Sep 2

Sep 2 Rochester cafe makes national list of the '100 Best Restaurants for Foodies'

Attention all food connoisseurs who had written off Rochester as a culinary wasteland: You may now stuff your hand-pulled mozzarella and farm-fresh heirloom tomatoes in your mouth.

That’s because OpenTable, the popular restaurant reservation and review site, just named Zzest Cafe & Bar to its 2015 list of the “100 Best Restaurants for Foodies in America.”

The honorees were determined by OpenTable staff after examining more than 5 million reviews of more than 20,000 different restaurants across the country, submitted by verified diners.

Zzest was one of eight Minnesota restaurants to make the list, and the only establishment outside of the Twin Cities. “I am very humbled to be in the same breath as them,” said owner LeeAnn Zubay, referring to the Minneapolis restaurants that were honored.

“Most of the people in Rochester don’t know what’s in their own backyard,” Zubay said. “People tell us we should be in a big city, but I’m a home girl and I’m happy to be here.”

The honor comes on the heels of myriad other awards, including being named to the “Top 100 Al Fresco Dining Restaurants in America” list by OpenTable earlier this summer, and being named a finalist for Best Overall Restaurant in The Med City Beat’s “Best Places Rochester” list.

“I have wonderful chefs and they deserve this like crazy,” Zubay said.

About Claire Walling: Claire moved to Rochester two years ago from the Twin Cities after graduating from Hamline University. When she’s not working as a business writer she enjoys running the great trails around the region, designing and creating things, and drinking coffee. Fun fact: she was on a relay team that ran across Iowa in 54 hours. Twitter.