The concierge at our hotel sent us here and we are so glad she did! Perfect comfy cozy casual atmosphere, seem less service and most importantly great food! We stuck with the classics, steak au Poivre and Bouillabaisse. The steak was a tender, perfectly cooked medium rare with just the right amount of spice, and the broth in the Bouillabaisse was a delight top three palates, each piece of seafood cooked to perfection. Highly recommend! read more

Monday nights in winter local entrees are reduced price. Decent food, i had the oysters, clam chowder , some weird blue cheese dip that was grainy and somewhat flavorless, and the winner of the night Fire roasted Cod. The oysters were local and fresh served with a vignette sauce. Not worth 18$ a half dozen considering they scraped them off a wall down the road. The Cod was very good but dry, crying out for some sauce. Was served wtih roasted beets and sweet potato. In the end i can always judge a good place to eat by its creme burlee. Although pretty and nicely carmelized on top , it lacked the one main thing needed. Real vanilla beans. So i give Cafe Zelda 3 stars, being from NYC we have this type of place on every street corner. There is good and then there is great. This is just barely good. Also, if you dont go on Monday night you may find it to be VERY overpriced for what you get! read more

This restaurant was a great start to my Newport visit. I would likely come here again and would recommend others to try. Service - 5 Cordial and timely. They treated us very well asking how the meal was going and refilling our water as needed. Food - 4.5 The food was great all around. Beet and goat cheese sandwiches - 5 - delicious Crispy Calamari - soft, crunchy and great sauce - 5 Baby Aragula and Belgian Endive Salad - 5 - delicious Clam Chowder - 5 - one of the best I've had. Burger - 4.5 - Huge, and tasty, but nothing out of ordinary. The bread to start could be better, but oil is nice. Atmosphere - 5 Relaxing atmosphere. A bit romantic as well with dim lightening. Quiet enough for a comfortable conversation. The bar next door adds to the vibe and is great to finish or start the evening. Value - 3.5 For the quality of food, service and setting the prices are very reasonable. There are some items that seem to be too high, but the menu also offers some items in the low 20s range. read more

How so you make the ordinary extraordinary? Order the almond crusted pork chops. Wonderful ambience. Friendly, very attentive staff. Can't wait to return. read more

Terrible place. I have been all over the United States and walked in here tonight and tried to get a seat in the bar and was told by the bartender he had a private party and he was rude. We then went into the dining room and were told we could not order drinks until we ordered food. I have Been in many high end places in my life and this has never happened. Would never ever come back and walked across to scales and shells and they took great care of us. read more

Small bar, nice local atmosphere. Haven't tried many things on the menu. Mostly seafood. I heard brunch was good.

Stopped in to the bar after many years away. This place is still great. So long as you are not claustrophobic. Cozy and non-pretentious with a friendly bar staff. Well worth passing through if you are looking to get away from the touristy stuff. read more

The food was great. Michelle, our waitress, was absolutely phenomenal. She made great recommendations and went out of her way to anticipate our needs. She is one of the best waitresses we've ever had. read more

I've been going to Zelda's for three decades. It changed owners very recently. There's only been a few changes. Most all the staff was retained from what I've been told. The food has always been well above average with decent portions, and the staff is friendly and responsive. It's a relatively small restaurant and is quaint. A nice place to dine in the winter. There's a bar there with regular clientele which is usually busy. read more

This place sucked. No food served for drinking patrons amd thrown out for having a granola bar . I have low blood sugar and was thrown out of this establishment. Bartender was rude. Threw my friends out as well for no reason. read more

