Zia's on the Hill

I thought we knew good Italian. After all, we're from Kansas City. BUT--this dining experience was SO good.
My husband and I both ordered the lasagna and it was the cheesiest, sauciest, most delightful dinner. And the salad!! It is hard to decide which was better.....the salad or the entree.
I also have to commend our waiter. It is certainly no rarity these days to have a less than stellar
waiter/waitress. We were absolutely bowled over. Our waiter did not miss a beat.
He was prompt.
He was personable without being intrusive.
He was knowledgeable.
He was quick.
He was absolutely everything you would/could ask for in a waiter.
Although we don't get to St. Louis often, we will so look forward to visiting your eatery again.
Thank you for a wonderful experience. You truly have a gem.
Lynda

Pros: Best Italian Ever

Cons: There were none

Posted 07/06/09

We had our sons rehersal dinner here a couple of months a go and i can not say enough about the food we did the spedini and it was awsome the sauce was one of the best i've ever tasted everything was perfect from the freindly bartenders when we arrived to the thanks for coming as we walked out the door i
can not wait till our next visit. Thank you Zias for making an important night so easy and enjoyable.

Posted 01/16/09

I would have to say that the staff here is absolutely fantastic. I have had the most wonderful experience with the owners of this great family run restaurant. The owner is a very passionate man who sincerely cares about his clientele. His daughter takes her job very seriously and does everything in her power to make sure the restaurant is run smoothly and her customers are happy. An overall wonderful experience with a quality staff that cares...a rarity in this day and age.

Pros: Friendly Service - Passionate owners

Posted 01/14/09

The food is just average, the portions are generous. Not even close to being one of the better places on the hill.

Pros: great salad, huge pasta portions

Cons: Too many better restaraunts in the neighborhood.

Posted 11/22/08

I love Zia's. It is the best of all the Hill restaurants. My husband and I love the huge portions and the great prices. It is nice to know that we can eat dinner for two for less than 30 bucks and have enough for lunch the next day! The wait can be a little long on the weekends and parking is sometimes tough but it is worth it. We love the Calamari- a must try!

Pros: Service, prices and great food

Cons: long wait

Posted 11/04/08

the sauce is sweet. They make it so far ahead they put sugar in it so it does not taste sour! ICK.
i HAVE TRIED THIS PLACE OVER AND OVER AND ALWAYS DISAPOINTED. My guests were too!

Pros: good location

Cons: sauce

Posted 09/14/08

Love it, love it, love it!!!! The atmosphere is nice for families or for a date-night. They have the best pollo picante, salad, bread and pasta. I highly recommend you order their seafood ravioli or seafood stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer if you like seafood. It is scrumptious!! I have not had any bad food there. What you get for your money is a lot of food, well worth what you pay for it. My husband I usually spend about $30 or more when it's just the two of us and that includes the appetizer and a glass of wine and a mixed drink. We usually always bring leftovers home. Get there early on a weekend night because it is so good that everyone goes there.

Pros: Quality of food is great quantity, awesome

Cons: wait time could be long if you don't arrive early on a weekend night

Posted 04/25/08

Great food - absolutely delicious! My husband and I both had pasta - it was great! Great prices, friendly service. Definitely recommend.

Posted 03/02/08

I have been visiting St. Louis for over twenty years and have not found a better place to eat on the Hill. The food is always great. The quality and quantity never change. Service is always good even when it is extremely busy. I have never had a bad experience at Zia's. GREAT PASTA! GREAT STEAKS! AND OBVIOUSLY GREAT SALADS!

Posted 01/03/08

I haven?t been to Zia?s in quite some time and the reason is because the last time I was there, I witnessed some of the poorest examples of managerial ?skills? I have ever been privy to. As someone in the service industry, I have a tendency to take note of the situations around me when I go to a restaurant. I was at Zia?s on a very busy Saturday night. I waited about an hour over my quoted time and was told by one of the hostesses that they are not ?allowed? to quote over an hour because then, people wouldn?t stay. So instead of risking a few people not wanting to wait, they?d rather people wait an hour MORE than they were told and go into the restaurant already angry. After I was seated, I was immediately greeted by a busser who brought us all waters. Soon after, a frazzled waitress came and rattled off the specials like she had said them 50 times that night (which I?m sure she had). We placed our food and drink orders right away, because we?d had 2 hours to peruse the menu in the bar. The food was prompt and the service was great. The rush kind of died down after we had been sat, so the waitress wasn?t nearly as stressed out. My main disappointment with the night came just before we paid. The manager (I?m not sure of her name, but I believe she?s the daughter of one of the owners) was talking to one of her servers in front of his table and was VERY belittling to him. This caught my attention so I kept an eye on her for the rest of the time I was there and I saw continuous ridicule of each and every one of her employees, both in front of customers and in the hallway area. Now I understand that a Saturday night in a busy restaurant can be very stressful, but this just went too far and left a bad taste in my mouth for the entire experience. I won?t go again.

