Zinc Bistro — Restaurant in Phoenix

Having worked as a chef at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort (Orlando), and the Villas at the Grand Cypress, I am experienced with cooking and eating at fine dining restaurants. After hearing so much about Zinc Bistro, a friend and I decided to give it a try this past Monday. We arrived at approximately 5 pm.

To say the least - very disappointing. For an establishment that advertises itself as a Parisian bistro - they failed to live up to that descriptive in my humble opinion.

From something as simple as the bread that was served. As the French are known for their baking, I was expecting the bread to be hard and crusty on the outside with a light airy center. What was served was bread with a soft crust and dense center. I was hoping that a detail as simple as bread would be spot on. If the bread is baked on the premises......

We started with the Spanish octopus appetizer and all I can say is rubber bands would have been more tender. I will say that the herb aioli was tasty.

My friend chose to pass on ordering dinner, as she no longer had her appetite. I thought I would try the scallops. When the waiter placed the plate on the table, the pungent smell of bad fish wafted off the plate. It was obvious either the scallops or the shrimp were past there freshness date. Anyone who has cooked with scallops know they have hardly any odor when fresh. In addition, there was hardly any risotto on the plate (I would have taken a picture, unfortunately I left my phone in the car). Also, for the prices this "fine dining" establishment charges, the portions could be much better. I understand it's Scottsdale, but let's be honest - 3 scallops and 2 shrimp for $45

Interestingly, when the waiter came to check on us, even though the entrée had not been touched, he did not inquire as to whether something was wrong with the dish. Also, once dinner was served, the servers' assistants were removing plates from the table, even it was plain to see that the entrée had not been touched. Felt like we were being rushed, which was hard to understand as the place was not very busy.

We had decided to go elsewhere for dessert.

One star for the drinks - which were good. And the...

We have been coming here at least once to twice per month for probably over a year and have really enjoyed this restaurant. However, last night we dined there for dinner and unfortunately my spouse and I came down with significant vomiting and other GI symptoms afterward, "food poisoning". We had the beef tartare, filet mignon, and confit de canard. We called the restaurant manager working during the day 11/23/24 to alert them we were concerned about possible food toxicity, lots of potential culprits here (likely the tartare, lots of raw products [beef, mushroom, egg] and I understand the risk assumed with eating this dish), and we were told by this manager, (didn't catch her name, female) that food poisoning only occurs after 12-24h of ingestion. I am a board certified emergency medicine physician and this is simply not true. Preformed toxins, which are the usual cause of food poisoning have symptom onset within anywhere between 30 min and 8h, and considering our symptoms began approximately 3h after ingestion I would surmise that our symptoms were likely a direct result of said "food poisoning." I can only back that up with 4 years of medical school, 3 years of post graduate training in emergency medicine, 4 passed board examinations and certification by the American Board of Emergency Medicine, and years practicing in the clinical setting. So not only have my spouse and been quite sick after this meal but the manager also thought it wise to levy an insult against my intelligence, training, qualifications, and profession. There was no effort made on the part of the restaurant in terms of compensation, an apology, or even a promise to inspect the product to prevent possible future outbreaks amongst other patrons. Needless to say, our time at this restaurant has come to an end and we will never be eating here again as they have demonstrated a clear lack of respect for their customers and zero desire to offer any recourse. This is all after an approximately $500...

We were excited about dining here, the menu looked great. On arriving we find a parking space right next to the restaurant and look forward to more good things coming our way. We had reservations and we're promptly seated once the hostess found enough clean menus for the four of us. Our table was squeezed between two other tables and we had to apologize as we sucked in and squeezed by. The bistro looks great and there are alot of nicely dressed happy people around us. Our server is prompt and asks is for a cocktail order and gives us the special of the night. We ask for a little time as our water and bread are served to us. It's obvious the server has other tables that are seated nearly at the same time, he's a bit weeded. We decide to share a couple appetizers and order our entrees along with a couple glasses of champagne and a bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin. The server congratulates me on my selection, which was odd. I asked for the bottle to be decanted and he informs me that it isn't necessary because he has burgundy wine glasses to pour it into. I went along with him deciding that he is weeded and it will assist his timing. The apps arrive and they are delicious. Then the long long wait to receive our entrees begins. Eventually the entrees arrive and they like ok good but are a bit disappointing. The scallop entree has three scallops, a bit weak. The short rib special with bone marrow is good but whatever they substituted into the bone for bone marrow lacked flavor and was full of fat. The prime flat iron was tender but stringy and the foie gras addition was delicious but hidden under a layer of salt (so unfortunate). The aux poivre with the other prime flat iron was ok, but far from what we expected. We cut our losses, paid, left, and dessert elsewhere. As we were leaving the table the server came up and squeezed between us to grab the check. Horrible service, disappointing food overall, and inflated prices. You are better off somewhere else. Hard pass...