It's a yachtie vibe here, for sure. Think: Mount Gay rum hats, incredibly tarnished. Dad and I decide to have dinner at the bar.... Delicious Pinot Noir @ 8.50/glass $27 prix fixe menu - choice of ------salad or soup ------chicken/steak/soft shell crab ------gelato/choc mousse/sorbet dessert I got Carrot ginger soup special WHICH was so not flavorful at all, and waaay more dairy heavy than I trepidatiously bargained for at the bar..... WHICH was promptly replaced by a nearly* delightful mescalin (no, not the fun kind) greens salad, dried some kind of fruit (cherries?) and candied walnuts, sliced green apples, and this salad design may have originally included cheese WHICH was conspicuously absent because... well, bitches complain about dairy! Bitches like me. But the thing is, I had just so much as profusely salt and peppered the soup, then sort of pushed it aside and happy go lucky dad was all, "I'll eat it! Tomorrow" but the bartender, who was really very nice and understood things on multiple levels, saw I hadn't eaten it and insisted on getting me a salad instead... WHICH was soooo soooo nice. I really didn't need that special treatment, but it is the kind of thing that makes a big big difference. Salad has an asterisk, as the dressing was way too vinegary and sort of burned my mouth, I think it was JUST balsamic vinegar. Now I have these little cuts on the sides of my lips and it ain't herpes. Soft Shell Crab - can we say, AMAZEBALLS still? Is that bad? Cuz this crab was goooood. I'm still kinda thinkin about it, right now... Two lives were sacrificed for my edification. Is that the right word? Totally not. Wrong word! Edification refers to MORALS... Which I didn't feel like I had, while dining on crab (sing-song rhyme BOOM) these two beings, perfectly still in their shells. Were they stabbed first? Or did they have to suffer briefly by being fried alive? Unfortunately I contemplated these things, while trying trying trying to imagine good things happening to these crabs in their future rebirths, you see. All this stuff is very important to think about. It seems. A woman wandered into the bar and loudly proclaimed SHE was a "VERY INTERESTING GAL" (yes, 'gal') and that SHE would be having the soft shell crab, as well. WELL. Well well well.... Yeah no. I got the last one!!! So! Opportunity: practice giving. She was totally all about taking, and I offered. Some of my crab. Ha! The bartender yelled at her fellow patrons all picking (lovingly) off my plate, saying 'let her eat in peace! Gees!' and all sorts of etcs. Whatever, it was fun. Fine. The crabs were also nestled atop a bed of arugula - which, thankfully - unlike my previous set of greens - was not overdressed at all, in fact, there wasn't much but a small drizzle of some poppyseed sweet something and two delightful spears of blackened sweet potato wedges. Yum! The crabs had been fried, too, in some sort of amazing sweetness. I cannot even describe.... Meanwhile, I am giving snide advice to a much older gentleman on app development for his facebook plugin which he won't tell me ANYthing about because he is OLD SKOOL about proprietary shit. I say, listen dude, Let Me Tell YOU about the New Ways of the World... It ain't secret! We're not telling each others secrets: you see, this social networking thing is a deeper paradigm than the past... in fact... the whole aspect of secrecy has withered in this era of ultimate bombastic brandishing of self-related unnecessary DETAILS (I would soooo italicize that word instead, if Yelp would let me). Sometimes I think Yelp has an inferiority complex. What else? We had dessert. A nice huge chocolate mousse, allllll to myself. THAT, was good. Totally sweet and crazy. read more

Glad to see the food and service quality hasn't changed since our last visit... Both are top notch! I had the tuna this time around.... Nicely prepared sushi quality! Enjoyed it with a well made dirty martini, also nicely made. This is a cool little place right on Thames. The also have a nice bar too read more

We overall enjoyed our meal at Zelda. It was a very quiet night, being a Tuesday in January in a touristy area. The waitress gets 5 stars, she was very pleasant and attentive. The decor was ship cabin meets pub. We both ordered from the prix fixe menu of the day. For $27 it included a glass of wine, appetizer, entree, and dessert. We additionally shared an order of calamari, and that was the best part of the meal., fennel-mushroom soup was great, however, my friend got what was described as pheasant terrine, which was more like a cold pâté or loaf. It had a lot of cartilage in it, and just wasn't as good as she expected. Our entrees were decent, but not memorable. My friend had salmon and I had chicken. The chocolate mousse for dessert was tasty. read more

Zelda's is a spot you have to check out if you're in town. Excellent food, reasonably priced, fantastic service and great atmosphere. We'll be back!!! :) read more

Was not as impressed - had to have a meal returned & picked something else. The bar is quite popular.

THIS PLACE IS SO GOOD NINTENDO MADE VIDEO GAMES ABOUT IT. Seriously though, the duck leg and sausage is perfect-o. I liked the downtempo music too, and the staff was super nice. read more

Zelda's was a huge disappointment! We enjoyed every establishment we visited this past weekend! However, we stopped at Zelda's on Friday to make a Saturday night dinner reservation and the bartender was so extremely rude to us we cancelled our reservation! Hopefully he was just having a bad day but with only two other costumers you'd think he would have welcomed the three of us! Instead we decided NOT to waist our time or money and took our party of 6 elsewhere! read more