Pros: Good Food, Excellent Service

Cons: Poor Management

Posted 08/28/07

Went to Zia's after reading reviews on this site. June Friday night around 8:30 pm. Very prompt seating outside as requested. Very pleasant atmosphere. Waitress was terrible. When asked about "what's good on menu and what are the most popular dishes" her response was "I like" "I eat". When redirected received the same response. Finally able to drag it out of her. Veal parmigiana and Pollo Alla Spiedini Prosciutto. We ordered a $50 bottle of wine and the veal and the chicken above. She brings out the wine and proceeds to rip the cork in half. Then cork screws into the broken half. Response was " boy that was a tuff cork"! Then serves the wine to us. Was not able to see the cork. I should have refused the bottle but it was getting late and I didn't want to make waves. This wasn't $10 ripple I ordered. Food came out hot and looked and smelled good. The chicken dish is out of this world! I can't say enough about it. Order it! The veal is another story. I had trouble cutting it with the Knife. Very gritty and full of grissle. Hard to chew. It was late by this time and I didn't feel like waiting for another dish to come out. She offered to make another veal but I refused. Should have been right the first time. Was it veal? After complaining the manager came out and apologized and said she wanted to buy us dessert. We ordered the tiramisu. After a few minutes the waitress brings out one dessert! Poor showing. Over all I would go again. The chicken dish is worth it. Don't order the veal or be ready to send it back if it's not right. Food prices are fair. Wine prices are a little high. Hope this helps.

Pros: Chicken dish

Cons: veal and inexperienced waitress

Posted 06/14/07

I am a big fan of St. Louis' Hill area. My favorite by far is Zia's on The Hill. The building looks like it hasn't changed in a century.
I particularly love the calimari. Usually, other Italian restaurants bring out a muddy, breading-caked platter of squid. Zia's has this lightly breaded calimari that is spectacular in its simplicity. I'm a really big fan of their salads. The dressing is homemade. They actually bottle the salad dressing for sale; it's that good. For an entree, I recommend anything and everything! I've had most of their pasta dishes. Excellent. Even their steaks are amazing.
To sum things up, when you can get to The Hill, you've got to eat at Zia's. I never pass up Zia's. It has never disappointed me. Italian food is my ultimate favorite ethnic food. And Zia's is the crowning jewel of Italian flavor.

Pros: the food

Cons: the wait (but any restaurant with a big wait has to be worth waiting for)

Posted 05/12/07

I copied the below comment because I couldn't write it any better myself. I was very disappointed. I couldn't believe that the only pasta, shells, with oil and garlic was bad. Don't go there.

The calimari was overbreaded and greasy, the salad dressing was sweet, the pasta had the consistency of kindergarten flour paste, need I say more? Mass produced food that makes canned ravioli seem an improvement. Anyone who gave this a good review must never have eaten genuine Italian food. The portions are huge and the prices are cheap, but still too much for such a miserable excuse for Italian cuisine. I have had better "Italian" food in hospital cafeterias.

Pros: Large wine selection, large portions, good prices, good service

Cons: Bad food

Posted 04/12/07

My family and I always visit Zia's while in town, they have great service, the best salads in town and AMAZING Italian, especially the Canneloni. If you want good St. Louis Italian go here.

Pros: Food, Service, Portions

Cons: some tables are kind of cramped

Posted 09/22/06

The calimari was overbreaded and greasy, the salad dressing was sweet, the pasta had the consistency of kindergarten flour paste, need I say more? Mass produced food that makes canned ravioli seem an improvement.

Anyone who gave this a good review must never have eaten genuine Italian food. The portions are huge and the prices are cheap, but still too much for such a miserable excuse for Italian cuisine. I have had better "Italian" food in hospital cafeterias.

