This is a great place to eat! Moderately priced food means can get something super filling on a budget. Zen Zero isn't properly advertising what food brand it serves you look outside and just see "Zen Zero" my mother who has been living in Lawrence for 20+ years always thought it was a clothing store haha, not sure why, but an advertisment of indian food would help. Online ordering isn't mobile friendly either. You must use a laptop or computor to do so, which is a bit inconvenient.
Start collecting reviews today
Claim your business to immediately update business information, respond to reviews, and more!
The atmosphere feels a bit slapdash, I'll admit, but I've had far worse service in far fancier looking places. This cuisine isn't our niche, so I can't speak to how it ranks among restaurants of its kind, but I can say that 1) our waiter was *very* knowledgeable and attentive 2) the food was priced appropriately for being served in such generous portions, and 3) everything we ordered was both well balanced in its flavors and skillfully executed. Great experience!
I always enjoy this place. It's a good standby for when you're in downtown lawrence and just want some awesome food, and also if you're looking for takeout. They don't scrimp. You get a ton of food for your money. I like it and will probably keep going here for a long while
Great food, relaxing environment and reasonably priced food. Only reason for not getting a 5 out of 5: parking can be difficult but it is Mass St., staff seems a little stand offish and sometimes is takes a few ticks to get your food because of "mistakes."
This is one of my favorite places in town. I always get friendly servers who are knowledgeable about the menu. The curries are awesome, and they have great daily specials as well.
I think the item I ordered was call Kah pow or something. This plate was so delicous. I got it at medium heat. Spicy but too delicous to care. If you dont like spicy try a lesser heat and I am sure you will be satisfied.
This was the first place my husband and I dined at when we moved to Lawrence. We were thrilled to know they offered drunken noodle and for the low price of $7! We would go to a Thai place in Texas who charged $14 for that exact plate. Not only was the food delicious, but the service is fast and amiable. They are consistent with their dishes, love their customers and we love them. Two thumbs up!
great food! they have a virtual menu option to reduce the spread of germs. they have a large menu with many vegetarian options. large portions for reasonable prices. good service too.
Disclaimer: The host and waitress were extremely attentive, friendly and kind. The prices for food are very reasonable. My husband and I drove there from Kansas City because we saw that they served Nepalese food and he hails from Nepal. We ordered the fried momo, thukpa, and dry chicken thakali. The daal and chicken both were bland and the thukpa had a strange aftertaste. It tasted like the chef used too much tumeric in the dishes we tasted as it was the only spice I could discern in the dish. The ambience and staff were great, the food was EXTREMELY underwhelming. I would try this restaurant again as I heard the Thai dishes taste good, but I won't go out of my way again.
Large group of adults and a couple kids enjoyed a delicious meal. Service was fantastic, our waitress was very attentive. Food was mostly very good. Ordered the calamari for appetizer-decent but not great. The dipping sauce that came with it was delicious though! Group ordered udon, curry(several kinds and levels of heat), cashew chicken, green papaya steak, and a couple of other things. Everyone said everything was really good except for the spring rolls. They were "just okay". Traditional yellow curry was delicious, and hands down the best curry I've ever had. Just enough heat but not overwhelming. Just enough rice to compliment the sauce without feeling stuffed. Had enough room to try dessert and went with the dessert spring rolls. They were so yummy! Also enjoyed coconut bubble tea! Will definitely be back!
Staff is always super friendly! Food is always delicious and made with quality ingredients. I can literally say nothing bad about this place. If you get the opportunity you should definitely try the ube ice cream, it s insanely yummy!!
Some minor scheduling issues led to our needing a backup dinner in Lawrence, after wandering the streets, an odd old man in a yellw robe and long beard appeared from the mists and led us to Zen Zero. The wise old man was correct, from the dumplings to two kinds of curry, solid, tasty and filling food was had by all! The wait staff was attentive and on the ball, without a doubt we will return.