I. Love. Zelda's. I'm definitely not from New England and venturing out in the cold is not something high on my list these days! However, I never have any problem heading out into the -10 degree weather for their steak tar tar and martini's. Also... their espresso martini's definitely give Asterisks a run for their money. read more

Sunday Brunch in January. One inexcusable glitch here. The eggs Benedict with crab came with fries that were cold, limp, and greasy. That is 3 bads. They also tasted as if they had been reheated from the night before. Otherwise, the eggs were fine. The salad with goat cheese was good- the VT chevre delicious. However, I did not detect any apricot flavor in the dressing - which was described as an apricot dressing. Hmm. Will probably not return.There are just too many other places to try, with more interesting brunch menus. read more

Love this place! The fact that it is only a couple blocks from where we live makes it even better! I have only eaten in the bar side of the restaurant, which is great! It's dark and cozy, a nice intimate vibe. Staff has been nice, thus far. The nori wrapped tuna is a MUST! So delicious, I have gotten it both times that I have been to Zelda. They also have a really good cheese plate that they source from Farmstead ... Yay for cheese!!! I am giving it 4 stars because I don't love their wine selection, but I am assuming the wine is not very high on their list ... I believe they focus more on their food, which is fine! read more

Food was on point. Garlic and Herb Chicken with their famous mac and cheese was a good serving size and very flavorful. The calamari had a Tai fusion taste to it and was very delicious. read more

I will say it was delicious and wish I could give it a rating based on food alone but they were not friendly. There was a problem with the heat and it could not be turned off...we were trying to stick it out but when we went to stand outside the doorway we were told we could not block the door. If we had not been a large party and it had not been so late we all would have left. After they were able to get it off a man who never identified himself, but assuming it was the manager came over and abruptly said,"who do I need to talk to?" Our complaints were heard and he basically said sorry about this but at this price point I feel a little more congeniality should have been conveyed. Things happen but it is how you fix it and treat your patrons that make the difference. A local regular highly recommended it and we will let her know not too. read more

I don't take writing this lightly. My wife and I have traveled the world and have eaten in some truly exquisite restaurants. That said, my expectations were not that high for this restaurant. But Zelda delivered multiple items which were BURNED. Not even McDonald's will serve burned food. The cheese appetizer had the most infinitesimally small pieces of cheese you can imagine for $13. The candied walnuts were burned. Terrible. The $13 arugula salad came topped with a fig stuffed with burned cheese. An odd pairing with fig spread that should have been served with the cheese. And the salad was too greasy to eat. Disgusting. The bouillabaisse was the real treat, topped with two pieces of burned bread. Not a little burned, I mean jet black. Totally unservable. I cannot believe they have the gall to sell this nasty food at $25 a plate. Shameful. We expressed our concerns to the waitress (who was very nice). She apologized for our experience and said desert would be comped. Fine. We ordered two deserts, got the check and only 1 was comped. Cheap, cheap, cheap. Finally got the extra desert removed from the check. The manager made it seem like they did us some great favor. This is a tourist trap posing as a local favorite. For these prices there are PLENTY of other good restaurants in town. Do not waste your money. read more

Very courteous, attentive and conscientious staff, even when it came to my long list of food allergies. Our waitress made recommendations on 2 different bottles of wine, both of which we loved; and allowed us to sample a glass of another one, which we didn't care for nearly as much. read more

We came here on a whim on a Saturday night. Got a late reservation that was available when they said. Even if We had to wait there is a great bar and friendly crowd. Dinner was worth the wait. I have found most meals in Newport to be adequate. This far exceeded my expectations. Clams were fresh and well presented. Grilled Caesar was perfectly prepared. I had one of the best boulabaise in the states. Just enough fennel and herbs. The fish was fresh. Grilled scallops were perfectly prepared. Mashed turnips were very tasty. Good wine list at fair prices. Desserts are sized for sharing. A great find. Already reserved my next meal. read more

Fantastic food, giant portions, excellent service - we couldn't have asked for a better meal! Short ribs, salmon, grilled ceasar salad, all amazing! read more

Only had drinks at the bar, but this is now my wife's favorite bar. Crowded, but in a good way. Decent drinks, but the friendly, local crowd was the reason to stay. read more

great vibe! Small but hopping, even on the off-season. They have a wonderful prix fixe option during Nov (perhaps Dec too). But I chose to get something off the menu. Had the oysters; I love the choice of local RI ones and Sakonnet were lovely. The scallops with tomator buerre blanc and polenta was great... Polenta was piping hot which meant I didn't have to rush eating as each bite including the polenta was still hot! Ended with the Chocolate Marquis which was like smooth rich fudge truffle filling - rich enough to share. Will be back next time I visit! read more

