Zen Japanese Food Fast

This used to be an okay place to get food. They recently raised their prices but didn’t bother to improve their quality. They’re very inconsistent. Around lunchtime (12) is when it’s the worst. Very little food and sauce in budget bowls (since they’re more occupied just getting boxes out for the crowd than food). Before or after the craziness is okay. The workers are extremely robotic no matter how busy or not busy they are and I always have to insist/​interrupt to get soy sauce since the workers are always too concerned with swiping the next customer. 2 stars cause been there a lot and it’s an ok place and also cause there’s one worker who is always very nice and has great customer service skills.

Awesome blend of ingredients to make for a truely unique meal.

I would say that Zen was the perfect stop for a student who wanted to be healthy or to try something new. Unfortunately the sushi that. Had (California roll) didn’t seem to be as fresh as I have eaten in other places. Another minor problem would be that the portions were a little too small for my taste. Other than that I would recommend it over some of the other restaurants around here for a student who wants to try something new!

So, you are in the center of the UT campus, a long, hot walk from Guadalupe or Duval, the two main restaurant clusters. Your other choices in the SAC are an unheralded taco chain and a homophopic chicken-​pusher. You’re thinking about trying this Zen place, wondering either how good or how bad $ 6 Japanese fast food could be. So, how good or bad COULD it be?
Not that much of either, really. You get what you pay for, maybe a little more. It’s nice to have something marginally healthy like shrimp and rice (you can swap in a serviceable salad mix for a buck more) in a sea of greasy fast food, the rolls are surprisingly decent for $ 3, and if you order the more uncommon bowls, your box will be made fresh for you (the more common chicken ones are churned out in advance, in the style of that other chicken place I mentioned above). They offer several sauces of purportedly escalating heat levels (e.g. teriyaki through spicy Szechuan), although I have never been able to perceive this – think Wendy’s spicy chicken hot as your baseline. You can get sides of sriracha, though, which is always big plus in my world.
It’s also worth noting that the scene here is majorly buyer-​beware on your carryout orders. They’ll hand food to anyone waiting who says «mine!» if that’s what tit takes to keep the line moving. If you do not check to ensure that your order is right, you will end up in the one-​star queue on Unilocal rather than the return queue for Zen. Do with that as you will.
Nothing, then, is all that exciting, and I also really wish they’d not punish you with warm water in a Dixie cup for failing to buy a soft drink. But even with the menu and service caveats, this Zen is still better in almost every way than than the immediate competition – tastier, healthier fast food at at a price you can live with. And although I may sound underwhelmed, I’ll almost certainly be back. And that’s A-​OK in my book.

This place sucks. It’s very unhygienic and unclean. I got tofu chili garlic along with fries. Within an hour I got a bad stomach ache and I was very restless. After that I got loose motions I would never eat from Zen. Their food is not even tasty!

You want a fast line at UT? Consistently good food at a great price? Zen in the SAC, baby.
They are zooming people through the line, and my food has always been good. The price is hard to beat, and though seating in the SAC is hard to come by, it’s easy to pick up and take elsewhere.
The spicy chicken bowl is my jam, and the shrimp and bacon spring roll is frigging delicious. The sushi isn’t bad, and they have Topo Chico. I’m down.

Ehhh, okay. I still go to Zen pretty frequently, but they’re not as vegetarian friendly as I originally thought, and their quality control has been suffering recently.
I asked a guy working at the counter if their Miso soup was vegetarian. He said yes, I ordered it, ate it, and then later realized that their menu noted that it wasn’t veg-​friendly. Hm. I emailed corporate to find out what the deal was, and they never responded. I eventually got ahold of them on Twitter, and they confirmed that it contains fish. So, trust the menu over the employees.
I also recently ordered a tofu bowl, and got a half chicken/​half tofu bowl, which was lame. When I brought it back, the guy in the kitchen laughed at me and shook his head, which was kind of embarrassing. Maybe he thought I should have been grateful for the chicken? Idk.
They’ve also been pretty inconsistent with sauce recently — sometimes your bowl is drowning in it, sometimes you can’t taste the sauce at all. When they get it right though, it can be pretty delish.

Dirt and rocks, literally that’s what I found in the bottom of my rice dish, the schoolgirl” I think. I was lucky I didn’t crack a tooth. Was this suppose to be a joke?
Avoid like the plague if you value your digestive track. I plan on reporting this to the health inspector.

I came here expecting fast, cheap, below average quality food.
I received fast, cheap, average quality food.
Overall exceeded my expectations, so I can’t really ask for more.