Spring rolls, a spring roll salad (entree sized) and yellow curry with peppers,onions,and chicken. The yellow curry was a perfect blend of spice. A generous portion. The spring roll salad is a meal by itself. All the ingredients of spring roll with chicken and romaine The springe rolls are fresh, crisp, and tasty. Finished with a Friday select Microbrew, apocalypse by 10 barrels brewery. Staff are professional. Love eating here.
Best Asian-fusion restaurant I have ever tried. A friendly staff, charming atmosphere and delicious and diverse menu options are sure to make this a personal favorite.
Always enjoyed the food here for the price. A nice place for a good portioned Pan-Asian meal. You can see the food cooked in the open air kitchen. The Pad Thai use to be my favorite but the Drunken Noodles are a fan favorite.
Worse Pad Thai ever. The noodles were mush with zen zero flavor. The curry dish that I ordered was basically a gravy with a ton of coconut milk in it. They were nice enough to make crab rangoon. But wow salty and served with mayo? This place won t have business for long based on what our experience was. Side note.....the service was nice. Another note..... I ate there Friday and still am having bowl problems.
This is hands down my favorite restaurant in Lawrence. Every item I ve tried is delicious and they are very good with accommodating vegan guests. Their tofu is amazing as well. The only downside is some of the staff. We called to reserve a table on the patio because we were planning on bringing our small dog. When we got there, all patio seats had just been taken and we couldn t eat inside because our dog was with us. Mistakes happen, but when asking the waitress, she smugly said Sorry, you can go somewhere else. and turned around. It s not a big deal that our reservation had been lost, but her reaction was unacceptable. We go to Zen Zero all the time and have always experienced excellent customer service, but we are baffled why someone so rude would work there.
Zen, what's happened to you? Zen has been on our regular dinner rotation for the past 10+ years. Over the past few months I've had multiple bad experiences with the food. Lots of our favorite dishes tasting just "off". The last order of Singapore noodles I had last month were dry and tasted like someone dumped cinnamon (?) on them. Tonight I ordered Pad Thai and it somehow tasted burnt. I don't know how that happens with noodles, but every mouth full tasted like a camp fire. If I didn't have such a fond history with this restaurant I would have probably given it a lower rating. I'm hoping that the kitchen can get things sorted out and go back to the Zen we know.
Mixed feelings. Service was amazing. The Pad Thai was the worst I have ever had. It tasted like over cooked noodles with ketchup and mustard on them with rubbery tofu. Baan Thai has the best Pad Thai in Lawrence. I beg those to go a block further and go to Baan Thai.
Amazing selection of Pan-Asian cuisine at great prices. You can't go wrong with getting Pad Thai or the Drunken Noodles. Curries, soups, and appetizers are also amazing. Decent selection at the bar with nice cocktails.
The service was great, great menu selection, but the food was inconsistent. Pad Thai is our go to dish at a Thai restaurant, but we would never order it here again. The other dishes we had were very good.
Zen Zero is one of my favorite restaurants in Lawrence. I love Thai food, my favorites being their Kha Pao & the Phad Sae Eaw. The wait staff is always friendly & attentive.
There was a small line, but they had us seated within 5 minutes. Loved the atmosphere, wasn t too crowded. Super friendly servers, and AMAZING chicken pad Thai.
This is hands down my favorite restaurant in Lawrence. The curries are always excellent and it's easy to customize the food to adapt to vegan/veg diets. The martinis are also stellar. Highly recommend!