My girlfriend and I went to cafe Zelda's on Wednesday evening for dinner. When you first walk in its nothing special with the blue and white pinstripe wall paper, but don't let that fool you, The service was fast and efficient. We both started with a glass of wine as we waited for our entrées. I ordered the crispy leg of duck confit and my lady had a seafood pasta of some sort. Everything on my plate was excellent except for the whole cloves of garlic but that's just me being anal lol. My girlfriend loved her dish as well. The next time I'm in Newport I will most definitely be back read more

I've been going to Zeldas off and on for the last 20 years and have always had a very good experience there. Unfortunately this past Friday evening we ran into the bartender Mark. He was completely out of line. I was with my buddy who dines there frequently and Mark paid no attention to him. When we requested two seats at the bar for dinner, he told us he didn't have two seats. When the couple sitting in between two empty bar stools offered to shift over one seat to accommodate us, Mark became incensed and screamed out "don't move your seats for these two people." He then looked at us and told us we were not welcome there for dinner. Mark's behavior was completely inappropriate and we will never go back to Zelda's as long as Mark is working there. Mark obviously has some sort of anger issues. read more

Good bar atmosphere, bartender was attentive and the hostess was very nice. Came in on a Saturday night around 8:30 without reservations and they were able to seat us within a half hour. The appetizer's were excellent, the waitress friendly, but the food was a disappointment. Maybe we ordered wrong but both dishes were a bit bland and trying too hard to be creative. The ingredients did not go together as they could have. For the price I will not be going back to the dining room. read more

Any time i want my wife to stay over in newport all have say is we will do brunch at Zeldas

It was not much as far as atmosphere or great service, but it made up for it in flavor. For brunch, this place was hard to beat. Good selection and the food was incredible. read more

Good oysters, avoid otherwise. We were the only people under 60 in a place that looked circa 1984, with horrific smooth jazz version of wonderful tonight playing. hubby got duck confit, which was good enough. I had scallops and pile ya in a "spiced port wine sauce" that tasted like the poor scallops were rolled in mulling spices. It would have been an overpowering sauce on short ribs, let alone scallops. Eventually told the server about it, she said I wa the second person that night to have the same complaint about the dish, and that maybe he "made it wrong.". No attempt to offer a remake, take part off the bill or any redress. The oysters were very good, but they were raw and naked, so hard to give them credit for that. Overpriced, dated atmosphere and menu, bad food, no sense of ownership by staff. read more

This is the local locals bar of Newport.. If your here on vacation it's worth checking out.. It not the young drunk college 20 something crowd but the place where the owners of other places in town go to unwind .. Good conversation good bartenders. Try to go when mark works .. If u can find a place at the bar to eat your in for a great nite... read more

About what you'd expect for a main drag seafood/pub in Newport. Food was commensurate with the prices. Menu -something for everybody. Decor is dark wood, New England marine history and sailing -yawn, could be any of 100 pubs along the NE coast. Wall pics were at least 10 years old, the reds and yellows faded away years ago. We ate on St. Patty's night so but no excuse for a waitress who really wanted to be somewhere else. On a 1-10: Food 7, price 7, service 6. Enjoyable but forgettable. read more

Saturday 8/2/14 I am rating this poorly because I went there and ordered the buy one lunch get one free and was told the web site is wrong and you need a special palm card to get this special. So I was require to pay full price. Are they kidding. Otherwise food is good. read more

We all enjoyed every bite. Chicken fried lobster is well worth a try. Portions are substantial and service was good.

The fried calamari was good. However, my experience wasn't good. Since I was near the sea I asked the waitress if the ahi tuna was local. She said yes so I ordered it. The tuna didn't taste fresh at all, so I asked another lady who was helping my table. She was nice enough to go to check with the back and let me know that the tuna wasn't local. It left a bad taste in my mouth because the way the staff handled questions. I just wanted to know what I was getting. read more

Dropped in with a party of 6 (no reservation) last Tuesday night and they quickly took care of us. The atmosphere was great (cool local's bar) and the food was terrific. From the short ribs, cod, mac & cheese, chicken entree etc. it was the perfect meal! I must say that the calamari was the best I have ever had!! Will be back next time in Newport. read more