My lab is in the new Gates building and as you can see with my number of check-​ins, I come here A LOT over the past 2 years. Needless to say, I’ve had many many bowls here but my biggest problem with Zen is…
… the LACK OF CONSISTENCY.
When it’s good, the $ 6 BYOB is actually very good for a fast food stand. It’s the most available (doesn’t close randomly) and the healthiest (only slightly) options out of the 3 places in the SAC. Convenience is the #1 driving factor for me for eating at Zen. Their spring rolls and fries are pretty unique too. Quick Tip: If you do decide to eat here, skip the $ 5 pre-​made bowls and go for the $ 6 BYOB. The pre-​made bowls contain pretty much all rice and only a few pieces of chicken.
Now back to consistency. This issue is really infuriating, especially for a regular customer like me. It has been going downhill ever since the beginning of this year. Honestly, you get whatever those dudes behind the counter feels like.
Nirvana Mix: carrots, water chestnuts, broccoli, shiitake & crimini mushrooms and edamame.
Ok, that’s what it says on their menu. I’ve gotten bowls containing entirely carrots (no kidding). I’ve gotten bowls containing 1 tiny broccoli and all water chestnuts. For my last 10 bowls (yes I’ve counted), I’ve not gotten a single piece of mushroom or edamame! And the sauce? Right, be ready to expect anything from drizzle to a soup. Sad sad sad. I once raved about this place… now it’s just a bad joke.
The worst part is, I don’t think any of this matters to them since b/​c they’re on a college campus. At the end of the day, college students will take whatever they can get. Period.

First time going, my $ 6 teriyaki chicken bowl was amazing. The staff was ridiculously nice. I’ll totally go back.

Oil soaked Americanized Asian food. The first time I came here, I thought the food was good, partially due to my hunger. I chose the Build Your Own Bowl option with chicken as my entrée and peanut sauce. The second time I swung by I noticed that the food wasn’t high quality and was SOAKED in oil. The third time I swung by, I decided to try the sushi and that was a huge disappointment. I came here a total of three times since it was conveniently located on campus, and I wanted a hot meal. But no more.

I ordered a chicken BYOB with dynamite sauce, extra veggies, and light rice.
I received a Tofu bowl with barely any veggies and a ton of rice.
I realized this after I walked across campus back to my suite to work. Thanks, guys. Waste of my money. I want my money back!

I really miss their chicken chop salad. All that cabbage, chicken, crunch, and peanut sauce was so good.
The pre prepped sushi is great for on the run and priced well.
Anything shrimp is good too. I’ve not had a bad spicy shrimp dish there.

I think people need to understand that this location is targeting college students who want grab and go food. Would I go here by choice on a daily basis? Probably not. Consider the alternatives nearby in the center of campus though. Taco Cabana, Wendy’s, Chik-​fil-​a are all less appealing than a quick stop at Zen. Zen is my nearby backup plan if I need a quick bite that I can take back to my desk and keep working. Spicy tuna rolls keep me in a good mood. I can’t really waste time going all the way down to the drag some days.

Reality check. You’re not coming here for a 5-​star dining experience. If you’re eating here, you’re probably stranded on campus needing decent food that’s convenient to get and won’t break the bank. Zen delivers on all of these points.
Could I recreate their chicken teriyaki or spicy chicken budget bowls at home? Probably. Could I find something healthier or get more bang for my buck somewhere else? Most likely. But if I find myself at Zen, it’s because neither of those are an option. So just let go of any high expectations you may have and you’ll have yourself a decent meal here.
CHICKEN TERIYAKI BUDGET BOWL ($ 5)
*Lots of (wet) steamed, white rice + lots of teriyaki sauce + a decent portion of chicken pieces.
*Meh, nothing special. Make sure you mix well, otherwise you might get an unpleasant spoonful of teriyaki sauce somewhere along the way.
SPICY CHICKEN BUDGET BOWL ($ 5)
*Basically the Chicken Teriyaki Budget Bowl with spicier teriyaki sauce + green onions + crispy wontons.
*The better of the two. This bowl adds the right amount of spice and texture, and they actually separate the wontons from the rice and sauce so you can mix in later and prevent them from getting soggy.
7 SPICE FRENCH FRIES ($ 2)
*Fried potato slices seasoned with 7 pepper spice and salt.
*Not that amazing and too salty imo. I would recommend sharing an order; the first handful was tasty, but any more after that was kind of overkill.
***Bottom line: Zen is A-​OK, but I’ll be saving my trips for when I’m on campus and desperate for a quick and easy but filling meal.

You know what? I tried their 7 Spice French Fries and almost peed my pants. This is the only good thing I’ve ever had here, but it was AMAZING. Worth it.

Why the bad reviews? This place is awesome! How the hell could you say Taco Cabana would be a better choice than this?
If you want something FRESH, and healthy, and LOCAL eat here. If you want to stay in your college student bubble of grease-​filled fast food try Taco Cabana or Chik-​fil-​A.
Tofu, veggies, stir fry, salad, sushi, spiciness, yes yes yes.

Zen is to Japanese food like David Carradine was to Kung Foo. It’s Austin poser asian food for self-​impressed hipsters. Ive been to Japan. This is not Japanese food. Is zero stars possible?