Zuzda

this place is more of a ‘cute place to say you experienced once’ if you are actually hungry & looking for good food for a great price this is NOT the place you want to go. this is more of a drinking & eating extremely small portions, almost like little snacks for a high premium. the staff is nice & attentive, but the prices for what you get is just astronomical. however if i can recommend ANYTHING the fried (tempura) zucchini is phenomenal. i’d just order like four orders of that haha!

Haven’t eaten yet but the address is wrong. The correct address is 502 WEST Main Street not East.

The service was excellent, I believe Josh was our server. I ordered a filet and I can assure you this was not a filet by any means, less than 1 cm thick. I’ve never been disappointed with a filet mignon before but this was my first time. For the price and quality and quantity I would not recommend eating here. Atmosphere was quaint.

I strongly recommend this establishment to anybody in the Banner Elk or Boone area of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The several times I have been there over the past couple of years, I have only found five star service and five-​star food.

Perfect on a dark cool rainy night. Paella with shrimp, mussels, fish, chicken and scallops, Brussels sprouts with bacon, kale with garlic and sesame oil A glass of Grenache and we were all set

We stayed at a local bed and breakfast and the owner said this is the place he would take his wife out for a nice dinner. So, we took his advice and were really glad we did. The food was quality and service was great as well. I was surprised to have such good food in such a small town. Lobster. Filet. Scallops. Mountain trout. And all prepared very nicely. Got to check it out.

Stuffed lobster most weekends this summer. Yum. With fresh local broccoli. Best dinner in Banner Elk.

Started off by ordering a drink. Watermelon mojioto. Very gritty. Very bitter. My friend ordered an old fashioned and it was very sour. It was stuffed with 3 lemon slices and an orange slice. So when he pulled the 4 slices of fruit out, his drink was half empty. So drinks were not good on our visit so I took off a star. Next we ordered food. 5 share plates between us. Nothing was stand out, nothing was bad. Our bill was almost 100 dollars and over 100 with tip… for average food. Very overpriced. So that’s why I’m giving this average place an average rating. Won’t be back.

First, be warned, the menu on Unilocal!does not reflect the menu and prices you will find at the restaurant. And because they specialize in tapas (small plates) what might appear as a bargain really isn’t. Tapas are usually small, but packed with flavor and use quality ingredients. I doubt you will find either here. I’ve been to many tapas restaurants, and they generally have smaller menus which showcase key ingredients. The menu here is HUGE, offering everything and the kitchen sink. I visited Beech Mountain for some off-​season mountain biking, and after a long day I didn’t have the energy to venture far from my inn to find some food. This was close and the Unilocal!Reviews were mostly positive. Though there was a large patio and the weather was pleasant, I sat at the bar with hope of better service. Similar to another Unilocal!review, the bartender simply opened the cooler to show me the beer selection. I ordered the bacon wrapped shrimp, which weren’t actually wrapped, but 3 over cooked small shrimp (30 count) covered with a bottled BBQ sauce with several slices of burnt bacon tossed on top. I spoke to several local regulars who raved about how great the restaurant was, but the bartender, staff and management didn’t seem to notice me at all. Maybe they recognized I was a tourist. As someone who worked in restaurants for year, I’m familiar with the inclination to ignore one-​and-​done customers in favor of those who will be back in a couple of days. So, if your are visiting from out of town, you might want to pass on this place and instead try one of the the restaurants that adjoin the inns and hotels, where they should be more invested in customer service and meeting the diner’s expectations.

I was a bit wary when I walked in and saw the décor, but the food definitely changed my mind. The food was excellent and the prices were very reasonable. Our server even told us that one menu item (bang bang shrimp) wasn’t so great when we ordered it and she recommended something else. I appreciated her honesty! We ordered quite a bit and thoroughly enjoyed everything.

Excellent choice of little plates, all great. Friendly efficient service. Favorite spot of ours. Always something on menus to satisfy everyone in our party.

The steak au poivre and the mussels were absolutely exceptional.
I would like to offer my congratulations to the Chef for one of the finest meals I’ve had in the Boone, Blowing Rock and Banner Elk area!
The server, Katie, was superb!

This used to be one our families favorite haunts in the NC mountains, but unfortunately our last visit (⁷⁄₂₉) was a negative experience. It started with being greeted with a 10 – 15 minute wait while they «cleaned a table» for us. This after having arrived early for our reservation. The bad experience was continued when our waitress started off by mispronouncing the name of the restaurant. Everything went downhill from there as we encountered an over 45 minute wait for our food with a ver hungry five year old. The food we did receive was nothing special (in fact in some cases it was poor) and was very pricey. Despite receiving several apologies for the poor service, this was probably our last experience at zuzda.

