Zax Pints and Plates

Food choices are great and prepared well. Service was great, staff was attentive but not overly so. No one in town can make better omelets and fries! Fun place in the everning to relax and unwind.

Pros: Best omelets in town!

Posted 11/19/09

went for brunch last week, and it was a good experience...the waitstaff was helpful and our food was yummy. we had a big group, and even though they don't split checks...they do take several credit cards, so it was no trouble at all

Pros: good service, yummy food

Posted 08/02/09

WOWY WOWERTON BATMAN!!!
How many beers are there? This place is aewsome and food is great too! The setting will definately pick you up if your'e feeling down, and if not the beer will help too!

Pros: 2 thumbs up

Cons: n/a

Posted 11/26/08

Pizzas are good. Great, light, open dining area. Green chili chicken was grossly stringy.
Nice wait staff. Don't go to Zax if you're in a hurry. Nice menu selection.

Pros: Great light, atmosphere

Cons: Parking

Posted 11/24/08

I haven't read all the reviews, but based on the 5 stars it looks like everyone got it right!
The ambiance here is perfect, very "Austin." This is a family restaurant that is what family restaurants should be! The food is delicious, the staff is friendly. You have to go during nice weather and sit outside. The drinks are priced well for the area, and they have great specials. We have a pretty big Pint Night glass selection at home now. Parking isn't the best, but hey - it's downtown! At least they have a parking lot ;-) Sometimes the staff is a little slow, but they are always friendly and always get it right. Great date place or great place for drinks with friends. My husband looves their draft beer choices.

Pros: Great ambiance, great location, good food, good drinks

Cons: Parking

Posted 08/17/08

My husband and I went in after I had been there for a work happy hour. The food was tastey, making us want to go back to try other items on the menu. The first time we went we got burgers and they were yumy. The second time, pizza and the pork quesadilla. Last time our I had the pork loin and it is a MUST TRY! The food is prepared well and the taste is amazing. The service is always good. Give it a try and you'll go back for more.

Posted 07/22/08

Service was prompt and friendly. Food was excellent and wanted me to come back and try differnet items on the menu. Highly recommend.

Pros: Nice ambience-very light and not noisey

Posted 06/18/08

I LOVE Zax Pints & Plates. I've arranged a business lunch there, I've brought friends from out of town in and I meet my girlfriends there for lunch. If you work downtown or Westlake Area or South Austin, it's easy to get to. They have a great outdoor patio that is relaxing. The restaurant is beautiful and simple with clean lines, wood and bright colors. The food is YUM. Their steak salad is my favorite because it's healthy and delicious. The steak is moist and flavorful. I highly recommend it for business or for fun or a little of both. Although I don't drink, they have a nice selection of beer for those who indulge!

Pros: Great location, nice outdoor patio, great food

Posted 06/01/08

This place I think is more for the location and atmosphere then a great dining experience although I would reccomend it for a social get together since the atmosphere is great. The food and drinks are above average and I would rate those good just not great.

Check it out. Lots of variety.

Pros: Location, Atmosphere, Selection

Cons: Price a little high, Food good not great

Posted 11/12/07

This place was great. The atmosphere is lovely. I enjoyed the sweet mashed potatoes. The filet kabob was extremely tender. We loved it so much we returned for happy hour a week later. The goat cheese, chicken and caramelized onion pizza was delicious. I can't wait to go back. The happy hour is a real bargain and the normal entree prices are around 14-20.

Pros: food, beer selection

Cons: servers seem a bit aloof

Posted 10/08/07

Zax has the best crabcakes I've ever tasted. Their house salad is also fantastic. I hardly ever try anything else on the menu because the crabcakes are what I go for. The service is good, and I've never had to wait more than a few minutes for a table.

Pros: Great food

Cons: Closed Sunday evenings

Posted 05/20/07

exceptional food, fresh and clean tasting water, friendly hostess and waitstaff.
as i was leaving work today i remembered there was an interesting looking restaurant i had been wanting to try...with no particular cravings in mind it couldn't have been a more perfect day to try Zax's Pints and Plates. I was pleasantly surprised to find such modern furniture and love the layout of the interior restaurant...the bar is so inviting looking!
I chose to sit outdoors on the cobblestoned patio and immediately fell in love with the place. The black bean burger was perfect, with just the right ratio of bean patty and jack cheese...the bun was soft and NOT soggy and the pico de gallo finishing it off. Their french fries are out of this world...better than my words can express.
My waitress was new, and a little unsure of herself...both her and the hostess were very willing to answer (or find answers to) my questions on holding personal events at their location.

Pros: food, service, environment

Cons: on a busy street!

Posted 05/10/07

Vicky and I have 3 young kids so do not get out as a couple very often. Our date nights are special and we do like to try new places. Zax was a delightful evening.

