Review Zolas Restaurant - Nepean

Very good Italian restaurant with a frozen food/Italian market out front. The make a great sauce but my pasta ended up a bit greasier than preferred. Gold stars for comfortable environment and friendly service!

Really great service, but the food was just okay. Felt like the prices were a bit on the higher end for what you get. However, I do love that they have clear vegan options and that many things are made from scratch.

I like to always mention the positives at the end of the review, as everyone has their own opinion and this is just mine. The Pork and Eggs was a good meal, aside from the pork, which was surprising fatty and chewy for being 'slow-roasted'. I recommended that if you get Eggs Benny, you ask for extra hollandaise Beans were cold Server was not friendly and did not smile once. Upsides: The people at the counter were very pleasant and friendly. Atmosphere and decor was really nice. They have great products the sell with quite a choice for people who are looking for gluten-free.

Brunch was absolutely delicious, the atmosphere is quaint and the menu has a lot of delectable choices. Love that you can buy some of their products in the front. Service was prompt. Would definitely come back again.

Excellent!!! We had a girls birthday party...we all ordered different dishes and the quality and service was fabulous!

Fantastic breakfast. Been there a few times and never failed to be impressed. Great service too.

The food here is to die for. Fantastic service, excellent portion sizes and beautiful presentation.

Zolas has 'blunch' which is breakfast for lunch. Freshly cooked and I love their home fries with some fruit and a small side of beans. Served until 4pm. Zolas is awesome for dinner and takeout too! The staff is always amazing. We love Zola's!

I found the quality was very good for the price. Also we really enjoyed the ambiance on a Friday night! Good jazz

Great selection of pasta. Nice portion size and great taste. Service was friendly and professional. <br/>Restaurant gets packed when busy so get there early.

