Variability in restaurant service and quality isn't really a good thing. But, as you know, we recommend you try a place twice to see what it's really about. Such was the case with Ze's Diner in Woodbury.
On a frigid December Sunday morning, we headed out to Ze's using a ridiculously bad GPS location device. It was like wandering in the desert, only with the defroster and heat running on high in the car, for miles and miles through look alike housing developments on curved suburban streets. Soon we thought it was about time to put out a flare and wait for a St. Bernard with a flask to show up, drool on us, and give us a strong shot of something to get the blood running in our veins.
Turns out it's not really that hard to find--after all, there are only a couple of main drags in Woodbury, and it sits just south of the intersection of 2 of them. We threw the GPS device away : )
Our first visit to Ze's was about as good as the drive to get there. The place was packed and we got the last 2 open seats. But of course that's bad--the last 2 seats...the last 2 seats to have a server find us, the last 2 seats to get a beverage, the last 2 seats to ever, ever, ever get food. On that visit, we couldn't figure out which was longer...the circuitous drive or the wait for breakfast. Still not sure.
On visit #1, we weren't impressed. We waited forever and the food was skimpy. John had falafel....well, he had 2 small falafel that required a search almost as long as the drive to get there. My salad was...not good.
But we had a nice chat with the manager who apologized and encouraged us to return.
So, we gave it a shot...after noon on Saturday...a little more time for them to focus rather than feed the clamoring hoards. (It looks like the place where most people order either a giant burger with a mound of fries that no one should every eat, or something egg with a portion of hashbrowns destined to cause a coronary before you leave the parking lot but just after you've exited the front door---that's planning!!)
The experiences were like night and day.
We took the direct route (Valley Creek to Woodbury Drive) and plopped ourselves into a parking spot close to the door. The place was only about 1/3 full, so were seated immediately, and our friendly server (a great server personality) brought drinks and water.
Having learned a few things over the years about restaurants, we perused the menu differently. We looked at the items featured by the house...and gave them a shot!
Lamb shank was my choice; John quizzed the server and in his toss-up between pot roast and meatloaf, went with the server's meatloaf suggestion. We pondered the relatively new 'tender teres major' breakfast, but only knew that the teres muscle in humans connects your scapula with your humerus....but, upon later investigation & reflection, turns out to be a tender steak cut from the shoulder. This gives us a reason to return and give it a try. This might have been a case where we should have trusted our great server's first recommendation.
The wait for the food was still annoyingly long, given the scarcity of bodies in the place, but not too annoying long.
The giant bowl with the lamb shank and giant plate with meatloaf, grilled veggies, mashed potatoes & gravy (potato choice on this entree) appeared, delivered by our perky server. Very ample portions---you could probably share either one, adding a cup of soup or small salad for a really complete meal (or, there is that dessert thing!). Both were accompanied by breaksticks that weren't very attractive, but were better than we expected.
My lamb shank was delicious. My favorite lamb shanks are generally on the buffet at Marina Grill & Deli on University & Lowry (Chef Adel)....always fabulous. I'll have to say, Ze's gave Adel a run for his money. This was a large lamb shank served on a bed of mashed potatoes and a nicely herbed gravy full of carrots that hadn't been cooked to mush. Moist, tender, meaty. My portion served me, gave John a few good-sized forks-full, leaving us enough for a meal at home later.
John was not quite as enthused about his meatloaf. He felt it was a bit fatty, with average flavor. But we both felt that the veggies (which probably started out in a freezer bag) were nicely browned on the grill to give them a little char while leaving them with good texture....an improvement over the starting product. I liked the nice crusty end on one of the pieces of meatloaf (2 nice portions were served), and the gravy was certainly adequate in flavor and quantity (and different from the lamb shank gravy). Half of that meal traveled home with us as well.
So we'd rate the lamb shank 4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars....clearly the best thing we tried in our 2 visits. John gave his meatloaf 3 out 5 stars. The server gets a 4.5 for cheerful, positive interaction, pleasing style, and great smile. So overall, 3.5 - 4 stars on this visit to Ze's in Woodbury...a big improvement over our previous visit...and without the annoying wandering GPS.
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