Zen Bistro Grill & Sushi Bar

Went here for lunch, Jasmine tea was nice and hot on such a cold day. Sushi was delicious. I noticed other tables having a hard time with getting servers attention often. There were many tables available when a group of 3 older women were about to be seated in a stuffy corner table towards the back kitchen area, they asked if they could sit a booth towards front of restaurant and the server told them no bc it was only for larger parties– I could see a server or hostess using this policy during busy weekend dinner hours. But I thought the server should have allowed them to sit wherever since it was a slow lunch.

The ONE reason I am not giving this restaurant the 5 stars it should have is because the service was AWFUL. Our waitress was awesome but so incredibly slow, forgot many things, and came to our table probably every (not even being dramatic) 30 minutes. We waited for so long for the check, it was borderline unacceptable. HOWEVER, all this being said, the food was incredible!!! I’m absolutely a sushi lover and it was honestly some of the best sushi I’ve ever had. Such a disappointment that the experience wasn’t even comparable to the quality of the food. Would return only for the food. Keep it up chefs!

Decent sushi but very hit or miss. Awful service every single time. Always disappointed as they used to have great service.

Worst service at the bar tonight and we frequent this place regularly. Rachel S was our bartender/​server. Not friendly, no eye contact and too busy hanging out with her friends who were also at the bar, giving freebies and talking about her personal business and social plans. We are locals and like the food but tonight was our last time to spend our hard earned cash and have to ask repeatedly for silverware, condiments etc. We like to contribute to our local businesses but this is likely the last time that we will contribute here. Kudo’s to the chefs that work so hard to produce such high quality food, shame to the bartender who is costing this business money. Being treated as though we were an inconvenience is not good for business and there are plenty of other local establishments that would welcome paying customers with open arms.

We have ordered take out from here several times, and I don’t know what it is, but the order is NEVER right, and oddly… always wrong in a different way. I order simply 2 avocado and cucumber rolls, my husband orders 2 raw sushi rolls. It is never put together right, and the last 2 times they only gave me 1 avocado cucumber roll which of course we don’t notice until we get home (which is I guess our bad, but really?). While the food is decent, the sushi (especially veggie roll) is overpriced. Tonight I received my last wrong order.

I’ve been to the location in Westchase and the location at International Mall. I think I’ve had a total of 3 – 4 visits. Every single time, I have loved the food. Amazing sushi, edamame, and special surprises like Korean short ribs. My servers and bartenders are always super nice as well. One of my favorite spots!

Well, at my wife’s urging, we went here on a Fri night. The service was still pretty bad. We waited 10 mins just to be acknowledged (after we asked). Ordered 4 sushi rolls and drinks. 3 of the 4 rolls came out, and the server said the 4^th would be out shortly. 10 – 15 min later, we again have to ask about the roll, which then takes at least another 5 mins (and I assume they were making it because it was probably never made). Server was not apologetic until my wife said something, and the roll was comp’ed. While I realize it is a Friday night and fairly busy, the restaurant is rather small, so it really shouldn’t be an issue. Besides, our waiter busted tail serving the 8-​top that was next to us, while we were basically an afterthought.
The rolls themselves were hit and miss. Sirloin roll is awesome, the white dragon was very good, and my (late) conch roll was bland and very meh. The other roll my wife had was pretty bland too.

Good sushi and great service. Nice environment and ambience. Good selection of sushi and rolls. Some rolls require two bites. CURRENTLY one of the only sushi restaurants in the westchase area.

Service is consistently slow. We waited around 10 minutes just for waters. The table next to us go 3 meals before we received our first.
Food was pretty good though.

Amazing staff! Amazing food! Very impressed at how clean and fresh everything is! The lychee martini is to die for I will be back!

It’s was ok. Sushi needs more flavor tasted bland and mediocre. The avocado slices were black. We also tried the hot and sour soup and it tasted old/​reheated.
The same night another couple complained about their hot dinner and sent it back. They said it tasted like old leftovers.

Stopped in for lunch. A bit pricey but the portions were large and the food was awesome. I had the Spicy Crab Bowl and it was different, but fantastic.

Absolutely amazing, I usually order takeout and their always ready with my food within the 15 min it takes to drive there.
Highly recommend the caterpillar and volcano roll.
Their honey walnut shrimp is my favorite meal of all time (so far).
The only reason I gave ⁴⁄₅ is for raising for prices on the DL. Not cool. I love that shrimp but $ 46 for two meals and no drinks is outrageous.

I’ve dined here numerous times, but have only had sushi. I’ve liked most of what I’ve tried. I typically ask my server for their favorites and have only been disappointed once. We’ve dined in and gotten takeout.
Sushi is fresh and flavorful. Servers are accommodating.

