Za! Italian Minnesotan

Za's food is outstanding. I was expecting mediocre at-best, but was completely blown-away. My boyfriend and I both agreed that it was the best Italian restaurant we had been to. In fact, we are going there for New Year's Eve: a perfect place for an intimate meal away from the noise and the drunks. more

I do check restaurant review sites on occasion, especially if I have not been there recently. We have always been impressed with the delicious food, thoughtful chef preparations, plate presentation and the wine list. If your not getting their email newsletters about newly featured menu choices, specials and discounts or gift card promotions you are missing out. This is not a sports bar or ""food"" for the kids type, restaurant unless they like pizza; which we think has absolutely the best offerings in the whole north metro area. We drive a long way to dine at ZA and always agree it's well worth the wait. more

I had decided to bring my family from out of town to ZA in Forest Lake. I had ordered some food to go in the past and thought this would be a great place to bring them. We arrived to the restaurant at 8 pm on a friday night. We walked in to be greeted by a middle aged woman with dark hair. She asked our name and wrote in down on a list. There was no one else waiting and the place was about half full. There was not a table large enough to accommodate the 7 people in our group. Instead of pulling to tables together, she left us waiting for over 20 mins. When I asked her how much longer it would be, she said about 20 more mins. I asked her if she could just pull two tables together, she siad no, they couldn't do that. I WOULD NEVER reccomend this place. Not to mention she acted like we were at some gated country club, get a life, Your in Forest Lake. Pros: decent food Cons: service. owner or manager more

It was okay, went with a group of 15 & service was good but unfortunately the food not so great.\r Our server recomended the lasagna in a bread bowl, skip it!! It's a deep dish pizza with lasagna noodles & sauce....couldn't find the sausage or ricotta, just some mozzarella on top.\r My daughter who is 6 years old ordered from their kids menu (10 & under) butterd noodles ....what a ridiculous portion! it came on a very small plate....lets just say it's probably the first time she ate the whole thing and was still hungry!! I can't imagine serving that to a 9 or 10 year old, actually my niece & nephews who also ordered chicken tenders with fries had to have a plate of spaghetti ordered because they were still hungry...keep in mind these are not big eaters!! Anyway, the cheesecake with rasberries was good :)\r Pros: Ambience, Parking more