I've been to Zola's on Robertson road in Bells Corners plenty of times. In my opinion its nice on the inside the food is even DECENT, its alright. Living in Ottawa, the challenge for me and<br/><br/>everyone else I know, is just finding a restaurant that has at least decent-good food at a fair price. I find compared to larger cities like, Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto the selection<br/><br/>of restaurants is limited. I have been going to Zola's since I was about 20 years old. I am 33 now. About 5 years ago we started to get COUPONS in the mail. In the Coupon booklet there were<br/><br/>Coupons for Zola's. So I thought, hey why not try these Coupons out. There was 1 Coupon for, quote; ''Buy one get one FREE on any Lasagna or Cannelloni.'' So, I decided to go into Zola's in Bells Corners and<br/><br/>use the Coupon to buy 1 Lasagna and 1 Cannelloni. Finally after about 2 years of consistently getting the Meat Lasagna and Meat Cannelloni using the coupons without issue.<br/>I found that I was being told ALMOST 9/10 that they had NO MEAT Lasagna and no Meat Cannelloni. <br/><br/>I thought, what did you guys sell out of all the Meat Lasagna and Cannelloni?! Did you not make enough, not knowing what the demand would be?!Every NOW and THEN, <br/><br/>the person who I ordered from would mention they COULD make a Meat Lasagna and or Cannelloni specially for me. But, I was surprised that this was ONLY mentioned<br/><br/>about 10% of the time I went in there. ALSO, once or twice one of the employees informed me that there might be a Meat Lasagna and or Cannelloni in the back fridge. Usually they are out<br/><br/>in the FRONT fridge, to the right of the FRONT DOOR, right when one walks in. <br/><br/>10% of the time(should have been more), someone would ask(do you want me to see if there is any MEAT Lasagna and or Cannelloni in the back?) I said, why not, yes please!<br/><br/>Once or twice they came back out to the front and said HEY SIR, guess what we found you a Meat Lasagna and or a Meat Cannelloni. BOTH times I was told this<br/><br/>I used the Coupons found in the, that we received in the mail. Only to get home and open the Lasagna and Cannelloni and find.........IT WAS Spinach and Cheese. Which is/was<br/><br/>disappointing. Next time I went in and explained it to the staff, sometimes the same ppl working that TOLD me it was meat. I was told NO SIR, it was meat. NOOOO, it was Spinach and Cheese, I know<br/><br/>I ate it lol. <br/><br/>Lastly, for the last 2 years or so, they have been giving us a hard time about the **ROLLS**. I know plenty of ppl that have ate at Zola's and hey just being honest,<br/><br/>not one of those ppl, said to me, HEY THOSE ROLLS ARE REALLY AMAZING. I asked a few times and most ppl just said, mehhh, they're alright, nothing special. Some said, ahhh I<br/><br/>don't really like then, I usually just leave them. I personally, don't think the Rolls are anything special either. So I started asking/letting the ppl know at the front<br/><br/>that I would RATHER - INSTEAD of buying the upsell rolls. I would prefer to buy something **MORE** expensive, that we actually likeddd lol. So a few times I bought these really large<br/><br/>Meat Balls. I got 4-5 Meat balls and every time they were good. Actually, I reallyyy liked them. Much better then the rolls in my opinion. But here is the complaint - They started giving me<br/><br/>a hard time about that about buying the meat balls instead of the rolls. Its like they HAVEEEE to sell the Rolls or something. Which, I KNOW for a Fact is NOT the reality. Its just about selling<br/><br/>somethinggggg, anything as a upsell. When I bought the Meat balls instead of the rolls those few times, the meat balls cost **MORE** then the rolls. Which means the restaurant, Zola's made even more<br/><br/>money selling the Meat balls@ $13, instead of the Rolls@ $6(depending on the cost of Meat/Vs Bread of course). Btw I was always charged about $9 for the Rolls. <br/><br/>I was told they were $6, I was usually charged $8-$9 for the rolls. The price SHOULD be consistent<br/><br/>especially when there is only a week or two between the previous times I went in and bought the SAME thing. All I ever got is huh sir, I dunnoooo, that's the price. WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND IS; <br/><br/>Why was I given such a hardddd time about just buying the darn meat balls instead of the rolls?! I was told no sir, I'm sorry, if you want to use the coupons you are going to **HAVE TO** buy the rolls.<br/><br/>I explained severallllllllllllllll times to my frustration and no resolve or avail that ** We our family and friends do NOT like the rolls.** Its that simple! We prefer the meat balls. Several times this was not a problem<br/><br/>and the staff was receptive and sold us the Meat balls and allowed us to use the Coupon to, quote; ''Buy one get one free on any Lasagna and or Canneloni.'' We got 1 Meat Lasagna and 1 Meat Canneloni AND<br/><br/>1 order of BIG/Over sized Meat Balls *without issue*. The last 5-6 times I have went in there, they have given me such a hard time about that. They literally told me, I was just told this evening on<br/><br/>the phone by a man who said he was the owner's son. I was told, quote; ''Sorry sir, if you want to use the Coupons you ****HAVE TO****buy the Rolls. That's how the Coupons work. I said I understand, but we<br/><br/>don't likeee the rolls, do you understand that?! I said, if you're not going to allow us to just buy the BIG Meat Balls instead of the rolls AND use the Coupon, then wey're not gonna drive all the way out there and<br/><br/>patronize that restaurant/Zola's. I said its your choice man, if you don't wanna let us spend the *****EXTRA $$$ and buy the BIG meat balls**** then that's your choice and that's fine. We just won't<br/><br/>go to Zola's. This is when there was supposed to be some >compromise

Best ever- been driving by zolas and never tried it - finally did and man was it worth it<br/><br/>Real fresh everything - real Italian but really cool stylish dishes too<br/><br/>All the fresh home made bread is worth the trip<br/><br/>Antipasto and mussels - real fresh and real traditional<br/><br/>Crazy pizza recipes - fennel injected crusts looked as cool as it tasted and they had a black crust pizza that blew us away- first time I took a picture of food- lol<br/><br/>Putting zolas down as a "go to" place for date night and friends

Great place for a nice quiet business lunch. Food was impressive, especially their pastas. Service was attentive, prices reasonable, will not disappoint your clients.

Best breakfast in Ottawa! Delicious gluten free choices, too! Love it!

