After eating at the Zenith, I didn’t want to write this blog post. But the more I thought about it, the more I had to get this experience off my chest.
My aunt wanted to entertain her bosses from out of town that were vegetarians. She asked me to recommend a vegetarian restaurant. I know in other cities, gluten free and vegetarian restaurant go hand in hand, but in Pittsburgh, vegetarian restaurants are often Indian, Asian, or tofu and lentil places. A few years ago, I went to a vegetarian & gluten free restaurant in Detroit that was amazing. It had portobello mushroom sandwiches, general Tso’s cauliflower, and more wonderful items on the menu.
We both Googled a bit and could not find the perfect option. A few places came up. I texted my vegetarian coworker and he recommended an Indian & an Asian restaurant. Neither are my cup of tea.
One place that came up on the search was the Zenith. I remembered a vegetarian friend of mine recommending it if you could get past the decor. I thought I’d ask my coworker and he said the food was good. So we made reservations for the Zenith.
We we arrived, it looked like an antique store rather than a restaurant. I thought I was in the wrong place. But to my surprise, it was in fact a restaurant, too. Let's not talk about the decor. I don't want to scare you away and I'd like to focus on the food & service.
We told the man who popped out of the kitchen that we had reservations. He had no idea that any reservations had been made. He asked the lady in the kitchen and she said, “Yeah, someone called. Sit anywhere.” None of the tables we set for the right amount of people we reserved. Not a problem, we were early & waiting for the rest of our party to arrive.
While we were waiting, I asked the man about gluten free options. He said his mother, the owner, would be out to discuss these with me. After our party was complete, we sat down and began conversing. The woman came out and asked, “Do you know what you want?” We opted to take a minute to look over the menu and order appetizers.
After the appetizers arrived, she came back to take our order. I asked her about gluten free options. She said the stuffed green pepper was gluten free. My month dropped, as this was not an option. I’m allergic to bell peppers, too. Then she said I could have the burrito filling, too, which probably had peppers. She told me to stay away from the sandwiches. Um… obviously. I decided the side salad with no description was the safest option. How bad can a salad be?
I asked for the salad with no peppers to be safe. She told me peppers were already mixed in the salad. I knew it would have peppers. Good thing I spoke up!
I told her about my pepper allergy.
She replied, “Well I guess you can’t have them touching anything.”
No, I can not. Not unless she wants to clean up a big mess in her restaurant. I didn’t say that, but I though it.
She told me that only the toppings were premixed and reluctantly told me she could make me a salad without the pre made toppings. I felt like I offended her for not wanting her food exactly how she wanted to make it. And I felt instantly unwelcome.
Isn’t this a restaurant? Don’t restaurants make thing to order? Don’t restaurants want to serve their patrons?
Honestly, I go to restaurants get get food freshly made, not prepared ahead of time, and having the capabilities to be slightly modified. I understand that some things need prepared ahead to save time, but it really shouldn’t take very long to mix a salad; that seems like a thing you should prepare when ordered. It was kind of a turn off.
I cook a great deal, so every once in awhile I like to have someone else cook for me. I’m sorry, not sorry, that I have a lot of food allergies and I shouldn’t have to be banned from eating out because of them.
The appetizers all had pita, full of gluten, on the plates. I couldn’t try any of them. That’s ok, because I’m told that the hummus was really hot, which means peppers, the tofu was just tofu, but maybe I’d want some cheese. I don’t like lentils, pita, and tofu anyway. I needed to stay safe so I drank my water instead.
When the entrees arrived, they tried to give me a stuffed pepper. I said that is defiantly not mine. Then they gave me the salad. It was a small bowl of lettuce, a couple of grapes, some carrots, and two broken snap peas. Which I was actually alright with. But upon inspecting the salad, it had vinegar on it. I wasn’t asked about a choice of dressings, nor was I told what was on my salad. In fact, I like dry salads which is what I was expecting.
I asked my aunt, what kind of vinegar is on you salad. She told me she thought it was just water & couldn’t taste any vinegar. I could see that it wasn’t just water. I dabbed my finger on the lettuce & tasted. It was some vinegar. Some vinegars have gluten - some, but not all distilled white vinegar, malt vinegar, and cheap balsamic vinegar, to name a few. I was actually thinking about dumping the salad somewhere. My purse came to mind, but I like my purse and didn’t want it to be stained with vinegar. I scanned the room for a plant to dump it in with no avail.
When the gentleman came out of the kitchen, he had seen that I had only pushed around my lettuce and not eaten anything. I asked him what kind of vinegar was on the salad. I was told red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. I didn’t see any oil on this salad at all.
I thought to myself, this could be safe, if in fact that is what it is.
Then the man offered balsamic dressing. He pitched it as more flavorful and wanted me to be happy. I accepted his offer and thought why wasn’t anyone given a choice if you have options in your restaurant? Any he removed my salad.
When he returned, he brought back the exact same salad that was already dressed with “red wine vinegar” and a side of balsamic dressing.
So they want me to mix to vinegar together?
This made me feel like they were too cheap to make me a new salad. Perhaps an extra cup of lettuce and an extra 2 grapes would put this place out of business. Judging by the amount of customers in here, it may. So I eat a few pieces of balsamic dipped lettuce and pushed around the rest.
I looked around to see no one really ate anything, except one person, who plate was licked clean. He was the only member of our party that said he enjoyed spicy food.
When they asked us if we wanted boxes, no one took leftovers. They had cakes on display, but we were not offered any dessert at the end of the meal. Not that I think any would be gluten free, but the rest of the party may have wanted dessert. Later someone told me they have good dessert, but I guess you have to be special to be offered dessert. The experience reminded me of the soup nazi.
I left went for ice cream at that little shop on the corner of East Carson & Beck Run Road. Great little place. Always busy. The strawberry Sunday in a cup was amazing & did not make me sick. I’d highly recommend you stopping there if you want some ice cream. The line is worth the wait. It’s called Page Dairy Mart.
After this experience, I spoke with my coworker. He was surprised no one like the food, but was not surprised about the unwelcome feeling I got while dining. I was told the Sunday brunch is what they are known for and what keeps them in business. I don’t know, he might be right, but brunch without bacon is no brunch to me. Maybe others disagree.
The Zenith
86 S 26th St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
http://zenithpgh.com/
