I had researched my trip extensively before I went to Napa and had read several positive reviews of this place. I have to say that overall, I was disappointed in the value, but the ambience almost made up for it. ZuZu is a tapas restaurant. Tapas are smaller "appetizer"-size portions, typically with an international flavor. Now, I have been to several tapas restaurants before, and the portions here seemed to be even smaller than normal for tapas. The guidebooks are misleading to label this as a low-cost place, because you will likely need to order at least two dishes per person to feel satiated. The cost of the dishes my two friends and I ordered ranged from $5 for goat cheese to $9 for summer tuna. Ultimately, with two drinks and five tapas dishes for the three of us, we spent $48 before the tip. Honestly, I was still hungry when we left. If you are not at all cost-conscious and you want a cozy, candlelit, noisy restaurant, this is it. We arrived at 7:30 on a Friday night and were pleased to have no wait for a table. Several guests arrived after us, but we never saw a line.
The sourdough bread is a perfect sourdough representation (thus, you must like the crusty, chewy outside and doughy inside.) We liked all of our dishes, with the exception of the goat cheese ($5.00), which was mostly tomato sauce with a tiny dollop of cheese on top. The Flat Iron Steak ($8.00) was the best value, and deliciously spicy.
I’m sorry to say that the service was not up to par, as our waitress was a little skittish and would bring something and run away before we could request drink refills and the like. Still, all in all, it was a pleasant experience and a great way to end the day.
Should you choose to bring you own wine, as many in Napa Valley do, the cork fee is $10.