Zen Zero is an intimate dining experience without feeling too cramped (usually), and the menu has a great options for the Asian-cuisine lover as well as their pickier friends. In my experience, ZZ has always been flavorful but I also have not traveled to the East so I cannot say how authentic anything is. Regardless, the dishes are solidly crafted and given to you in proportions that would leave Son Goku full. Their cocktails are worth trying when they're on special (Wednesday, I believe), and the price won't dent your wallet TOO badly, especially if you don't order alcohol.
great food, lots of options. legit vegetarian options as well. wish they had a changing table in the restroom, but that's a tangential nitpick. thus place is awesome
Myself as well as one of my roommates and a mutual friend of ours stopped in on a Thursday evening for dinner. For a weeknight, the place was surprisingly busy. Not too busy, however, as we were seated right away. Walking in, there is a creatively-built entryway that is made to look like the entrance to a Buddhist temple. It is very welcoming. Our waitress came over immediately with cups of water and a basket of shrimp chips. They were unbelievably addicting. I wanted to eat one after the other until they were gone. They were made even more mouth-watering when dipped in a spicy pepper sauce that is on the table next to the soy sauce and salt and pepper. I would honestly go back just to be able to nibble on more of those. We also decided to order an appetizer called Momos. These are Himalayan dumplings with charred tomato and spicy sesame chutnies, served either steamed or fried. We ordered the fried pork momos ($4.59). When they got to the table, they were obviously hot and fresh out of the oil and were fried to perfection. When our waitress came back to take our order, I asked what she recommended and she said the Pad Thai. I have heard this from numerous sources, so my assumption is that Zen Zero must be known for their Pad Thai. If they re not, they should be. My roommate ordered the Pad Thai ($6.99), our friend ordered the Thai style sweet and sour chicken ($6.99+$1.75 for the chicken), and I ordered the Thai Glass Noodle Bowl ($5.99+$1.75 for chicken). I had no idea what to expect when mine came to the table. The size of my noodle bowl was larger than I had expected and gave me a pleasant surprise into what glass noodles are. The cellophane noodles are so clear, they cannot be seen until they are lifted out of the rich, steamy broth they were submerged in. The broth, which was chicken stock seasoned with garlic, bean sprouts, napa cabbage, scallions, and cilantro, was pleasantly warm and provided a sort of comfort that you would want on a cold winter day. I probably wouldn t order this again, however, as the noodles were so long and so hard to fish out of the broth that by the time you had some on your fork, what you ended up with was a gummy blob of noodles. The dish overall was very good, though. Because I had heard so much about the Pad Thai and my roommate had ordered it, I decided to give it a try. That one bite of Pad Thai was enough to convince me that Zen Zero was worth coming back to. The classic thai stir-fried rice noodles were perfect and complimented with eggs, bean sprouts, scallions, cilantro, and peanuts. The Thai Style Sweet and Sour Chicken was also delicious with fresh vegetables, juicy pineapple, cucumber, tomato, and soft jasmine rice, and is something I would definitely order on a future visit. While enjoying the superb, high-quality food that was served to me, I took a look around the restaurant. There are authentic-looking Thai statues and paintings on the walls that only add to the experience. If you don t look out the window to see Mass St., you feel as though you ve been transported to Thailand itself. After I made sure to save room for some dessert, I decided to order myself the coconut flan ($4.29). This is possibly one of the best desserts I have ever had. The rich, thick, but creamy flan was delectable and was topped with a rich sauce and roasted shredded coconut. If I had to critique anything about it, I would say that it is maybe a little too rich, as I could only eat half of it before I had to give the other half to my friend. I wanted the full Zen Zero experience for my first time in and that s exactly what I got. When the check came, I was pleasantly surprised. For the three course meal I had: the momos, the noodle bowl, and the flan, my total was $21 plus my hefty tip for excellent service. My roommate paid about $13 for her soda and Pad Thai.
Recommendations: Fried Pork Momos, Pad Thai, Coconut Flan, Shrimp Chips
This is my very favorite restaurant in Lawrence. Over the three years I have lived here, I have been many times. I honestly have tried something different almost every time I have been here and have never disliked anything. It is all good and a great option for vegetarians!! The service is always good and the food comes out quickly. I highly recommend if you are headed to mass st for dinner!!
I love this place! I get the tom yam soup without fail everytime! The flavor is so uniquely savory. Also i love their tarro bubble tea. Its not too sweet. The coconut is very good if you want a little sweeter tea.
zen-zero.com