Pros: None

Cons: Awful food, long wait to be seated

Posted 08/04/06

I live in Southern California and work in television so needless to say I eat out alot and at alot of fine Italian restuarants. On a recent stop to St. Louis, i went back to Zia's to discover not only was it still the best, but it had gotten even better. The service as always was unbeatable; friendly and fast and all done with family style flair. I always have the tuttomare and as usual they have no problem doing it without mushrooms. The place looks great having recently had a facelift, but BEST OF ALL...teh new appetizers. Lightly breaded and friend artichoke hearts...marrooonne, you cannot believe how good these are. They have always had the best Calamari (and i live by the ocean) but these new artichoke hearts are simply unreal. IT JUST KEEPS GETTIN BETTER. I cant wait to get back to St. Louis!

Pros: food, service, facelift

Posted 02/27/06

Zia's came highly recommended, we arrived at 8pm on a Saturday and the wait was a reasonable half hour. The food was a disappointment, the best way to descibe it was "underflavored" While the Calamari appetizer was good, the "garlic bread" lacked punch and tasted like cheezy bread. While the veal was cooked well, the piccata sauce was more gravy then white wine, our crab/shrimp ravioli tasted store bought with imitation crab, in a blended filling that lacked the freshness of real crab and shrimp. While the pasta special's scallops were tender, the shrimp consisted of mini-shrimp and the sauce again lacked full flavor. If your looking for "Italian Food Light" then this is your place, for real authentic Italian flavors, look elsewhere. I will say the service however, was outstanding.

Pros: Service, short wait

Cons: lacked flavor, imitation crab, bland sauces

Posted 01/27/06

I had not been to the hill in several years and a friend suggested Zia's for dinner. We went on a Friday night and were lucky because that is the night they had their homemade lasagna....it was soooo good, best I have ever had. The service was great and we were pleasantly surprised by how reasonable our bill was after a huge meal and a few glasses of wine. It is so nice to have a place like Zia's with great food (big portions!!) and great prices! Highly recommend for great food, service and a great time!

Posted 11/14/05

what can I say! everything at zias is awesome. they recently gave the place a face lift with new decor but it still has that family feeling. the food is without a doubt the best on the hill or anywhere in st. louis.

Pros: food, atmosphere, salad

Posted 10/27/05

I have been to the St louis area numerous times and require a trip to Zias as a prerequsit to my travel. The food,people and atmosphere is perfect. My best friend had his wedding party eat there and no one left dissapointed. I always buy some of their seasonings and salad oils when I visit. I will not visit St. Louis without eating at Zias

Posted 03/30/05

The food at Zia's never disappoints.

I hadn't been in years, but took the extended family there on a busy Saturday night and enjoyed every minute. Since it was a weekend, we did have to wait a little bit for a table, but the extremely friendly bartenders helped the time pass quickly.

Posted 02/20/05

Zia's on the Hill has some of the BEST food I have ever had. You can make a meal out of their fresh bread, salads (you can purchase bottles of their dressings...just ask), and appetizers. Appetizers include: Fried Calamary, Seafood Ravioli, Toasted Ravioli (a StL. original and favorite), among many others. Their Beef Mudega an 8 oz. cut of tender beef topped with a white wine mushroom sauce and yet another StL original---provel cheese. It was EXCELLENT. Their numerous Italian desserts are also excellent. Also, while on The Hill, be sure to explore the neighborhood and visit the many bakeries and grocery stores.

Pros: Ambiance, Service, Group-Friendly

Posted 09/28/04

I'm from out of town, but visit St Louis regularly. Zia's is always a must when I'm in town. Probably THE best Italian I've ever had, although, I must admit I get the same thing every time I go. Pasta con Pesci is INCREDIBLE! The way I describe it, typically when you get a seafood pasta, you are done eating the meet and stuck with a pile of pasta. At Zia's it's always the opposite. I get to the bottom and have a pile of seafood left :) Their house salads are also very good. Value is amazing. Pasta con Pesci is around $13.95 and as a large eater, I've yet to finish it off.

Pros: Amazing Food, Great Atmosphere, Amazing Food

Posted 09/18/04

Ate at Zia's last year and throughly enjoyed the food! Went up again this year and told the other four people traveling with me that would be my first stop when we got in St. Louis...they all enjoyed it and said they would make it a first on their next visits to St. Louis too! Great food and Service!