We sat on the patio and could hear the faint Jazz sounds of the trio through the window. Our server was pleasant and attentive. We are not big eaters so we shared our meal. We had the cheese and olive starter. We both found this starter to be plentiful with a good variety of cheese and olives. The server offered more bread for our cheese, twice. We next had the house salad. The server offered to split the salad with two plates when she overheard that Vicky does not like bleu cheese. The salad was tossed with a house dressing and was just the right portion for 2. The pizza was next. The hand made crust was delicious and even sharing we did not finish the last slice. Altogether we had 1 soda, 2 beers, split an appetizer, salad and pizza and our bill was $23.00.

We thought this was good value and ended the evening with 2 more beers at the bar. We talked about our evening and our experience on the way home and decided that this was a great place to meet our other parent friends on a future date. Zax, thank you for a great date night.

Pros: Clean, modern and trendy

Posted 05/01/07

If you're into modern hip decor this is your place. Very hot and trendy spot. Begin with Calamari, you won't be disappointed. Dine away on Flat Iron Steak-au-Poivre which is melt in your mouth yummy and delightfully pan seared with brandy and a green (not kidding) peppercorn sauce. For an added twist ask your server for a Brandy Alexander made with ice-cream (for best results) and a dash of nutmeg. It could replace a spendy not so tasty dessert you've tried so many times before. Think about having a larger group here and you'll all be glad you did. This is a dining experience for hip baby boomers as well.

Pros: a modern trendy mode but a good crowd pleaser for after work

Cons: little ambience on our trip

Posted 04/18/07

I always have an awesome time at Zax. Great food, great beer, great customer service. Seared Tuna and a glass of wine or Martini is the way to go..

Pros: Beer, Wine, food etc

Posted 03/01/07

From the moment I entered the front door, my experience --- I believe -- was similar to attempting to get mass transit during Katrina. It was a disaster. They showed us a table with 4 chairs - one of them was wet -- & told us not to sit in it. Took us 20 minutes to get menus (afdter I asked for them), another twenty to order a "starter" (menu name). They may change that to "finisher". When we expressed our dis-satisfaction and requested our check, the owner had the gall to ask me if I lived in Austin, as if it would make a difference. Well, I do live in Austin and I will not eat nor drink at Zax's Pints and Plates -- ever again. Believe me it was worth the $21.00 plus tip to save my money on a meal. We left - drove to another rest - and probably finished that meal before we would have been served at Zax's.

Pros: It's across the street and next to other choices

Cons: It's open

Posted 02/23/07

I have lived in Austin for about 5 years now and I just ate the best meal I've had at Zax. My expectations for the beer selection were high, but I didn't anticipate the food to be that tasty. However, once I'd left, my impression was exactly the opposite! The beer selection is pretty good, providing a decent selection of smaller brewers' beers, but I was really hoping for more Belgian beers. They didn't have even one when I went in!

Now, onto the WONDERFUL part. I had the pork loin with rum mashed sweet potatoes and mixed vegetables. WOW!!!! The pork was the most tender, juicy pork I'd ever tasted. It was cooked and seasoned perfectly. I had them prepare it medium and that's exaclty how it arrived. The mixture of rum and sweet potatoes was novel and a huge success. For those that are very sensitive to rum, you might find it overwhelming, but I thought it was just right. Mixed veggies (squash, beans, broccoli) were nothing to write home about, but still tasted great. Seriously, nothing could have been better about this meal. Our service was great, too.

FYI, if you're concerned about the price, check out restaurant(dot)com for their cheap discounts that make this restaurant more affordable.

Pros: Quality of food, preparation, ambience

Cons: overrated beer selection, parking

Posted 11/28/06

this place is kind of a rip off. but its very cute and has a great selection of high-brow food and drink in a fun atmosphere. the polenta is great and the drinks taste better here for some reason.

Posted 11/16/06

As the title says, the food was somewhat disappointing. The waiter was terrific, we were promptly seated, and I liked the decor and "feel" of the restaurant. However, if I can do a dish better than what the restaurant does, I have to wonder what's going on. Maybe I shouldn't have ordered the Chicken Parmesan. The salads the both my partner and I had were good. I will give them another chance. In fact, I think I'll go back for dinner sometime. The entrées at dinner sound pretty good.

