Zen Japanese Food Fast
1303 S. Congress, 444-8081
2900 W. Anderson, 451-4811
3423 Guadalupe, 300-2633
Mon.-Sat., 11am-10pm; Sun., 11:30am-10pm
You have to work pretty hard to spend more than $7 at Zen. And if you do succeed in hitting the double digits on your bill, it’s because you were able to put away one giant bowl of food plus a fourpiece order of sushi. And if you did do that, you’re done eating for the day. Zen has made its mark in Austin by offering fast food sans grease, sans saturated fat, sans sanitized corporate housing. The South Congress location boasts a petite but charming Zen-like (natch) outdoor eating area that rivals Jo’s for primo people watching. In fact, you can be a true navel gazer and watch the people at Jo’s watch the people at Zen.
The bowls (chicken, steak, veggie, or salmon) are the best bargains. They consist of generous portions of your choice of protein over mounds of sticky, tasty rice in either teriyaki, spicy, or light egg sauces and range from $3.39-5.79. If you’ve really got a crave on, up the ante and get the big bowl (and it’s big) for around a buck more. Zen people are justifiably proud that their food is fresh with no processed or prepackaged ingredients. And when we’re needing fast food that won’t send us into fits of physical and psychic despair and will leave us with change in our wallets, we head over for some enlightenment and chicken.
This article appears in April 15 • 2005.