Zinicola

Went for a large business dinner - 17 people. We were seated at 6pm but the entire meal took over 3 hours. The atmosphere is warm and inviting. Not too loud so easy to carry on a conversation. The service - although friendly - was painfully slow. It's a shame because the food was very good. The dishes that got the highest grades were the Margherita pizza, chicken parm and the mozzarella app. But, the service was so slow, it outweighed the food quality. I do not plan to return.

Not a great experience overall on many fronts. We showed up on time for our reservation and were told we'd have a 25 minute wait (despite many empty tables). We had advised them it was my wife's birthday which was never acknowledged. I picked the restaurant because she wanted to try their octopus. We placed the order immediately upon sitting but our waiter delayed entering it until later when we ordered all entrees. When he did, he advised us that we just missed getting the last order (his fault). No bread was offered until we requested it. And, my son had to order his drink several times before it showed up. When you're paying more; you expect more. Zinicola fell short with service and the offering of food. The restaurant was also a bit noisy. All that said, the food was adequate.

Had a very nice Christmas Eve dinner here last minute as we were originally planning to be out of town. Food was delicious and server was very friendly. It was also beautifully decorated for Christmas.

Cute spot for a date night! I literally grew up around the corner from this spot and had never tried it until now. To start, the bread... omg. The bread. I could have just sat there and ate three plates of bread and had some wine and been satisfied. It's delicious. It's soft with a touch of salt, and they give you yummy oil to dip it in. I ordered a caesar salad which needed a little more dressing, but even after I added more, it still tasted bland. I just don't think the dressing itself had enough flavor, which is rare for caesar. For my entree, I had one of the specials which was a truffle fettuccine dish with shrimp. This I'd rate a 4. While it was good, I expected to be blown away considering this pasta dish was around $45. I think they mentioned they make their own pasta in house, but still... not quite sure it was worth the value. It also looked a little blah and could have used a little parsley or a veggie or something for some added color. I think there was ONE tiny micro-green. Ha.My husband ordered the venison, which was falling off the bone and flavorful. It was served with risotto which was also very good. As for service, it was a little lacking. Our server was nice but not very attentive. We often had to wave her down to come back to our table on several occasions. The restaurant didn't seem very busy considering it was a Friday night. We had a reservation and there was no wait when we arrived. Several tables were open.Overall, I'd probably rate this somewhere between a 4 and 4.5, mainly because the service could have been better. Price-wise, most of the dishes and drinks were quite reasonable. I think my dish was just a little over priced for what it was. I would love to come back for another date night and try a new dish!

My husband and I are in Charlotte, from California and was looking for a cute date night spot. We stubbled across Zinicola! The ambiance 100% the food 100% and the customer service 100% Amazing!!!

This is a nice hidden gym located in the Ballantyne area. The staff were friendly as soon as I came in we were created. We had a reservation so we were immediately seated. You can see the kitchen where they prepare the food. They also have two rooms that you can reserve if you need to have a private event the drinks were strong and good. The atmosphere was warm and cozy. The food was good. Sorry I did not get any pictures we were hungry. The server was nice. Overall I had a good experience and I hope that you do as well.

My wife and I wandered into the restaurant on a busy Saturday night without a reservation and were able to be seated after a short wait. They sat us at a high top right along the pass which was pretty cool because we were able to see the hustle and bustle of the kitchen. After being seated our sever took our drink order and brought us fresh bread that was lightly toasted with an olive oil balsamic dipping oil. We perused the menu and decided on calamari to start which was as lightly floured and cooked perfectly, my only quip was that it could've used a little salt which was a quick fix. For our mains I went with the scallops which were accompanied by a sweet potato puree and grilled asparagus and my wife chose the orecchiette with fennel sausage. Both of our dishes were excellent and we really enjoyed them. Our server was busy but very welcoming and made sure we had everything we needed. Also props to the lady running food from the pass, she engaged us in conversation and was very friendly. It made for a nice experience as we watched the food going out to diners and gave us ideas of what we wanted to try on our next visit. I would say sitting at one of those high tops is probably the best seat in the house if you're a food geek like me and like to watch how a kitchen operates. All in all we loved Zinicola and will definitely be going back.

First time to this Italian restaurant for a luncheon meeting held by some kind of investment company.My lunch included a salad & an entree, a salad & spaghetti meatball. The salad was just any other salad. But the spaghetti sauce is very tasteful and the meat ball was huge and taste Ms great.I saw the other dishes such as chicken Parmasen was good as well. Their sauces were good.

All that you could ask for in a restaurant. Food is very well done and has an original flair showing how much they care about being special. This is not a place that just churns out the same thing over and over. They take their time to make a dinner the diner will enjoy. The ambience is a friendly neighborhood place that you can enjoy a leisurely dinner. But what sets it apart for me is the service. Every time I have been here I leave feeling like I had dinner at a friends house. Servers are always personable and knowledgeable. They take time to explain dishes and preparation and give suggestions. We went last night to celebrate our engagement and had originally decided on a different place. We showed up at Zinicola on a Friday night without a reservation and were able to get a high top. They took really good care of us and celebrated our good news. Offered free Prosecco and dessert as well. Our server was a young lady named Kylie who went out of her way to take care of us.This place has been a favorite of mine for years and continues to impressThank you to our friends there.

The staff was so kind, the food was amazing. It was such a great date night spot. We will definitely be back