My family and I ate here this evening and I can tell you we will never set foot in this place again. Not because of what happened but because of the way the cook/​owner failed to deal with my problem. My seven year old spit a bone out of her mouth while eating the chicken pot pie. She decided she was no longer hungry. We told the server politely about the 1 ½ inch bone and also inquired about the pin bones still in the salmon fillet. She returned from the kitchen and told us that the cook/​owner said that bones in Pot Pie were normal because the chicken was roasted. What? Normal? It may be normal at this place and thats why you should run for the hills.
The check was brought and the Pot Pie was still on my bill. I asked about it and was told that the owner was not taking it off because the bone was normal. I told the server, who was as sweet as could be, that I was not paying for that item and asked that the owner to come out and speak with me. There were no other options as the cook/​owner is also the manager. I guess the owner did not have time to speak with an unhappy guest so the server just came back with the item removed.
I understand how a bone gets missed in the chicken, I have done it myself. It happens! But when it happens in a restaurant a simple apology and removal from the bill is all that is needed. Hairs accidentally make their way into food as well, but would anyone ever tell a guest «hair in the food is normal, everyone working on the food has hair so, you know, it is bound to happen». $ 8.95 please!
Overall the food was average at best and the décor and ambiance was awful. My pecan crusted chicken was soggy and the salmon filet still had the pin bones in it. The carpet was 50 years old, the AC vent located under my chair was strange and the dead bug or two on the window sill was a turn off. Why would you seat a 4 top at a table with AC under one seat when most of the dining room was empty. That table should only be sat in an emergency and the unique cooling situation should be acknowledged as you seat the guests.
Advice to the owner: All of the things I mentioned here are true and had you treated us with respect and done the right thing about the chicken bone I would have chalked it up to a bad night and given you the benefit of the doubt. I would not have returned because as I said the items we had were just not that good. But I would not have chosen to share my experience with others. So you tried to save $ 7.00 bucks tonight and ended up with a vocal unhappy customer.

This place was AMAZING. We came with 14 couples and had an incredible time. The food was great, service excellent, and the atmosphere was fun. I chose Lobster Bisque, Applewood Bacon wrapped shrimp, ribeye steak, gnocci, and key lime tart. I also tasted many other dishes and desserts around me. All were delicious. Highly recommend this place for a fun and delicious evening!

The chef/​owner went above and beyond to provide our large group with a very special experience, including a wide variety of delicious foods, wonderful service, and an environment that fostered great conversations and so much fun.

This place is amazing. The menu has probably 100 items on it and I’ve not had one bad thing yet. It’s a rare find that has so many dishes that are all well-​prepared. Notably, the kale and the mushrooms are delicious. My husband had the nut-​crusted mountain trout. He says the lemon sauce was REALLY good and the trout was moist and very tasty!
This place is great if you have a bunch of people with varied food tastes/​demands. There is something for everyone here and it’s all darned good!
Oh, and the service is impeccable!

Mountain restaurants are sometimes sadly disappointing and Zuzda’s was not an exception.
We tried over $ 120 of food and beverages with four diners and the best items were the fresh Kale with ginger, soy sauce, and garlic and the fresh brie with caramel and phyllo. All of the other dishes were frozen, tasteless or both.
I’ve eaten at Zuzda’s twice and both times, the food simply didn’t meet expectations. For example, the mini sliders were completely void of flavor as were the meatballs (which I think were made with the same batch of spice-​less ground beef). The pork potstickers were yummy but tasted suspiciously similar to others I’ve tried, leading me to believe they are ordered from the same vender as other restaurants.
The décor was loud but distracted us from the subpar food dishes. However, we did have a fantastic server and that is the reason for the second star.
I didn’t like the congregation of servers and staff around the hostess stand. It was right in front of the entrance and made it crowded in the front room.

We had a fantastic experience at this place. Our waitress was friendly & knowledgeable, and our food was fabulous. We had reservations and were seated immediately. I recommend the lettuce wedge, the filet, chicken saffron risotto, tempura veggies (huge plate for sharing), rosemary peppercorn pork, everything we tried was so good!
We were seated in the front so I couldn’t see much else of the restaurant, but it was just an ok place. The décor is dated and the seats are close together, but we were more focused on the 100ish item menu than our neighbors.
Zuzda, we’re new fans and will eat here everytime we come to Beech from now on.

The hostess could be a little friendlier.
I walked in and she didn’t greet us. Told her we were a table of 3 and she asked if we had ever dined there. I said no and she asked for my name and number. Then she showed us to our table. very odd as to why she asked for my info.
The interior is nice. they have a small fire place and Zuzda definitely tries to portray a fancy tapas restaurant with its mediocre plates.
The waitress came by and told us that most often each person orders around 3 – 4 plates to share. Luckily we were hungry but 3 plates per person may be much, provided how big your party is.
The beef sliders are dry. You can get a better burger at mcdonalds.
The feta and artichoke stuffed rigatoni came with a long strand of hair that our waitress replaced but didn’t comp for us. it was pretty gnarly.
the stuff mussels were decent.
the chicken pot pie was excellent.
the bang bang shrimp are the frozen variety.
tempura veggies are pretty good, though they could have better dipping sauces.
Can’t remember what else we had ordered but it must have no been that memorable.
They have a pretty long menu but nothing really stands out, so ordering can be hard when the dishes are mediocre.
Service is nice and the food came out quick.
If you are in the area, this seems like an ok option considering the area doesn’t have much around.