Pros: nice staff

Cons: small parking lot in a very busy location

Posted 10/17/06

The staff was great and attentive...lots of strange looks shot our way.. kind of made me feel like they were clones looking for new subjects or they thought we were famous..just an eerie weirdness but amusing. Anyway the bread was french and amazing.. butter could have been a bit softer, but it was spreadable. My friend wanted a chicken sandwich but apparently it was only offered at lunch? Our waiter didn't give us a hard time but we gave him a hard time (in a playful way) when he told us the lunch crew is "different" than the dinner crew..So is it beneath the dinner crew to make a chicken sandwich we wonder? Anyway, she got her chicken sandwich.. no problems. I ordered the special grilled mahi mahi with saffron risotto w/ vegetables in a butter sauce. The mahi mahi was decent but the sauce was unbelievable!!!
Hello Hudson's on The Bend.. now THIS is a sauce worth paying for!

Posted 09/30/06

This place is so cool! The sign intrigued me, so I stopped in for a drink - I ended up being there all night! The decorations and live jazz band kept me entertained. They have a great variety of beers to taste (that's what kept me occupied for so long). I was not disappointed by any of them! Of course, after all that beer I had to try some food - it was amazing! They have great grilled pork tenderloin, cooked perfectly, and the grilled polenta appetizer was creative and delicious. I will be back soon to enjoy their patio dining!

Pros: Patio, Friendly Service, Drinks

Cons: None!

Posted 07/17/06

The service is just terrible, it took nearly 25 minutes for us to place an order and our appetizer took closer to 35 minutes. While people were friendly, they were semi-competent. The wine list, if you can call it that, consists of $13 bottles marked up 2 or 3 times. Maybe you can get good bar food, but don't bother with the ham-fisted "upscale" food. Wish we had ordered beer and fries.

Pros: Good beer selection, good parking, n/a

Cons: poor wine selection, Higher end food weak, n/a

Posted 04/25/06

Since I'm not much of a beer drinkers the pints part of the name made me think it was going to be another Irish Pub... nothing wrong with that, but it's NOT what I expected. The ambience is awesome, clean art-deco look; sleek bar, great atmosphere....carefully placed mirror outside the lady's loo. Very nice. Trendy.

While the beer selection is certainly an attraction... so is the upscale winelist & menu. The food was delicious; owners just as charming as their venue. Even got to meet the namesake! Go Zach!

Pros: location, atmosphere, staff

Cons: only 2 ladies stalls, wine list prices, aucoustics

Posted 07/26/05

I have been to Zax's numerous times because the food and ambience is so amazing!! I go there for a relaxing lunch during the week and always love the huge hamburgers and Zax's house salad is incredible. I prefer to go on the weekends for dinner because there are always great bands playing. The veggie quesadillas is one of my favs and the crusted tuna is by far the best fish dish Ive ever had! If youre going for a more relaxing dinner go outside to the patio, its great!! Im not much of a beer drinking but all my friends love the different stuff on tap.

Pros: Great food,, awesome ambience,, reasonable pirces

Cons: NONE!!

Posted 07/25/05

Nice place, decent menu, but horrible service. I've been there twice and both times the service has been extremely slow.

Pros: Atmosphere, Music

Cons: Slow Service

Posted 02/17/05

My husband and I tried ZAX last Saturday night. What ambiance! It is a California style restaurant with hardwood floors and high ceilings. We split an appetizer, a pizza and an order of quesedillas. My husband is a huge beer fan and was so excited to try new beers on tap! The wine selection was excellent as well. To top it off? It was still happy hour on a Saturday and we saved a bunch of money! We had a $50 meal for $35! We will be back as soon as possible!

Pros: ambiance, wine & beer selection, parking! yay!

Posted 02/02/04

Working within walking distance, I've been here for lunch three times in the past 6 weeks. Each time the food has been fantastic, while the service has been fair. The wait between ordering and eating has always been longer than expected. Today it took over 45 minutes for my food to arrive! Granted it was busy, but I still think 45 minutes is excessive. My previous two visits the food took 20-30 minutes to arrive.

I keep coming back because the food is great, but if you are on your lunch hour, and you can't afford to make it a lunch hour and a half, or a lunch hour and 45, then you may want to change your plans. If time is not an issue, then by all means try Zax. The food is great!

Pros: great food, plenty of parking, nice waitstaff

Cons: VERY SLOW KITCHEN!

Posted 09/16/03

This could very well be the perfect bar! Great wine list, broad beer selections and an incredible menu. All the copper accents give it a great atmosphere, but it's the patio with the live music that rates highest in my book.

Pros: Funky, great music, delicious food

Cons: Area traffic, closed Sundays

Posted 08/26/03

Excellent pizzas and the italian sausage dish is outstanding. The owners support Texas breweries with 20 beers on tap, most of them from around here. You can't find great draft beer like this anywhere else in Austin. The layout is really cool and the owners and waitstaff are really friendly. They take the time to visit every table. The prices are incredible too. The pizzas and pints during happy hour are the best deal in town. Parking+++

Pros: Draft Beer, Atmosphere, Pizza/Italian Sausage

Cons: none

Posted 08/17/03