W & Z Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Cottonwood

TLDR at the end

I really wanted to like this place. My husband and I went in on my suggestion since we were going to Petsense. The atmosphere was nice, buzzing with the people already seated. I believe the noise level was high due to the way the restaurant itself is set up aka poor acoustics. My husband ordered a spicy tuna poke bowl and I ordered a salmon avocado roll and a beef yaki-udon. Specifically chose the yaki-udon since there was a picture on the menu and it looked delicious. I worked at a Thai restaurant that served yaki style dishes along side their pad thai and other dishes so I know how it's supposed to look and taste. My roll and my husband's poke bowl came out first, but my beef yaki-udon took a while. I was so disappointed when it finally arrived after I had to ask if it would be out soon. I shared part of my roll with my husband so I was hungry.

My yaki-udon was cool on the outside, but the moment I moved it with my chopsticks it was steaming hot. It was either microwaved or left waiting for my server. The udon, a usually firmer and thick noodle, and the shiitake mushrooms were squishy and overdone. I took a few bites and tried to power through it to not be rude. I decided against it after tasting a beef piece (which was seasoned well) was nearing cold on a plate just served to me. I asked for them to take it back and for a menu to choose something else. The server was a younger man who, through our entire service, rarely checked in to see if we needed more water for our tea or anything else. It was a busy day so it's understandable to not have a server's full attention. The main issue was the fact that we were seated next to the sushi bar where he passed by often and he was often near enough to survey our table and see that I was trying to get his attention without making a scene or trying to interrupt while he was carrying other orders.

I finally decided to try a salmon poke bowl since my husband had the spicy tuna and it looked good. Again, I did my best to be patient. There were orders before my request for a new dish. It took nearly 15 minutes for the bowl with a restaurant that had a waning crowd as the lunch rush died down. The salmon was excellent. I thought it was in the sushi roll as well. I unfortunately couldn't finish the bowl.

The poke bowls are set up with furikake covered sushi rice on the bottom and a quadrant style top with seaweed salad, salmon cubes, spicy mayo crab, and avocado. There was so much spicy mayo crab and seaweed salad that it eventually overpowered the entire bowl in a way that made me want and have to stop eating.

My husband and I won't be back.

TLDR: Not going back. Would...

This was our third visit to W&Z, we decided to take-out. After calling in the order, it was ready as promised. We zipped home and quickly opened our Sweet & Sour Chicken, Mixed Veggies with Beef and two fried rice orders. As my wife opened her S&S Chicken, it was immediately obvious that it was simply deep fried chicken, with a side cup of orange sauce. No green & red peppers, carrots, onions or pineapple. She first scooped the chicken into a bowl, and while spooning the sweet and sour sauce a large chunk of plastic 2.5x2.5 inches saturated in S&S sauce came up on her spoon. We both were perplexed and placed the plastic on my lid... Trying to examine it, I spread it out and it was clearly plastic. We called to speak to the manager, but the manager wasn't available. My wife explained ingredients we expected were absent, and there was a chunk of plastic in the sauce container. The person on the phone said Sweet and Sour Chicken is only served as chicken, and he was stammering speechless in regards to the plastic in the sauce. Folks, drive to Sedona, dine at the Szechuan Restaurant... W&Z lacks even the quality of Panda Express, and you're less likely to be served plastic in...

I am SO glad they opened one here in Cottonwood! SO FRIGGIN GOOD & lots of VEGAN options including sushi! 😭 I get the Veggies with fried tofu, sub veg for all broccoli, lo mein noodles, BOMB! Thank you SO MUCH for the Vegan options, I can’t tell ya’ll how MUCH I appreciate you. The only ‘con’ about this place is its popularity, VERY busy! But they should be, good for them! There’s usually a wait to be seated, the atmosphere seems nice but I’ve only gotten To Go thus far, looks clean, very fast for to go orders & so far has been 100% correct, no messed up orders, no adding things I didn’t ask for, overall 10/10, HIGHLY recommend! The hostess does a great job handling the very busy lobby area, it could be an absolute shtshow but they’re holding it together very well, team work seems to be making the dream work, love to see it. TIP THESE PEOPLE & TIP THEM WELL!!! THEY DESERVE IT! Welcome to town W&Z Asian Bistro, you’re appreciated. Would also appreciate more vegan options! It doesn’t need to be fancy, tofu this, tofu that, simple is best, I’ll...