Real Kato Blog: Tapas: Zely and Ritz

Zely and Ritz is one of the latest restaurants to jump on the tapas bandwagon. It's in the spot formerly occupied by the Cockeyed Chef on Glenwood Avenue.

Last Friday I went out with the hot women again. They are not single, by the way. If you're a regular reader you probably know that I have a lot of attractive women friends who are utterly unavailable, and who so far have been no help in my quest to escape bachelorhood. But I stand by my theory that One Can Never Have Too Many Beautiful Friends.

Anyway...

When we walked into Zely and Ritz, we were immediately charmed by the layout. It's a cozy little place, with elegant but comfortable decor. The lighting was a bit bright in spots, but not garishly so. There was a cool long bar table that looked like a good place to socialize, and then there were maybe ten small tables for dining.

It's a tapas place, competing with places like The Red Room and the always-fabulous Humble Pie. I think Zely and Ritz is going for a bit more of the upscale market.

The wine list is extensive. We had a Rioja at the lower end of the price scale, at $22, and it was quite good.

The selection of tapas is decent and varied. We of course ordered a number of items to share. They were all consistently good, if perhaps not spectacular. The meat dishes like the quail and duck were very good, but I thought the gnocchi and the scallops ceviche could have had a little bit more flavor.

We ended up sampling quite a bit of the menu, because unfortunately the dishes tended to be pretty small, even for tapas. Between the three of us, I think we ordered twelve items, plus a dessert. We were full by the end, but it took us a while to get there.

On the whole, we were pleased with the meal. I'd say Humble Pie is probably a bit better both in terms of price and quality, but Zely and Ritz wins on atmosphere and service (even considering that a waiter knocked over my glass of wine; disaster was barely averted by the napkin on my lap).

Rating: 4/5

Permalink 1 Comment

Posted by Ken in: food, reviews

Comments

Comment #1 from Nicholas (Guest)
2005 Mar 22 - 7:33 am : #

So how much did the 12 items add up to? I had the most disposable income while on my first "real" job right out of college. Then I bought a house, then I had a baby, then I had another baby and my wife quit working (outside the house). You probably will not be seeing me at Zely & Ritz, more like 2 Guy's.

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