Worst cooks! Al dente my *****. Pasta is literally raw in the middle. it's like chewing rubber and washing it down with the sour-tasting coffee didn't help either. Burger was a crouton! everything took a while; to serve, to replace, even waiting for the freaking receipt! the service wasn't worth any recognition but the food was much even worse!! Thank you teambuy for letting me pay less than i should anyway for some crap on my plate.

Not Impressed at all. We ordered dinner to take home, 4 different pasta dishes...all were very bland and very sad excuses for quality pasta dishes. I will never return to Zolas or recommend it to anyone. Take it for what it's worth.

Very expensive starches. What a horrible dinner. Bad service and very bland food. Quite the opposite of Italian.. Took 30 minutes to put in our order, food came pretty fast (restaurant was quiet and ordered the simplest foods. Pasta and pizza) still digesting the undercooked pizza and paid 22.96 for the pasta (pasta and veggies) wow! Had ordered and app but waitress so she forgot to tell the cook about it.. (knowing now about the price and quality in pretty happy it never came..) bill came to 47.82. <br/>Definitely never going there again. Staff needs to step it up big time and food needs a lot more work..

Very so-so experience. Our visit to Zola didn't start too well. We were on waitress' way couple times. Then I thought maybe we just positioned ourselves in wrong way.<br/>Then food; of 3 meals we ordered 2 were sub-par. Calamari were very dried to the point of being tasteless. Zola's favorite has 3 components: 2 of them were burnt. I'm a stranger in the kitchen, but even I would be able to create something comparable or better. <br/>To summarize: I have no plans ever going back to this place.

Great food!. I had one bad experience with a take out order here once and the issue was immediately resolved with a phone call from the owner. Will always go back. Love the pizzas and Caesar salad. I pick up both once a week from their take out counter!

Great Food!. We have had breakfast, lunch and dinner at Zola's at various times - the food has always been terrific and the service friendly and attentive. When we have our tires changed at our dealership, we walk over to Zola's for a great omelette (offered at a discount - thanks very much) - sure beats waiting at the dealership. We have just discovered their take-out menu - the lasagna is delicious and we are looking forward to trying their Tuesday to Thursday 29.95 special. Thanks for delicious food!

We were ignored !. Sunday, July 6 at 5:00 p.m. we both stood at the entrance to the restaurant while nearby waitress at cash ignored us. A few minutes later she said "just sit where you'd like." After sitting and waiting for 10 minutes without acknowledgement, water or menus we got up and left. At the time there was one large family table preparing to leave and one table of 3 just sitting down, no other patrons. After emailing Zolas 4 days ago I still have not had a response. This is a completely unacceptable level of customer service.

Zolas 5 Stars!. My husband and I visited Zolas last night and the experience did not disappoint. I started with the Signature mussels and my husband had the meatballs which was great since they are gluten free and so is he. For our main course I had the Zolas Classic which was phenomenal, the linguini in the prosciutto mushroom was perfectly cooked and the chicken was tender. My husband enjoyed the Penne Hot Sausage and was delighted that they could accomodate him by using gluten free pasta. For dessert we shared the lemon cheesecake with a housemade blueberry sauce. The restaurant itself has a fantastic atmosphere and a unique decor, the service was also great as our server was friendly and made sure we were always cared for. I definitely recommed this restaurant to everyone!

Great neighbourhood eatery. My husband and I had our anniversary dinner at Zola's last night. We know we can always count on excellent food (the Mediterranean Stew is incredible) and great service and last night was no exception. Thank you Tony for serving the community for 28 years.

Never a Disappointment. This is our go to restaurant for always great food and friendly service at a reasonable price. The patrons can watch their food being prepared in a visible kitchen. In our many visits we have never been disappointed with any dish or the quality of service we have received. The Linguini Prosciutto and Mushroom is amazing. We have always been there for lunch or dinner, so we have no experience with their breakfasts.

Great dinners, terrible breakfasts. Have been eating dinners there for year, and like someone else said Their prosciutto mushroom linguine is awesome, but like everyone else said their breakfast is awful.. almost like 2 different restaurants. probably 2 different chiefs And yes their buns are awesome we always take some to go with us after dinner.

