Went with my mother and ordered Flounder Crudo, Fennel salad, Caesar salad, Spicy sausage pizza with anchovies, Rigatoni with vodka sauce, Tiramisu, and Lemon meringue tart. The Crudo was very nice and reminded me of the Crudo at Puma Yus but like there, it was overpriced. The fennel salad was really nice. Wish it would've had another green added to it because it was kind of skimpy for a salad. My mother had the Caesar salad and she said it missed the mark. How exactly I don't know. I had the spicy sausage pizza and it tasted good, and it would've been much better except for the soggy crust. It also wasn't spicy. My mother had the rigatoni and it was way undercooked and too spicy. Had to send it back and they brought her Spaghetti AL Limone in replacement. That was not very good either because the pasta was a little underdone, but worse was that it was all one big glued together mass. Also, the lemon zest was too thick and imparted a bitterness. I had the lemon meringue tart and enjoyed it. She did not like the tiramisu because it wasn't sweet enough and I agree. The atmosphere was nice and the service was excellent. This was our first time and not sure we will be back. read more

So yum!!! The pizza is my new Athens favorite. Reminds me of Antico's pizza in Atlanta but with better and more toppings! A trendy new Italian restaurant is exactly what five points needed. read more

ZZ & SImone’s - cheese plate and focaccia appetizer - Italian Near Me - Athens, Georgia

We love ZZ's and go whenever we want a nice night out! They're definitely one of the more expensive restaurants in town, but well worth it!

Hidden gem in Athens. So good! The service, ambiance, and food was great. We will be back.

Best chicken parmigiana ever! No joke. Great service just sitting at the bar. Everything here is 5 star.

Excellent and creative dishes. Service is always excellent. Great spot for a special occasion.

The food was above average. My wife's branzino was excellent. My pasta bolognese was competent, but nothing special. The shrimp cocktail is very good and the red snapper crudo was very good, but the watermelon, lime, capers and jalapeño were on the spare side and didn't elevate the dish. Cocktails were superb and the wine by the glass list is good. I'd give four and a half if an option, but the meal fell short of five (and I'm a generous grader). Would I go back? Yes. Am I dying to? No. read more

Phenomenal Food and service never disappoints. Ambiance is excellent. The shrimp scampi is my favorite...

Authentic Italian and the atmosphere of the restaurant is incredible-beautiful decor and great vibe. Also the staff is so helpful. We've had Kristen as our server the last two times and she is great--goes out of her way to give wine pairing recommendations, checked in on us periodically, etc. It is so worth the price! read more

Food was delicious and service was great. Indoor and outside seating. Seating is a little close but still very nice.

Great food, great service in a cozy environment. The craft cocktails were great, the menu was unique and food was great quality in presentation and taste. Advanced planning is needed as reservations are booked in advance and the bar fills up after opening. read more

W restaurant W service W food W ambiance. Food was so good. The gelato was good as fuck definitely coming back

Such an unexpected restaurant find. The wine list and sommelier are outstanding. The servers are knowledgeable and friendly. The appetizers - artichokes, warm ricotta, caccio y Pepe rolls, Charred broccolini were all exceptional. The pastas are out of this world and chicken Parmesan is top rate. Can't wait to eat there again next time in Athens. read more

Incredible food, service, and atmosphere! Went for my 3rd anniversary and they already had glasses of Prosecco waiting for us when we sat down at our table. read more

Great food and staff. Bar service is next level and Athens needed new flavors to elevate the cuisine in five points. This is a must experience restaurant. read more

Decided I wanted to try something new and that looked high quality for my birthday dinner and let me tell you, it did not disappoint! The restaurant itself is so cute and is great if you're looking for somewhere aesthetic. The two drinks I got were an aperol spritz and a dirty vodka martini. Both were good but nothing crazy. For a starter we got the salmon crudo and focaccia with the Ricotta dip and they were both delicious! The salmon is a little salty but I did not mind and the focaccia and so fresh. They add some herbs on top which was nice and the ricotta had some lemon added which was delicious as well. For a meal I got the lemon pasta and my boyfriend got the spicy sausage pizza. I thought the pasta was extremely high quality (it's made in house) but lacking flavor at first but then when I realized the sauce was as the bottom and mixed it up it was DELICIOUS. I added a little of the left over ricotta and salmon too which made it even better. My boyfriend referred to the pizza as "fork pizza" which I would say was pretty accurate. It would have been difficult to pit the pizza up and eat it as the dough was soft and not really providing structure for the toppings but it had SO much flavor. The dough itself was delicious but all of the flavors in the pizza together was incredible. I also normally don't like pizzas with a larger sauce to cheese ratio but this was the exception. Lastly, we got dessert which is not normal for us but I had to try the rosemary gelato and I must say, it is my favorite dessert I have ever had! I would maybe suggest mixing it up a bit if you want the rosemary and little sprinkles of salt to last because once the top layer is gone it begins to be mostly vanilla gelato. Overall, the vibe, service, flavor, and quality was top notch. I normally am left feeling kind of gross and bloated or oily after eating pasta or pizza but that was not the case with ZZ & Simone's. I think I have found my new favorite spot in Athens! read more

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would not recommend this place. food is mediocre, menu has a strange concept. If you want spaghetti and meatballs you have to order the $18 meatballs and a side of $18 pasta. so almost $40 for a small plate of spaghetti & meatballs. we ordered the cacio de pepe, they sat us outside after we requested inside on our reservation, and our food was cold in 10 minutes. The waitress asked if we wanted some more sauce with our meatballs, cause there was not much, so she brings us a tiny cup of sauce and we were charged $3! So more like $43 spaghetti $ meatballs. Don't waste your time and money! read more

