Zax Restaurant & Bar

Zax Restaurant & Bar Restaurant Review:

Zax’s neighbors include a volleyball bar with bikinis and sand courts and the Long Center for Performing Arts with pirouettes and arias. The restaurant attracts laid back “beer and bites” regulars as well as more adventurous diners. This split personality seemed like an identity crisis in the first year or two, but Zax has since found its comfort zone. A bruschetta starter outdoes itself as a trio: white bean and prosciutto, Roma tomato and basil, and goat cheese and fig. The house salad with pears, blue cheese, candied pecans and house vinaigrette is a good dinner starter or a sensible lunch topped with seared tuna. Thankfully, the kitchen does not fall prey to the “casual fine-dining” traps of over-spicing and overkill. Any fear that a green peppercorn mustard sauce will overpower the seared duck breast is for not; this dish even comes across as delicate. In fact, Zax could afford to swing towards a little more zing now and again. One of the liveliest nights to visit is Wednesday for Pint Night, when imbibers can keep the commemorative pint glass with their draft. The wood floors, open room and high ceiling make it even more boisterous.