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    ZEN Noodle Bar

    3.9 (305 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 3:00 pm, 4:00 PM - 9:00 PM

    Order ZEN Noodle Bar Takeout or Delivery

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    ZEN NOODLE BAR ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Trendy
    Moderate noise
    Good for kids

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    Korean bulgogi bowl
    Alyana S.

    We had a bad service at Zen noodle bar. It took them a while to greet us and after our server took our order it took them 15 minutes to give us our drinks. Our food thankfully was delicious but after they delivered it the server asked if we needed anything else and I asked for a fork and he still forgot that. It seemed like their staff was prioritizing the online orders over the people in the restaurant as it wasn't busy when we went. The food was good but the service wasn't.

    Pho #3
    Rachel K.

    I come here all the time and I get the #3 Pho. They give great service and portion size. It's very chill in atmosphere and the food is great.

    Nikkie V.

    Our first time in Gainesville we went to a Zen and we'd go back to that one but this one off 34th will be a no return for us. Service wasn't good as the server wasn't welcoming. I'll give it a 2 for cleanliness as the restroom wasn't clean and smelt bad. The food was NOT as good as the other one nor was the portion. Highly disappointed and wasted money

    korean stir fry
    Maddy W.

    I've been wanting to try this place for awhile now and finally got around it! I ordered the Bang Bang Bahn Mi, which left me impressed. Full of flavor and packed with protein, it stands out as the best Bahn Mi I've had in Gainesville. I'd reorder this dish and highly recommend it. We also ordered the Spicy Korean Stir Fry and the Wok Noodle Bowl with Lemongrass Chicken, both of which were delightful. However, I might opt for a different protein next time as the Lemongrass Chicken didn't quite hit the mark for me. The staff at here were friendly, and we enjoyed the ambiance of the outside patio. Overall, I'd love to return as a fun quick spot to grab lunch!

    Bao bun
    Tiffany W.

    This place is mid at best. It wasn't terrible but it def won't be a return spot for me. Service was so slow, bathroom was kind of dirty. The bao wasn't a very good flavor. Wontons over cooked. The spring roll was decent. Dumplings were def frozen and dumped in a fryer. Only thing I really liked was the Thai tea.

    Pho.

    The pho here was amazing! Our server was super nice and we loved being able to sit outside. We will be back!

    Sara T.

    Just tried this place again for the second time and really enjoyed the bulgogi beef bowl.

    Cute lil place!
    Alison K.

    This had got to be the cutest little place with the BIGGEST flavor in town! I finally FINALLY got to try a Korean/Vietnamese restaurant out for the first time in my life and I was NOT disappointed. This great little restaurant aims to please every palate. They have Korean dishes, Vietnamese dishes, Japanese flavors and some Thai. I was impressed that they had kimchi fried rice on their menu so I definitely HAD to get some. But then, I was torn because of all the variations of Phō. My husband wanted something simple that wouldn't overwhelm him, so he got the classic combo noodle stir fry. Myself, I ended up trying an appetizer that I'd heard about before that my husband made a bad face and shook his head NO. That's alright....more Takoyaki for me!! I chose Kimchi pork fried rice and a small bowl of Phō and noodles on the side. Wow! Excellent choice on my part. My nose may have been running afterwards, but oh my! The delights that ran across my tongue...onions, spicy cabbage, garlic, ginger, peas and carrots (no egg because I'm allergic)...thinly sliced pork--so tender. I know my husband was like, meh. But he's not an Asian food lover like I am anyways. The possibilities are endless here. They are so nice and so quick with service...everything hot and fresh. If you yelp like I do, it even activates a 10% off coupon when you check in (much to my surprise and delight). So what have you got to lose? If you enjoy Asian cuisine and like a lil spice in the bowl, at least give them a try. I know I'll be back (probably by myself next time lol). While the front of restaurant parking is handicapped only, there's an enormous parking lot just in back of the building, so don't panic if there's nothing open right in front or next door. Just pop inside for a big piping hot bowl of noodle soup...perfect in this weather or really, any kinda weather!

    Original milk tea

    Very quick and amazing service! My server, Ty, was very friendly and helpful. I ordered the original milk tea and zen ramen with pork belly and would absolutely recommend both. The ramen ingredients had a mild flavor, but the broth was enough to make up for where the toppings may have fell short. The atmosphere is wonderful, and even dining alone I felt very comfortable and welcomed. 11/10 service 9/10 tea 8/10 ramen Definitely will be coming back!

    Liquid from Bean Sprouts
    Joel G.