Picked this locale for dinner with gal pals. Walked into DJ music resonating through the air while dining — the sounds being put were better than Blue Martini (more on that later). We sat, two ordered drinks (one rum and coke; the other a cucumber martini for $ 10
which has Bombay Sapphire Gin, St. Germain liqueur, cucumber, Thai basil, topped with soda. The rum was made with house rum and wasn’t tasty at all.
My order was the volanco ($ 12) which has crab stick, cucumber, cream cheese and avocado roll, topped with a lot of seafood dynamite. I’ve eaten in locations where they serve a fair portion of it but this was a lot. and I looooved it! Also got the tampa roll ($ 7) with tempura grouper, cucumber, avocado, masago, sesame aioli. It was good but not as excellent as I anticipated.
The music made us super ecstasy to want to party after filling up our bellies.

Like the previous Unilocalers had stated, the service does ALWAYS suck. Whether picking up a to go order or dining in, the service is alway rancid. The sushi is quite delicious but also, quite overpriced.

Okay Asian fusion food. Very expensive for what it is ($ 5 for edamame or an appetizer Wakame salad). After looking over the menu, my friends and I decided not to get any entrees, but just get drinks and appetizers. My friend’s Sangria was served with a giant ice cube, one which is usually served with whiskeys, and any basic wine drinker knows never to serve ice in your wine. It was very sugary, almost to the point where I questioned if he was served Kool-​Aid. The rest of us ordered beers in the bottle after trying his Sangria.
I absolutely loved my BBQ Short Rib Plate appetizer and ate it to the bones. Boyfriend and I shared a Volcano sushi roll, which tasted good. Nothing else spectacular to write about.
We spent a good amount of money, considering that we only ordered drinks and picked off of two food plates. Zen Bistro seems like one of those trendy Asian places that keeps the lights dim, not just to provide ambiance, but to hide the less-​than-​spectacular food they serve there.
Save your money and eat elsewhere, especially in a great plaza that has many other eateries to try. Unless you have that urge to burn your money.

Have eaten here many times and never had a bad experience. After trying a few other sushi places in the area I feel like this is a truly a 5 star place. From the service to the atmosphere to the décor, everything is perfect. The servers are always quick and friendly and my orders have never been wrong, which is an issue that seems to afflict A LOT of the sushi places in Tampa. Last night Stephen was our waiter, will definitely ask for him again in the future.
My favorite rolls are the Rock’n Zen and the Eternal Bliss, always carefully assembled and fried to perfection. The portions are very generous, many other places in this price range don’t have rolls as big as the ones at Zen Bistro. Last night my friend ordered a tempura bagel roll and everyone at the table was shocked at the sheer size of this thing, especially given that it’s $ 10. The roll nearly spanned the width of the table. They always have a nice selection of drinks as well.
Probably the only downside is the parking. Parking in this shopping center is a real pain… we usually park in the big parking lot farther away from the shopping center to avoid the cluster centered around the actual shopping center.

My new favorite bistro. Based On a Mars F review the wife and I went for lunch.
Mark you hit it out of the park!
Our lunch was fabulous. We started with miso soup. It was right out of the oven. I like my food hot, not luke warm. It was right on spot.
We ordered a volcano roll. A perfect blend of crab, cream cheese, cucumber and avocado. It was topped with seafood dynamite. Delicious.
We ordered another roll, a veggie. Good but can’t beat a volcano roll!
A lite and enjoyable lunch.
Looking forward to returning, next time for dinner.
In between think, I’ll return during happy hour for the $ 3 California roll and $ 2.50 domestic beer!
Highly recommend.

A funny thing happened on the way to Greek city café in westchase village. It was gone, soon to be opened as The Great Spiedini. Serving NY style Sammie’s.
So we walked across the street to Zen Bistro. To be clear, I’m not a fan of sushi so I opted for a bowl of miso soup. It came out hot and steamy and was very good. I ordered the veggie and shrimp starter as my meal. Asked our server which veggies came and not knowing, he told me it was traditional. Ha! Every place has their own definition of traditional. He offered to check and came back to let me know it was asparagus, sweet potato, onions and zucchini. This was served on a bed of lettuce and came with a dipping sauce. Was good and not greasy. Enough for a light meal.
The décor was modern with bamboo walls and some clear tiles that I’ve never seen before. Nice ambience making a good place to take your date. They also have outdoor seating.
Hubster got two sushi rolls and rated them just ok. Wednesday is $ 5 sushi special so it’s not too pricey.

El servicio bueno pero lento. La comida es buena, pero no es el mejor lugar japones para venir. Lo recomendaría de todas formas.