Zen Noodle Bar Gainesville (34th & Archer) — Restaurant in Gainesville

I used to really love this place and I would take all my friends and family here. However, the last few times I've had terrible experiences with the service both eating in and ordering delivery. I kept comming because I like the food but today was the worst service I've ever had in any restaurant to date. I went with my husband for lunch. It was unusually busy but we decided to wait. We told our server we would sit outside since most if the tables were taken inside. After us, 3 more couples came and they also sat outside. We waited for 25 minutes and nobody had come out yet. Then a server comes and serves the last couple that came in after us that was sitting outside and completely ignored our table and the other table where the couple that came right after us sat. They got fed up and left. We decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and were hoping the server would come in a couple of minutes. After 5 more minutes the same server came out and took the order of the other table and was about to walk in again and completely ignore us. I flagged down the server and told him we've been waiting here for about 30 minutes and nobody has come out to take our order. He gave us excuses and I told him we would please like to order. He took our order and went inside. After 20 more minutes the waitress that was supposed to be our waitress comes out and tells us that the kitchen is backed up and they will not be taking in any more orders because they close at 3pm (At this time it was 2:45 pm). She proceeded to tell us that we would have to come again at 4 pm to place our order. I told her that we had already ordered about 20 minutes ago with another server and she said she knows but when she gave the kitchen our order they returned and said they were not making it. So basically we waited for about 45 minutes outside in the heat for nothing! This whole time there we had not even been acknowledged by her nor had atleast had a cup of water. Also, if we had ordered 20 minutes ago, why wait until 20 minutes to tell us this?? I assume they waited until that very moment to place our order in the kitchen instead of 20 minutes prior when we ordered. This is unacceptable service and although we enjoy the food here, we will never come again!! I will be sure to spread the word to such horrible...

Came here for lunch on their Grand Opening on 7/23/2022. It was very busy with lots of customers. Was seated at the bar in front of their Banh Mi making station. We got their Taro and Original Milk Tea, came with crystal boba. Flavor was fine. Then came the interesting part.

We ordered the Homemade Krab Wontons to start, Zen Chicken Ramen with added Kimchi, and #11 Hu Tieu Dac Biet with Egg Noodle choice and added Marinated Egg. We had the order read back to us and awaited its arrival.

Bowls finally arrived and the ramen came exactly as ordered, however, I ended up with the #12 as pictured with broth on the side and no marinated egg. I was confused and thought maybe the parentheses in the menu applied to all the bowls in that section (Vietnam Southern style Noodle Soup) but that didn’t make sense. Poured the broth in and saw how much the broth came up to. I’m not one to complain but I wanted what I ordered and told our waitress. She was very friendly and helped get everything sorted out correctly, accommodating with another milk tea for the inconvenience. Very good service.

My bowl finally came out as intended and tasted fantastic! I’ve never thought to put imitation Krab in Hu Tieu bowls but it came out great, perfectly accompanies the rest of the proteins with its softness. The broth was a little salty but rich with flavor. Hu Tieu egg noodles were perfect and authentic, not just ramen noodles. Finally have a good Vietnamese place to go when I desire Hu Tieu. Ramen was great as well. In the end we never got our appetizer, the homemade Krab wontons, which was fine since those bowls were huge and I was stuffed. Our receipt didn’t have it on there either so it was fine.

Overall, complications for grand opening and large crowd is understandable and I’ll let it pass this time. I’m not sure how the order was messed up when it was read back correctly but the food quality and accommodating service made up for it. Will definitely return and try more...

I rarely take the time out of my day to write a review about an establishment but..... today our experience was extremely disappointing and I will not suggest this place to anyone. First off there were 4 of us in total. I personally ordered 1 milk tea and they came back and said they were out of Boba and asked if they can put poppers inside instead, I said sure. We ordered 2 ramen dishes, chicken fried rice, and a stir fry noodle dish with a side of spring rolls. Food took over 45 minutes to come out and when it, did the gentlemen spilled a good portion of my soup which I thought they would take responsibility for that and take it back but they didn't and served it. I was not going to say anything and see what else can go wrong. We ordered spring rolls, had to ask for them twice after getting our food. Only good thing I can say is that the food was good with alot of flavor, but back to the negative because that is the main point here. We ate our food and asked for a couple to go containers. One of the black containers was extremely dirty and just unsanitary. We got out checks and they charge me .50 cents for the poppers that they offered due to them being out of Boba no big deal its .50 cents but its the concept then she put on automatic gratuity which the menu states only for party of 6 or more. We would have tipped more than 18 percent but whatever. Our waitress checked on us maybe 2 times and they had on Hispanic music at a Vietnamese place?!? Ok? And last but not least home boy was counting money at the table next to us and prepping wontons on a table right behind us. unprofessional and pitiful...