Pros: Price, Food

Posted 03/29/04

This is absolutely the best Italian food on The Hill. Well worth the wait and the food is consistently excellent. Best to arrive before 5:30 or after 9:00 to limit your wait. Or they accept call aheads for groups of 6 or more. Highly recommend the house salad, as well as the Chicken Picante. All pasta dishes are wonderful, especially those with their garlic cream sauce. Reasonably priced in a nice atmosphere.

Pros: Reasonable prices, Outstanding Food, Clientele

Cons: Always busy

Posted 01/12/04

Zia's is a very good place to get pasta if you like a sweeter tomato sauce. It's very good with pasta.

Pros: yummy, inexpensive, good parking

Posted 08/07/03

Every time I visit Zia's I have a wonderful dining experience. We especially enjoy eating outside and soaking up the neighborhood, and the friendly people. The food is to die for, salad dressig a must. The perfect place to take out-of-towners who want to go to a REAL Italian restaurant.

Pros: good food, reasonable prices, fun atmosphere

Cons: parking, fast food guests

Posted 08/05/03

Zia's breaded tomatoes are a must. I always feel like I'm walking into a scene from the Godfather-dark italian restaurant.

Pros: breaded tomatoes, dark and romantic

Cons: parking

Posted 02/06/03

Pasta heaven. Even the salad dressing alone is worth going for. If you don't live in St. Louis take a bottle home with you.

Pros: food, atmosphere

Cons: crowded

Posted 01/12/03

If you are looking for wonderful pasta, Zia's is the place. For seafood lovers you will find pasta con pesce, a large bowl of linguine filled with shrimp, scallops, clams and fish combined with a spicy light red sauce. The pasta carbonnara is loaded with prociutto and a wonderful cream sauce. As for dessert, DO NOT MISS the tiramisu - better than any I've had in New York or Italy and made in Zia's kitchen daily. We bring our own wine and are delighted to pay the low $10 corkage fee.

Pros: Inexpensive, Great Pasta, Friendly Servers

Cons: Crowded in the front

Posted 12/25/02

I really enjoy going to Zia's. The service is always above fair and the food is great, espically for the price that you are paying. Two people can go there and eat for $40 and under. I simply love this ittle Italian resturant where it makes you feel like youe money is really valued. It shows! Bravo.

Posted 12/25/02

Zia's is a great, traditional Italian restaurant on The Hill. Food is always good, with generous portions. Only complaint...no tortelini!

Posted 12/05/02

My wife and I recently visited Zia's on a Monday evening. The evening was perfect. The Tuttomare was the best we have ever had and the calamari was outstanding. Our server did a superb job and we will definitely be back real soon. We have found a secret about Zia's that we will let everyone know and that is Mondays are a great night to go have the best Italian food on the Hill.

Pros: Inexpensive, awesome service, best Italian food

Posted 11/13/02

Zia's is a favorite for all types of consumers. I dine there on a regular basis and have brought many out of town guests there for dinner. This is the best Italian food ever. The service is fantastic and I always feel at home when I am there!

Posted 08/29/02

Zia has a great salad dressing, and the rest of the food is good too. We take a lot of people there for special occasions from work.

Posted 08/17/02

Zia's is an excellent, affordable and casual Italian dining experience. The food is always hot, the bread is always plentiful and the menu affords even the novice Italian food lover a miriad of choices. I am a native St. Louisan and have eaten at most of the eateries on "The Hill". Zia's is like a home away from home.

Posted 08/07/02

The food is great and the service is the best!

Posted 08/06/02

I was at Zia's about 6 years ago on a business dinner. I recently went back for the first time and the waiter remembered me, as well as my party (of 4), not to mention the EXACT meal that I ordered. Where else are you going to find that kind of service. This man amazed me, and he offered to bring me the same meal if Iwanted- did I? I had waited about 6 years for this meal and it did not dissappoint. Yes, Zia's gets a littl crowded and it does get a little loud. However, for a fantastic meal and exquisite service, you cannot beat this place. I live in NYC and dine at some of the countries finest Italian eateries around, and Zia's is right up there with them.

Pros: food, neighborhood

Cons: loud, crowded

Posted 06/23/02