zest — Restaurant in Fairfield

A rather bleak exterior in need of a freshening up conceals this generally uplifting health cafe. I ordered the BBQ tofu sandwich, which not did not contain actual "barbecued tofu" so much as unseasoned fried or perhaps baked tofu with barbecue sauce poured on it. The sauce itself was very bland; neither smokey nor tangy. More like an off-brand ketchup. There were other ingredients on the sandwich, but it all lacked flavor and needed salt, living up to a common stereotype of all vegan food being bland. For a place called "zest," you know? If they fixed this, it might be a good sandwich.

The music was 90s/00s Top-40: Savage Garden and LeAnn Rimes. You could do a lot worse, I suppose. I just wish any place, anywhere at all, could ever make a daring choice regarding music in their establishment. But I get it. Mass appeal.

More importantly, I will say the cookie and truffle I had were very enjoyable and the person working the counter was very nice and seemed like she knew what she was doing. Overall, not bad. Next time, I'll try...

Disappointing. I work near this restaurant and was hoping it could become a place that I would frequent for lunch. I ordered a "chopped" Asian salad with chicken. The chicken was dry and flavorless and I ended up pulling it out of the salad. I expected the vegetables to be more finely chopped. Instead, the cucumbers and red peppers were left in large unappetizing chunks. I wanted to try this establishment again, but, could not find anything on the menu that appealed to me. I was reluctant to try a different salad and then checked out the sandwich offerings. Everything was made with gluten free bread. Why? I can see offering some gluten free options, but, don't understand why all the baked goods need to be...

I was glad to find this place with these vegan options near my hotel—very cute place, friendly people, and delicious food. The smashed avocado was wonderful and I appreciate the rice paper take on vegan bacon.

UPDATE: I initially noted here that I only gave four stars because I feel like the pricing was a litttttle high for what we get, but that it wasn’t keeping me from planning to get a couple or so other things the next morning before I leave town. 🙂 — but I’m raising it up to five stars across the board as the guy this morning offered tofu rather than the egg on the Avo Control and that extra added to the dish raises the value and...