Zia's — Restaurant in Toledo

Absolutely disgusting. Sat down to eat here and the hostess uninvitingly sat down four glasses on the table. Two of the four had lipstick stains. See pictures. After addressing the concern to the hostess, she glared at me, said nothing, returned to the “clean” cup tray, PLACED the dirty cups BACK in the “CLEAN” tray, and gave us two new ones. After stating “that’s disgusting,” she continued to say nothing nor address the issue. She only replied, “your server will be with you shortly.”

I took the cups, asked for the manager, and addressed the concern, saying that it’s “disgusting,” among other words, but never profanity. He stated, “Would you like more glasses?” I was baffled. I told him that I wanted more than new glasses and asked him to rewash his glassware for the entire restaurant. He ignored my request, but as I was turning around with the conversation clearly over, he said, “Just some water spots.” No retaliation was necessary by the MANAGER of Zia’s, especially when it’s over the cleanliness of the dishes we are supposed to eat off of. Although I haven’t quite completed my Biology degree and I am not a forensic scientist, I’m here to tell you that water stains do not look like what I saw in the pictures. You be the judge.

Upon my return, the other cups had pieces of food and so did the small dish that was served to me. Again, the manager seemed very passive about the whole issue, and I called him out on it by saying that he was “nonchalant.” He said, “we can get you more dish ware if you’d like.” I said, “What about the rest of your customers who are eating off dirty dishes?” He gave no answer. I told him that I worked in food service for a year and a half and that my manager would be appalled by the state of this dish ware. What I didn’t say is that my manager would be even more appalled by the zero cares given upon something as basic as a HEALTH CODE VIOLATION. Water should always be hot enough to start removing lipstick stains, oils, and pieces of food. Afterwards, detergent should leave no traces of use from the previous customer. Will not be returning. You might be able to fool your other customers who have never worked in a restaurant, but I know cutting corners when I see them. If the dishes being presented to customers is in this kind of state, try to catch a peak of their back line. I guarantee you it’s worse. I also know that they will change their habits for a couple of weeks at best if they fear an inspection, but they’ll go right back to their old habits. I’ve seen it before, so I’m posting it here on public domain where everyone can know what the diner’s consumer dollar is being used for; staff that doesn’t care, and the serious risk of...

This was my first time at Zia's and it was part of a group. As such we were made to eat a pre-defined menu consisting of family style dishes. We had a group of a couple dozen in a side room. First, the tables were laid out in two parallel rows, each table seating 12. The row between so close that we had to file in like loading a plane. Once in the only way out was to have everybody stand and exit the room. The chairs were so close together that they were touching. It was cramped, claustrophobic, and very unpleasant.

We were served 3 courses (family style). The appetizer course was okay. Bruschetta, a flatbread pizza, and salad. Each table had 12 people. Only one pizza (cheese, no meat), a plate of Bruschetta, and a much too small plate of salad. Not quite enough to go around but I did get a bite of each and it was 'okay'.

Entre course was once again several plates of food. One plate of each selection (mains / sides) to be passed around and shared by 12 people. The plates were small and each was about enough to give half the people at the table a sample with the exception of the Fettuccine noodles (no meat). But they provided a spoon to serve it.... Ever tried to serve noodles with just a spoon? I did score a piece of the Chicken Marsala, it was hard, dry, and tasteless. There was another platter with Sausage pieces and shrimp but it only served about half the table. I was able to get one bite of sausage off of my spouse's plate (1/2 of her portion). It was good. Mashed potatoes were included with this course. 3 ice cream scoops worth on a plate to share between 12 people. A bowl of cheese Ravioli which did make it all the way around as long as nobody took more than 2 Ravioli's. Since the meat platter didn't make it I asked the waitress if there was going to be another. She responded that they only provide one per table but that she would check the other table to see if they had extra.... Really? There wasn't.

Dessert course. By then we knew what to expect. A plate of Tiramisu was provided (4 chunks) and then a plate of Cheesecake, maybe 6 slices? Each table got a plate of Tiramisu to divvy up but were told that the plate of Cheesecake was to be shared by the entire room. Bon a petite! The joke was that we would have to share the spoon as well. I got one bite of each. Not a large bite. but I did get to try it.

Got the bill, ~$30 / plate. Our bill was just shy of a $100 because we had a glass of wine and a beer (total, not each). 18% Gratuity was included of course.

This was one of the biggest dining disappointments of my life. ...

1. This is not the place for large parties (I believe we had 15 people...maybe less).
2. The lowest priced entree is $20 (unless you get a pizza and they are 14).
3. Double check your bill...details below.

The food was pretty good. The service staff were great. The manager was pretty rude though. We had a larger party so we were told we would have to get a banquet room. There was a $600 minimum spending requirement for the room. We got there about 20 minutes early and were told we were not allowed to go into the room until after our reservation time (though the room was empty and already set up).

We asked to drink at the bar while we waited and were told that was okay. We asked if we could transfer our bar tabs to the room and they said they preferred to have customers cash out at the bar before heading to their tables. We reminded them we had the spending limit and that is why we insisted the tabs be transferred. The hostess checked with the manager and said it didn't matter because drinks were not included in the spending limit. My husband asked to speak with the manager who confirmed what the hostess told us. He pointed out to the manager that the website specifically states the limit includes drinks. After hearing this, the manager agreed to include drinks (as a courtesy).

We got into the room at exactly our reservation time (8pm). The complimentary bread came after our appetizers and water came after we already ordered our other drinks. Our food came out around 9:45. We ended up being double charged for at least 3 appetizers and a dessert, which was supposed to be free for my birthday (I thought). We noticed the extra items on the check, and paid for them, because we were trying to be generous toward other members of our party. I confirmed with those individuals after we left the restaurant that they were also charged for the items and paid for them on...