    Key note: Service was great, server was kind and absolutely on point. I was excited to try their pho. I'm not surprised, just disappointed per usual by the lack of quality in the food industry. Food safety is not their number one priority. Basil, cilantro, and my god, last but not least, the bean sprouts were beyond past expired. I'm now back home, not even 45 minutes later, sitting on my toilet enjoying a night of a burning asshole. The liquified, raw bean sprouts (bean sprouts alone carry a high risk of susceptibility for: salmonella , listeria and E. coli) were a disappointment. The photos speak for themselves. Edit 1: 3 sessions and 15 minutes in total later and I finally caved and took an Imodium. Edit 2: Woke up this morning still with an upset stomach. Just so fucking sick and tired of issues like this. This is why I don't go out anymore, and eat at home. So tired of this crap happening! Get your shit together! YOU KNOW THIS IS ROTTEN, STOP TRYING TO SLIDE PAST ONE ON YOUR CUSTOMERS. CYCLE YOUR FOOD PROPERLY! YOU CANNOT TELL ME YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT ROTTEN OR EXPIRED PRODUCE LOOKS LIKE.

    Zen noodle
    Jason V.

    I looked up this place on yelp when I was in the area it looked like a good place to try so I ended up ordering some of the fried rice I would say it was very good I added yum yum sauce to my fried rice which to me makes any rice better lol but I would definitely recommend this place if your in that area.

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    Hung N.

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Great service! Very professional and proficient. Food is delicious too! Second best pho in town

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    Hung N.

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    2 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

    Soooo good. Veggie dumplings are fantastic and made in-house. Best veg red curry noodle bowl I've had to date.

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    9 months ago

    our server was really nice and hospitable and the food was yummy also the ambience made it really inviting

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    7 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    Hung N.

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    1 year ago

    The pho is the best in town. So flavorful!! Robert served us and was very kind and attentive. Will be back again!

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    6 years ago

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    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

    Great service and a great environment! Our server Ty was great too. Definitely coming again.

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    5 years ago

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    1 year ago

    Matt was very helpful with selecting dishes. Great service and attentive! Food was great too!

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    1 year ago

    Great food, great service, great server Matt cute place, but small, get there early to beat the crowd

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    2 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

    Food was Phenomenal & staff was very friendly/efficient given the circumstances. I will definitely be back!!

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    1 year ago

    Ty was great! The service was fast, clear, and comfortable. I got the Zen Romen with the chili oil and it hit the spot.

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Quick and good.soup was substantial and hot .loved it .will be back . Loved the dumplings too

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    2 years ago

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    Page 2 of 8

    ZEN Noodle Bar Reviews in Other Languages

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    Chop Stix Cafe

    Chop Stix Cafe

    3.6
    (387 reviews)
    1.9 mi
    $$

    Great food has always been the case going back to my first visit 12 years ago…read more Today we started with the fried calamari - tender, mildly flavorful and a generous portion. I had the Fried Shrimp special ($28) which posted on the board. The plump shrimp were cooked perfectly, very tasty with firm flesh. Large portion, served with a yum yum sauce which was good and a bowl of fried rice with little pieces of egg, no veg, not overcooked, not much flavor. My wife had the Mi zao gion: crispy noodles with fried tofu, broccoli and carrots. She throughly enjoyed the dish. Service was great. We sat outside on a beautiful sunny afternoon and had a great time. Overall vibe is very calm and relaxed. We love it here!

    So this place really delivered with both flavor and portion size. I ordered the General Tso shrimp,…read morewhich came with a side of rice, and the portion was huge..so generous that I happily had leftovers for lunch the next day. The dish was packed with big, crunchy battered shrimp (seriously, not skimpy at all) tossed in a bold, flavorful General Tso sauce. It had the perfect balance of savory and slightly sweet heat, with pineapple chunks, onions, and peppers mixed in for a fresh, vibrant contrast. Every bite tasted intentional and satisfying. I also tried the chicken spring rolls, which were crispy on the outside and hot and savory inside..classic, comforting, and well-seasoned. And the boba Thai iced tea? Absolutely amazing. It was rich, creamy, and deeply fragrant with that signature Thai tea spice, perfectly sweet without being overwhelming. The boba pearls were soft and chewy, making every sip feel indulgent and refreshing at the same time. One of the better Thai iced teas I've had in town. Overall, great flavors, generous portions, and drinks worth coming back for. Definitely a solid spot when you're craving something comforting and flavorful.

