Zuni Cafe Review

Zuni pleased us, with the star being the rightfully legendary chicken.

We started with bread (good) and an appetizer of sliced yellow and red tomatoes in olive oil with cream fresca and arugula, also good. (But an appetizer like this is hard to mess up if all the items are fresh, as they were.)

Our entrees included 

• The famous wood-oven chicken (for two): a platter of chicken legs, breasts, and thighs that was wonderfully juicy and flavorful, with a crispy skin that wasn't too fatty. Excellent. One attendee that wrote me the next day added: "P.S. still thinking about the chicken from last night." The platter also had (okay) large bread chunks the consistency of damp croutons infused with the chicken flavor.
• An unexceptional halibut, but the broth in which it arrived was pretty good and nicely infused the vegetables (especially the potatoes) in the broth.

Dessert included:

• A berry ice cream. Definitely had an impressively strong berry flavor but was so sweet we couldn't make much progress on it.
• A chocolate cake. Pretty good. Quite rich but not so rich as to be overwhelming (like the chocolate bread pudding from Bix).

As for the atmosphere, it was pretty nice: packed but not loud. Zuni clearly also cares about its appearance: it includes a partially open kitchen customers can peak in as they walk to their seats. The back end of a wood oven in the kitchen opens into the part of the dining room where we were seating, providing a neat effect and imparting additional warmth in the room. They also has an impressive-looking bar (but seemingly little seating nearby). My only complaint regarding atmosphere/appearance is that some seats are wide bench seats without backs, where customers at different tables sit on the same bench, back-facing-back. This makes long dinners somewhat uncomfortable because one cannot lean back and relax.

Original Announcement

This Wednesday at 8:15pm we'll be journeying to Zuni Cafe, a hip joint known for people watching on Market near the Civic Center. While most people call it Mediterranean (probably because it serves oysters), it's more known for traditional Cal-American fare such as a wood oven chicken, hamburgers on focaccia, and ceasar salad.

Please tell me if you are coming!

Comments from Other Attendees

We returned to Zuni in 2011 to celebrate Ow's engagement.  I don't remember what we ordered other than the chicken, which was as good as I remembered.  I think the large bread crouton-like things that came with it was fairly good too. --mark

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