Went there for breakfast and the presentation looked good, but then I tried the potatoes...they were tottaly undercooked. almost still raw. eww gross. they had no good taste. there goes half my breakfast because I could only eat 2 chunks of potatoe. their fruit was going bad/ fermenting too. avoid for breakfast.

Buns. Zola's has the best buns! Every week they supply buns for my luncheon program. The people who attend look forward to Zola's buns every week. Very friendly and helpful staff! Thank you Zolas.

Meh:(. We went there for our 10th anniversary, maybe we should have read reviews first.<br/>We're still not sure what type of restaurant they are trying to be. The food leans towards Italian or Mediterranean, but doesn't seem high end, sort of mediocre. The plates sounded delicious, taste not so much.<br/>The bread they serve is cold or cool, almost like it came out of the fridge, not the oven. We had to ask for oil and balsamic, a staple on the table at most other italian style restaurants.<br/>I had a salad, can't remember the name of it, but it was a leafy lettuce with parmesan crisps in the name. My wife had another salad, without parm crisps in the name, but she ended up with more parm crisps than I did. We had the special for the main course, and it took a bit to get to us, not a big deal, but my chicken was burnt, and the burnt side covered with melted cheese.<br/>Overall, most of the food was OK, but we'd go to another med/italian restaurant next time.

Bad breakfast! I ordered the cornmeal breakfast and its actually potatoes with 6 tiny slices of sausage. With coffee (not included) it was $13+!!!! My wife got the usual 2 egg breakfast with ham, and got 1 slice of tiny ham. Waitress never asked us for a coffee refill ($2.00 coffee). Waste of money, you're better off going down the road to McDonalds.

Always have a great meal at this place. Prosciutto mushroom linguini is to die for (I like my pasta el dente) and my friend had the rosemary chicken with fresh veg (very tender and flavorful). Always get great lunches and dinners here:)

The service was ok , the food was decent. Overall pretty average

There breakfast has to be the worst.... took them llike 20 min to make 3 simple plates and it was all around grose they need to stop putting so much time and effort into 1 of the most simplest dish on this planet...... bacon and eggs and normal home fries with normal toast is the key to success for taste budz

Disappointing Breakfast. Tries Zola's for the first time yesterday for breakfast, what a dissappointment.<br/>To start the milk in the milkers was sour...ordered 2x 2egg breakfasts...one with soft poached eggs, bacon, rye toast, homefries and 'fresh' fruit, the other OE, italian sausage, rye toast, homefries and 'fresh' fruit.<br/>Poached eggs were over done, one and a half pieces of charred bacon (did not ask for it well done), unseasoned homefries and a scoop of fruit salad surely from a bucket.<br/>The second breakfast with more of the same, the sausage looked appealing but sadly upon biting into it found that is was WELL over boiled...to the point of super tough.<br/>In addition to the sub par food, it was also over priced. $11 for 2 egg breakfast with coffee and then (and I hate when restaurants do this) added an additional 50cents for mayo.<br/>Won't be going back again.

Great Italian Food!. We had a great experience at Zola's! The gorgonzola chicken, porchetta poutine, the penne sausage dish all AMAZING.<br/>I am wondering what the folks here who whined about the pasta were talking about??? Good pasta, cooked properly is one of the hi-lights here. Powdered eggs? Wondering if you asked if they were powdered? This restaurant is known for using fresh, quality ingredients.<br/>Love the buns and Chef Antonio is a cutey! We will go back soon!

Very upsetting. Yes, their buns are to die for - I could eat dozens of them. Sure they accommodate gluten free customers but doesn't everywhere now? Service was good, prices are alright but when you finally get the dish you ordered - in my case, Proscuitto Mushroom Linguini - the pasta is undercooked, proscuitto is a fatty mess, mushrooms are well over cooked & cream sauce is way too thick. If you're looking for good, home made Italian food, head to Biagio's on Carling & Richmond - the old Peter's Pantry - their food is always hot, well presented and prices are much better for the food you get. Will not be returning to Zola's for a meal.