    Photos
    Inside
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    Sake boom roll
    Sake boom roll
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    Red Rice Kitchen

    Red Rice Kitchen

    4.1
    (364 reviews)
    0.3 mi
    $$

    Baby, who hurt you? Because you are SALTY!!…read more Food was decent, authentic menu, plenty of options, but way too much salt, in both the soup and meal I ordered. Also, bless their heart for being a family owned restaurant, but the cleanliness and service here needs more help. When there's only one server serving and turning tables on over 32 people, trouble will occur. I'll try it again, but maybe when it's not dinner rush. Could have been just a one-off. 3.5 stars. Rounded up to 4.

    We were in Florida with my daughter for her archery competition. My father-in-law, daughter, and I…read morewent to this restaurant based on the reviews. Based on the reviews, we thought it was going to be a nice meal. Walking in my father-in-law said are you sure we should eat here. I said the reviews are great. I'm sure it will be fine. Let's just take everything in with a grain of salt. My father-in-law ordered pad Thai, which he typically loves. However, it was not very good at all. Actually, he said it was the worst pad Thai he had ever had. My daughter ordered the pineapple fried rice. She said it was not very flavorful and quite greasy. I had the green curry, which was decent, I did like the fact that it had less coconut milk than other establishments that I've sent you before. It is one of my favorites so I feel like it's something that I can't speak upon. I did have a good amount of vegetables and I love the fact that they use lotus roots. And eggplant. However, it wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst so I feel like that one was a good effort. Onto cleanliness. I really feel like they have a lot of room for improvement here. Even if most of your business businesses carry out, which I imagine it is, you still need to have a knee and clean environment for people to feel comfortable. And I believe that that's where my father-in-law's trepidation came to play. I can't say it was overly dirty, but you can tell that it was worn out. And I saw a lot of carryout business happening. That means that you still have a pretty decent cash flow coming in. My suggestion, as a restaurant consultant, is to use your days off to do a gut of all things unnecessary, do a deep clean and or replace things that obviously need replacing. And there's quite a bit that needs replacing. I'm talking tables, chairs, Flooring, paint the walls, etc. Also dollar store cutlery honestly is never OK when you're charging the prices that you are.

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    Inside
    Inside
    Traditional Pad Thai Noodle with Chicken
    Traditional Pad Thai Noodle with Chicken
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    Liquid Ginger

    Liquid Ginger

    3.5
    (315 reviews)
    3.3 mi
    $$

    Came downtown this past Friday for a girls night and didn't realize it was a parent's weekend. With…read morethat being said, most places required a reservation or you had an 1.5h wait ahead of you. After a little wandering around we found liquid ginger. The line wasn't too long inside, so we decided we would try it. They were swamped and very busy still, but the staff was doing their best to accommodate everyone. We waited in a short line for maybe 15min before reaching the hostesses table. We were lucky to get seats at the sushi bar! The interior is very nice and has a nice vibe. This place is really great for nice dinners, nights out, or a good dinner. Service was definitely off that night. Our water specifically seemed to forget about the group of us since we were seated at the sushi bar. It took her 15 to get us waters and our other drinks didn't even come out until after we got out food (a considerable time later). Like I said it was busy, the sushi bar was swamped with orders, but they were working diligently to keep up with the influx of orders. Most of us ordered sushi, so we ended up waiting a considerable amount of time for our meals. My one friend ordered an entree from the kitchen and it came out within 10 minutes of her ordering it. Our sushi was served about 20-30 minutes after her dish. This is frustrating and slightly awkward as my friend felt bad eating while the rest of us didn't have any food yet. Again, this is no fault to the sushi chefs. They were working extremely hard to produce quality sushi for all the guests. My problem came with our server, Emma. She didn't check in on us at all, didn't even serve our dishes to us, and like I said, forgot to get us drinks, etc. While this was frustrating, I do not think this is a reflection of the restaurant overall. It appeared the other serves were fine keeping up with their tables. For the food, we started with the crab rangoons and steamed pork potstickers. These came out within 10 minutes of ordering and were great starters! They each included 6 pieces per order. The crab rangoons were stuffed with ample amounts of cream cheese and crab meat. They were perfectly crispy and I thought these were some of the better Rangoons I've had. The potstickers hit the spot, but weren't anything too special, pretty standard. For my sushi, I ordered the Golden Apple Roll (per our servers recommendation) and a daily special roll called the bonzai Roll. The golden apple roll included spicy crunchy salmon, Fuji apples, mango, and mango sauce. This was decent and something different but not my favorite. 5)3 flavors were super unique but there wasn't a sweetness at all oddly like I was expecting. Instead it had a distinct tart flavor to it. Different, but not my vibe. Now the bonzai roll was a hit! This roll included tuna, salmon, kani, and avocado inside, topped with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, and mayo, then flamed & torched, and finished with eel sauce, caviar, and scallions. There was certainly a lot going on in this one, but I could really taste all the different elements. The fish was extremely fresh and just divine. I also tried some of my friend's sashimi and was blown away with the quality of the fish--just amazing. Overall, we all loved the food here and would 100% return. The quality is quite good and the fish is melt in your mouth. You can tell they take a lot of pride in their sushi and it is evident in the taste and presentation alone. Now the service was certainly more desirable. I understand it was a very busy night, but our server just appeared to forget about us. Very disappointing as it slightly spoiled our experience and was not a good first impression. Again, we all agreed that we thought it wasn't a fair assessment of the restaurants service overall. I'm hoping next time the service is better and our server can do a better job serving us and checking in on us. I'm also surprised that she never offered to compensate anything in our bill, like our drinks that took 30+ minutes to come out and were served well after we had received our food. But it's not the end of the world. I would still recommend coming here, I actually think their sushi is better than Dragon Flys, better priced, and dare I say higher quality!