First and probably last visit. Noisy and crowded inside seating. Limited and somewhat unimaginative menu. Overpriced small servings. Butternut squash ravioli served basically cold. Not even worth sending back to be heated. Server tried hard but just not "tuned in". Not certain what the hype is about. Sorry. read more

the food was great and the service was nice but it was so hot in the restaurant? like i don't know if they have air conditioning because i left sweaty and sticky. i couldn't fully enjoy the meal because i was so uncomfortable. sad because it's a nice place. read more

This food is not normal. I'm not picky but this was outrageous. The raw tuna taste like dirty sink water. Aside from that, the service was nice and the ambiance is very cool. read more

Hours are spotty and long waits to be seated. Athens needs this restaurant but I cant recommend it.

This is a totally different Italian dinner experience. Lots of interesting choices. The focaccia bread was delicious. Husband had chicken Parmesan. It was a huge portion and yummy. It does not come with a side so he ordered a half order of spaghetti. The pasta is freshly made and delicious. The ambience is lovely and they take reservations. read more

Loved the decor and the server was nice, but the food was not great. We ordered a small plate and two entrees. The prices were very high, especially for drinks. I don't think I will be back. read more

Went to this restaurant with my friends and were looking forward because of the recommendations. Extremely disappointed because after the long wait, we received our dishes- 1 of them was cold and another nearly inedible. The cacio e pepe was way too salty, and I couldn't even finish it. On top of that, the service was slow and it was difficult to contact our waitress for drink refills. Definitely not worth it to come back. read more

Really good food but way too expensive for the portions. The pastas are much better than the pizza. The pizza dough was perfectly cooked but the pizza itself was a little soupy. Pasta was good but it was $6 per meatball. The meatballs were pretty small and definitely not worth $6 per meatball. Once again pretty good good but overpriced for Athens, Ga read more

A personable helpful server can often overshadow a mediocre meal. Conversely a great meal can cause one to overlook mediocre service. Two mediocre problems, however, make one big problem! When a sullen-like, borderline-rude server's best advice when asked to have a pizza order put back in the oven a few minutes longer is "Trust me, you don't want to tell the chef there is something wrong," well then it's hardly worth writing a review because it's doubtful the place will be in business much longer. read more

I give this restaurant a Michelin star for a perfect meal. We had butternut squash ravioli which defined savory. Short ribs were falling off the bone and delicious. The pizza was perfect. I hope this place sticks around read more

We visited ZZ's back in December when they first opened and just as expected from the creative minds behind Dinner Party, it didn't disappoint. Fantastic classics and creative new dishes it a beautiful space. Wonderful staff and visionary wine and cocktail list. read more

I tried the Rosso Pizza and it was to die for! Probably the tastiest pizza I have had in a long time. No complaints- great service.

While the food is consistently good (and I have dined here many times) I am not sure I am returning. The hostess made our experience miserable and left a very terrible taste in our mouths, no pun intended. The way she spoke to us when we did not have a reservation was unacceptable. And we were trying to celebrate my sons birthday. I know you are a small restaurant but reserving the bar seats is ridiculous. People like to eat at the bar yes but the purpose of a bar in a restaurant is a place to get a pre drink while you wait on a table. Learn how to be kind and revisit your dining rules. Your hostess truly makes the customer feel unwelcome. She does not have any bedside manners. I think she should revisit her job choices and choose a career that doesn't involve any interaction with other people. Customer service is just not in her wheelhouse. While you have good food, so do a lot of other restaurants in town who actually value words like kind and customer service (oh and they don't reserve the bar!). I also dined at your, now closed, sister restaurant many many times, Dinner Party, at the bar without a reservation. Why did you decide to change what was not broken with ZZ Simone's? read more

There are many Athens restaurants I love, but this has slowly become my favorite. Nick was our server and he was amazing, he helped me choose my wine and was very friendly, knowledgeable and just down right good at serving. He def deserves a raise for the kind of service he provides! amazing food and abeyance, I absolutely recommend to anyone visiting Athens! read more

I'd like to preface this review by saying I only ever leave positive reviews online. This is a negative one. I just arrived home for Thanksgiving from Miami and my parents were excited to take me to ZZ & Simone's for dinner after not seeing each other for five months. The last time they took me to ZZ's we waited 30 minutes for a table (despite having a reservation) only to find out that half the menu items were unavailable, including all of the pizza because they had no pizza dough. We decided to give it another shot and arrived at 7:30 for our reservation; we waited outside until 7:45 and were then seated. We ordered a bottle of Rosé that came to the table warm and was not good. When we said the wine was too warm, the waitress was kind and offered to bring us some chilled glasses of the same wine. She said the glasses were coming, then returned 20 minutes later and said that the manager, Nick Tuttle, decided that she could not bring us the glasses she'd already offered and we would have to pay for any additional glasses we received. I spoke to Nick, the manager, and nothing was resolved. We ended up paying $200 for warm wine and the worst (burnt) pizza I've ever had. I would recommend taking your family anywhere else in Athens for a family dinner. Hopefully we will get some new restaurants in 5 Points that value their guests and provide better service. Happy Holidays & Go Dawgs. read more

Great food and great ambiance! Feels like you're in another city. Good wine & great service.

the best. dont be intimidated. these owners are lovely. food is unique and greatquality. they care. this is an experience not just a meal.