Didn't wait long enough to go back. It had been 5-6yrs since I had been in Zola's. My last experience being less than satisfactory. We went back today for my son's after-grad meal. What a disappointment. I figured that I couldn't go wrong with the lasagna. It's such a basic staple at "fine" Italian eateries. Well I figured wrong. <br/>It arrived and I did a double take... never having seen a lasagna quite like this before. The "slice" of cheese that someone tossed on it was just slightly melted and... it was cold. Huh? Then it occurred to me. The cheese didn't have that characteristic brown bubbling that you would expect. They took it away to warm it... and then horror of horrors... I watch them toss it into a microwave. HUH? I waited. <br/>When it returned, I asked if the lasagna had been baked before being served to me. Indeed sir, it had. Earlier this afternoon!!! Then we spoon some sauce on it and top it off with some cheese before nuking it. Unbelievable. The server actually argued with me when I told her that I don't expect this from Zola's. They thought this to be perfectly acceptable. I cut into it and it was layers and layers of gooey thick pasta. I think I found one layer of cheese and a few grams of meat in the sauce. I could only stomach half of the dish. <br/>When a different server asked if I was taking the rest home, I told her that I had to in order to see if I could do something to it to actually make it edible. She was also surprised when I expressed my concerns about their microwave approach. At least she apologized. Unfortunately she was sorry that I was disappointed.... not sorry for the crap that they tried to pass off as lasagna. She did offer to bring me something else... but by then the other 16 in our party were done. I passed. <br/>Final indignity. They charged me for the lasagna. What a class-less joint.<br/><br/>If you’re looking for good lasagna, try Fratelli’s in Kanata.... or if that’s too pricey, M&Ms or President’s Choice will both satisfy you more than Zola’s.

I have been a regular at Zola's for years, even more now that they have gluten free options. Their rosemary crust pizza is the best in the city. The renos to the decor have created an intimate, romantic setting for quiet dinners for two just as easily as a bigger, more festive event with a large table. The wait staff are experienced and knowledgeable and the kitchen always works to accommodate special requests.

Come On!!. Went in for dinner and had a discount coupon, I showed it to the server before we ate. They brought me a sheet to sign that said you understand the tip you leave is calculated on the original total not the after discount one! How insulting!!By the way I do tip well, should have walked out but we stayed. The food was ok won't go back

We went for breakfast and were quite disappointed. Snotty undercooked eggs and poorly cooked potatoes. The house-made sausage was very inconsistent - one of ours was tasty and dry - the other had large greasy chunks of fat. <br/>Would not eat here again.

Great Italian Food. This was probably the best Italian food I've had in Ottawa, though we only really tried one entree, the classic Zola's. It was out of this world awesome. Some of the other posters complained about underdone pasta - it was al dente which not to everyone's liking. The desert was outstanding too. Service was so-so, but they were busy on a Monday night. BYOB corkage fee $10 is pretty sweet too. <br/><br/>There were some bizarre menu choices, however. I have no idea why an Italian resto would have a curried coconut shrimp dish, or a Cantonese stir fry dish?!?!? Anyhow, the Italian food we had was great.

Not worth returning. I had a mediocre meal there several years ago and waited quite a while to go back again. Sadly, nothing had changed. The "Italian" food is pedestrian with limited selection, the sauces reminiscent of store-bought fare. The decor is outdated and the restaurant is in need of renovation. Service is ok (although they got my order entirely wrong....I assume it was just a bad day). The prices are ok but not cheap. Not worthy of another visit.

Breakfast was dissappointing and overpriced. Eggs were from powder it appeared and were mushy. Took 15 mins to pay our bill, as waitress/GM yacking it up with customers while I stood at cash waiting to pay. Will not return.

Not impressed. Although the appetizers were excellent (coconut shrimp & jamaican chicken) the main course was very disappointing...We ordered the veal parm and veal marsala. Firstly, we had to send it back because it was luke warm...pasta was undercooked...sauce was bland and watery. ...veal was tough. Service was okay. We won't be going back...