    Liquid Ginger rocks my world! Fantastic sushi and sashimi! Always fresh and delicious. Service is…read moregreat and the prices are very reasonable. I drive by DF around the corner in Downtown GNV and just know they haven't met Liquid Ginger. When they do, they will be hooked as well. Give it a try, you'll thank me

    Photos
    Stir-fried Udon Noodles with Vegetables.  Delicious!
    Stir-fried Udon Noodles with Vegetables. Delicious!
    Jasmine Green Tea
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    Bento Asian Kitchen + Sushi

    Bento Asian Kitchen + Sushi

    3.5
    (245 reviews)
    2.1 mi
    $$

    This place is a disaster from an operations standpoint. Food was excellent, but service was slow…read more Tables were dirty and not cleaned. Ordering screen was sticky and barely functional. The staff just looks worn out, walking with that waddle-walk to get from point A to B. Dirty unbussed tables, that's just a no-no. Nearly thirty minutes after ordering, I finally got my food. The sushi was good, so that's the only saving grace. But with nearly 20 sushi offerings in a 3 mile radius that offers better food, better service, a better experience, all at a better price point, I would never come back here again. By the way, nearly an hour now, and still the tables are not bussed. Total fail.

    R.I.P. Bento. This was one of my long-time favorite spots ever since opening in 2002. Between Red…read more& Blue, I've literally had 100+ Bento meals. Back in the day it was awesome food/atmosphere/value with lines out the door. There's been a steady downhill progression for a long time (ever since you dropped the hot & sour soup a decade back). I ate at Blue Bento tonight and I'm sad to say it's now dead. It was empty at 6:30pm on a Friday. It was dirty, sad, broken, and basically a post-apocalyptic version of its former self. Everything about the entire experience was unpleasant and disappointing. Staff could not care less about the food nor the customer. See pics for a representative picture of what this place has sadly become. Never going back again. Used to be great food and great value- now neither. Dear Owner/s: you really had a beautiful thing but you fatally wounded it- please do the humane thing and just go ahead and put it out of its misery.

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    Inside Dining in at Bentos, Gainesville
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    Mongolian noodles with tofu
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    Enson Food Hall

    Enson Food Hall

    3.5
    (4 reviews)
    0.1 mi

    About 5 food stalls and enough choices for a quick meal. Both my meals are $10 each. Some…read morecomplaint about the food is not hot. I am on a road trip, didn't eat it until 4 hours later since I am on a road trip. I think the food is pretty good.

    Enson Market is probably the best Asian market in Gainesville, lots of fresh produce, dry goods in…read morepackets and bulk, frozen, and fresh meats and seafood. Most variety I've seen in a local store. Enson Food Hall is a newly-opened food court type restaurant with quite a variety of dishes as well as boba tea and other drinks. I haven't tried the drinks so far, only some take-out, and it kind of gave me the impression that rather than fresh veggies and meats they set aside some of their stock of Enson Market's frozen meat, tofu, fish cake, and other prepared stuff in their kitchen to prep their meals. Beef spicy stir fry hot pot was probably the best, though super salty the flavor was quite good, and the distinctive numbing of Sichuan pepper was nice and tingly. The spicy seafood combo in beef bone broth had decent beef broth, but I detected distinct freezer taste from the shrimp and kelp and surimi (krab). Spring rolls with sweet chili sauce were good but not exotic, just something I'd air fry from my own freezer. I looked forward to the braised pork belly but unfortunately it was out of stock, as was a lot of their sushi and other fresh-prep type stuff on their online menu at the time. Since then (about a week now) they show as available so I may give something else a try next.

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    Enson Food Hall
    Enson Food Hall

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    ZEN Noodle Bar - vietnamese - Updated July 2026

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