Zyndas — Restaurant in Williamston

I think 2 stars is being generous. Honestly, super bummed with our first and only experience at Zynda’s.

We went into Zynda’s last Wednesday to see the Red Cedar River Boys play, as well as enjoy some good food and good drinks. My spouse and I arrived at 5:45 and met my mom at the table she was already at (reserved and seated, but no menus). It took roughly 10 minutes before a server came over to greet us and bring some menus.

My spouse ordered a beer and I ordered the Pineapple Hemingway. Our server came back to take our orders another 10-15 minutes later (still without our drinks). We ordered the Cajun Fries with Garlic Aioli for our appetizer. My spouse ordered the 12oz ribeye, cooked rare, (which is supposed to come with Bernaise sauce on the steak, a side of au gratin potatoes, and fresh seasonal vegetables). I ordered the American classic burger, cooked medium rare.

Finally at 6:18 (33 minutes after we sat down) we got our drinks, along with 2 waters (for the 3 people at the table). I took one drink of my Pineapple Hemingway and set it aside. It burned my throat, and had zero taste of pineapple, cherry or grapefruit. I did not take another drink, nor did anyone else at the table, but you can bet we were still charged for it.

We continued to wait for our appetizer and entrees for another hour, during which time we ran out of water. After waiting roughly a half hour for some water, I ended up getting up from our table and going up to the bar to get some more because our server had been no where in sight.

Finally after an hour, our entrees got delivered…. But not our appetizer. Our server dropped our entrees off so quickly we weren’t able to ask about our appetizer but were so hungry at that point we all just wanted to dig in. My spouse’s steak was medium well (at best, he had ordered rare), had no Bernaise sauce on then steak, and only if you consider coleslaw a “seasonal vegetable” would it have come with both sides. My burger was well done even though it was ordered medium rare. After all 3 of us ate what was edible and continued to wait for our server, my 59 year old mother gave up and went to actually find her and ask her to bring our appetizer that we never received. 20 minutes later she dropped off the Cajun fries, but no still garlic aioli. It took another 5 minutes to get the garlic aioli, at that point we were beyond ready to leave. We boxed up the fries and aioli (definitely not any of the other food), paid the bill, and left.

In total, we spent quite a significant amount of money for a server that was never around, a drink I couldn’t choke down, entrees that took over an hour to make, an appetizer that came 20 minutes AFTER we were finished with our entrees, a burger ordered medium rare but cooked well done, a steak with no sauce, cooked medium well/well done but ordered rare, and only one of the sides indicated on the menu.

We have no problem spending this kind of money on a good meal and good service. We always tip well and generally have good patience and understanding for servers knowing many restaurants are currently overworked and understaffed, as well as myself having extended history serving, hostessing, bartending, and cooking, but this experience as a whole was unacceptable.

We live right in town and would’ve loved to add another restaurant to our list of locally owned businesses to frequently go out to, but after this one and only experience at Zynda’s, I don’t see us ever going back. If we do, it would only be to see the Red Cedar River Boys, and we would make sure to eat at home before coming to Zynda’s.

Overall, incredibly...

My husband and I had one of those rare opportunities for a date night, and we decided to give Zynda's a try since the menu looked promising. Our server/bartender was fantastic—we ordered several rounds off the drink menu, and he made some really great cocktails (the Lavender Lust gets 5 stars alone—it was heavenly).

Unfortunately, they were out of cherry tomatoes, so we couldn’t try the bruschetta (this was Saturday at 6:00 PM). Instead, we went with the Bavarian Pretzel. It was warm and tasty, but nothing particularly exciting—just a standard pretzel.

I ordered the Smoked Enchiladas with chicken, and my husband got the Reuben. My food arrived cold—not a huge deal, but still disappointing—and overall, the dish just wasn’t good. The rice was mushy and flavorless, and the beans were watery and bland. It honestly seemed like canned beans had been dumped onto the plate and sprinkled with cilantro. The dish also didn’t come with sour cream or salsa, which was frustrating because I might have been able to salvage it with a bit of flavor.

The enchiladas themselves were dry, and the chicken had a strange, overly “chicken-y” taste that was off-putting. There were also pieces of corn mixed in, which again tasted like they came straight from a can. For something labeled as the “Chef’s Special,” I wouldn’t recommend this dish.

On the bright side, my husband said the Reuben was a 10/10, and I have to admit—the fries were delicious!

TL;DR: Service was excellent, drinks were great. They were out of cherry tomatoes (so no bruschetta), the pretzel was basic, the Smoked Enchiladas were a huge letdown, but the Reuben...

We have been wanting to try Zyndas since Red Cedar closed and now was our chance! Having recently tried a number of BBQ places as now seems to be the rage, we were curious as this appeared to my pedestrian tastes to be a little fru fru and some BBQ - shaken, not stirred - I could not have been more surprised. We encountered our enthusiastic, knowledgeable and upbeat Server, Liz G, who recommended the Cubano highlighted by grilled/smoked pulled pork, Swiss and Ham on Ciabatta and we could not have been more happy with our selection.

Wow, huge portion sizes for the money and plenty to take home as leftovers; tasty & crispy fries and a boutique slaw plus a side order of some amazing Jalapeño corn bread and the spread was complete! The sandwich had an incredible carmalized, Smokey mustard flavor to die for and the bread was nicely crisped to perfection with abundant flavor. Kudos to the chef and to our server for clueing us in on this hidden delight!

We will be back and save room next time for the signature Carrot Cake which is back from the days of Red Cedar legend.

Zyndas certainly takes BBQ to a new level and if the Cubano is any indication, there are a myriad of other savory great eats on this menu. Friendly staff and a relaxed environment made for a great evening indeed! Five stars to our waitstaff and the...