the remainder of my birthday and completely disregarded my party. Like I stated before, we witnessed multiple parties being served along with them still accepting walk ins and we were sitting in the back left foodless for almost 3 hours, our black owned restaurants have to do better because we are the main ones supporting them and keeping them afloat . Oh and did I mention they only brought out one little container of about 4 muffins for a party of 15 and they were cold and old ?? & then they said they didn’t have anymore after they told us they had more cooking . Everything could have seriously been avoided if they prioritized the reservations and the people they had in there first before letting more in or they shouldn’t allow bigger parties to reserve if they...

Edit Review: 8/10/25

Under new management!! Short sweet and delicious! The food was back to amazing!!! It was four of us and spent $144.. its was worth every dime. Our waiter Matt was 100%.. he was very attentive and very professional and most of all friendly. We'll be back!!

I'm only sharing this review today with you because of the The service and the quality of food that we received at Shaker heights location. The reason why we chose to celebrate my wife's birthday at this location it's because of our previous experiences before the pandemic. The service started out really really well. Once we all ordered it went downhill. We received a complimentary basket of cornbread rolls or muffins And we ordered our drinks. Now that was fine. We ordered at the same time because we already knew what we were all getting. Once an hour went pass we asked the waitress, What was the hold up. She then said to us that everything have changed in the kitchen after covid all the process are new. Okay. We understood that to a point but when it got to be another 30 minutes went pass it just got ridiculous. So here comes the food after an hour and 45 minutes shaking my head. Everyone received their plates except for me. The waitress asked me what did I order I told her that I ordered the fish And chips. 10 minutes later my plate came out and to my surprise the fish was cold. I wanted to look past that because it was my wife's birthday and I knew that they could just heat this up really quick. So when I asked the waitress she forgot to bring my tartar sauce. She then said oh I forbut I'll bring it now. Another 20 minutes went past so no warming up the fish and no tartar sauce I was done. That will make it over 2 hours of waiting And bad service. But the waitress was so sweet she really was. It was just bad service. So now all that happened and what do you know they bring out my wife's meal and she ordered chicken and waffles. When I tell you that these chicken wings that she brought out were so small it was it had to be an infant chicken. And on top of that it's only 3 chicken wings and they charge in $3 extra for all white meat for these 3 little infant chicken wings and these 3 little waffles. Unbelievable. And on top of all of that They charge you an automatic 18% guitary. This would not deter me and my family to continue to support black own businesses but it is ridiculous how this business is ran. Over a $100 of nothing completely Unsatisfied. On a good note though my son and my daughter meal was OK no problems. As you may have guessed it. I highly highly do not recommend this location for any events any specialty dining or anything that you're celebrating because you will be disappointed. Go to the downtown Cleveland location at least that's what...

(8/20/22) 2 star review (2/17/24) 5 Star review (New Management)

Amir, Thank you for reaching out and wanting to make things right. We need more restaurant owners like you.

My wife read reviews about Sandra and she lived up to her reputation.

My wife and I gave Zanzibar another try and it was worth it!

Kool-aide (red) Super sweet. It was just like I remembered as as kid

We shared the Soul Rolls and Gumbo appetizer. The Soul Rolls had a delicious crunchy outside with a tender mixture of meat, cheese, and veggies on the inside. The... Gumbo.... Yo!!!!!!!!! I could taste the sausage, chicken, tomatoes, celery, and more inside of the broth, all topped with the yellow rice. This was the best gumbo in Cleveland by far. Definitely our favorite dish of the night.

I had the Seafood Pasta with a crunchy bread topped with cheese.(Valentine's day special). It was good. Nice seafood sauce. It had lobster, jumbo shrimp, mushrooms, cheese, fettuccine noodles, and parsley as a garnish. Honestly I was so full that I only got through 1/3 of the plate.

My wife had the Honey Chicken w/ Scalloped Potatoes and Baked Mac and Cheese. The chicken was delicious, tender on the inside crunchy on the outside. The only thing is that she wished the chicken was seasoned more on the inside. But she just dipped the chicken into the honey glaze sauce. The scalloped potatoes and baked mac and cheese were delicious. Oven baked is the way to go.

Our overall experience was good! Really, really good! Service was great. Sandra was engaging with a positive attitude which helped elevate the whole experience.

Total ran about $110 for this...