Hello! It’s almost like today is Thursday right?? How much fun is that.

A while ago a couple of my friends from work went to Zola Wine & Kitchen for lunch and raved about it. Ever since I’ve been wanting to try it out. So when I got invited along today I just had to say yes :O).

It’s a pretty tempting deal – you can go on the Zola site, pick out what you want and order it. Then it’s all ready to eat by the time you arrive at the restaurant. For only around $10 a meal you can have really quality food in a much nicer setting than your usual quickie lunch spot. You can also order to-go, although we sat in.

After some debate I ordered the Entrée Salad with Seared Tuna (romaine lettuce, tomatoes, portabello mushrooms, crispy blue cheese ravioli, tomato vinaigrette) and a side of Goat Cheese Tots which came highly recommended.

Despite my enthusiasm, I must say I wasn’t really blown away.  That’s actually exactly what happened when I went to Zola (the main restaurant) a while ago. The menu looks soooo tempting, but then the food is just a bit lacking. The fish was cooked nicely, but the coating on the outside was very spicy and thick and totally overpowered the taste of the tuna. The salad itself was mostly a pile of lettuce and I didn’t find a single portabello. Sigh :O/. The tots were good – I didn’t love them – I felt they could have used a bit more goat cheese flavor. But one of my friends is a major fan so maybe that’s just me.

Anyway! Not to be a complainer! The atmosphere is very nice and the service was super friendly. So there’s that.

After lunch we strolled around the wine store a bit and they did have a very nice collection of wines, so I’d be happy to go back and explore that area some more.

So there’s much lunch for today. A lot fancier than what I usually pack myself anyway :O).

See you tomorrow for the last working day of the week!! Woooo.

- Beth