Overpriced. Bolognase sauce very bland and uninspiring. Decent lasagna. Good service

I cook better italian cuisine. What is the purpose to go to a restaurant? Of course to eat delicious food is the first motivation.<br/><br/>I have to admit, that Zolas did a good job designing their website. It looks pretty inviting to me. So I decided to go there with my wife. The interior decoration in Zolas looks attractive and modern. Their kitchen is half open like in those fusion restaurants. But when you get closer to watch those decoration, materials seem to be cheap and crude. But that is not the point, after all, you expect to taste the "modern" Italian cuisine. I ordered pasta primavera as I usually would not order some fancy stuff in my first visit to a restaurant. And this is the pasta you can hardly screw up. But to my surprise, it did not impress me at all. The pasta was not well boiled, the inner part was still hard. They put too much olive oil and seasoning, which made the pasta smelled good, but tasted oily and tedious. I felt as if I was eating the plain boiled pasta after I dipped them in the sauce, not a complete mixture of a fine cuisine cooked with the matching sauces. My wife ordered Portabello Frocaccia, and it was over grilled and a little burnt so she didn't even finish half of it. I love to cook and I lived and worked in Europe for years. I am confident to say, I cook better Primavera than this so called "modern" Italian restaurant. The waitress looked nice, but when you asked for a replacement of a fork, it took ages. The price was ok, not expensive, but not cheap either.<br/><br/>Well, I thought it would had been my last visit there. I talked with my friend who was there before, she had the same "poor cooking" comment. But she thought dinner time, the atmosphere was romantic and mysterious, and music was not bad there. But to me, no matter how trendy and stylish it looks, how nice music you can listen to there, it is a restaurant, not a entertaining room or tavern. If the food cannot reach the standard, the service is so-so, the price doesn't seem to be more competitive than any other small restaurants. Why do I have to go there again? Fairwell, Zolas!

Undercooked pasta, rubbery scallops and bland broth.

Love the fresh rolls

I pretty much always get the Chicken Gorgonzola. Or sometimes the Fettuccine Gorgonzola with a creamy tomato sauce. Just love Gorgonzola! I like their rolls as well. I once found a recipe for them at amandascookin.com called Pull Apart Cornmeal Dinner Rolls. Loved them!

I like the takeout!. Super ideas for dinner on the go. Fresh and convenient. I have never eaten here but I hear that they have a BYOB policy? cork fee only sounds ideal to me

Great take out options!. Super take out options if you are looking for a healthy option to store-bought lasagnas, cannelloni's, etc. Good value for your $$ (and very personalized service). I always make a point of stopping here when I'm driving home through Bell's Corners.

Zolas is a wonderful italian resturant with a nice romantic atmosphere and amazing food an service

A wonderful restaurant with a great menu and intimate atmosphere. Live music during the week and "bring your own wine" available as well. Highly recomended.

Ok food - good service - traditional Italian but now have gluten-free options which is nice

This post is a little different than the others. We headed over to Tandoori Fusion this morning to investigate the Urbanspoon listing that said they served brunch. When we walked up to the restaurant, we hesitated momentarily. The setting isn't exactly inviting, being tucked away behind McDonalds in a strip mall with neighbours like a paintball supply store and an adult shop. However, when we walked through the doors, that was all forgotten. The decor was modern and elegant with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and art on the walls. We were the only ones in the restaurant and the woman who greeted us was incredibly friendly. We were brought a high chair and waters. The brunch was a buffet with Pakistani and Indian foods, not your typical eggs and bacon, but we were happy with a change. The selections included butter chicken, chick peas, rice, and a couple of other things that I didn't recognise. It all tasted great! They offered to cook anything ("Anything at all!" They said) for t

Zola’s looks unassuming, perched at one end of a plaza and looking dark from the outside. Inside, it’s clean and modern, with a counter of fresh goods for sale (lasagna, bread, pasta sauces and desserts). It’s small and cosy, with Adele’s hazy vocals playing softly in the background and not a bad table anywhere. We sat by the window with Baby J and looked over the menus carefully.

My mother-in-law announced recently that she wanted to take the family out to dinner and could I make it so. Yesterday was one of those days when all the schedules lined up for a dinner outing that would allow us all to linger a bit and celebrate the good