Enough has been said about Zola’s hipper than fuck interiors for me to rehash it. Just keep in mind that they’re awesome.

As for the spot itself, it’s certainly a cool place to go for a drink. The tap selection is very decent, and seems to rotate frequently. I went with Redhook’s seasonal spring beer, Copperhook, during my last visit, and good it was indeed when enjoyed in one of Zola’s semi-enclosed booths.

The food, while not spectacular, is certainly decent enough too. I went with a serving of mini kobe burgers which, fairly originally enough, came served with a nice pesto. They were in fact good enough that I can forgive the use of the idiotic “kobe” label.

Anyway.

The burgers were cooked perfectly to medium, and are easily recommended as good “libation food.” Also make sure to check out the Maytag Blue Fries, which at $3 is a tasty cheap eat with its Maytag blue cheese.

I like Zola. It’s a cool place that feels more urban than most places in Spokane. Maybe we’ve arrived?

Zola is fantastic! It has interior that has to be seen to be believed, excellent and very reasonably priced small plates. The real treasure of Zola is the fantastic musical acts they’ve been booking. We saw a fantastic swing band last Saturday, and there was a very nice laid back countryish band on Friday. Let’s hope they keep the great acts coming through. Plus NO COVER CHARGE!

I have never had the food at Zola but I did stop in for a drink one night and had a great time. The atmosphere is very different than any other bar in Spokane and the live band they had performing was fantastic. I will definitely return and tell my friends about this place!

Sadly this place has really gone downhill after a promising start. The menu is very different from what they claim on the website, the staff is kind of rude and extremely ignorant about music though this is supposed to be a hip music place. My girlfriend calls it the home of warm drinks and cold food. They have really crappy DJs on weeknights. The bands on the weekends are still pretty good, but good luck finding a seat and getting a drink. Rich pretentious people might feel comfortable here, but unfortunately Zola has become just another lousy mainstream Spokane boring place, over priced and over rated.

Zola! has always been a wonderful experience for my friends and I. We really have always gone for the music and drink, but finally last visit we tried a little food. The hummus plate, which i tend to default to on most appetizer menus in town, was WONDERFUL. It came with a nice cheese(name has left me at the moment). the bread wasn’t a pita style bread, it was a loaf of french/sourdough style, it was warm and delicious. My friends ordered a couple other appetizers, i know they were very happy with them even tho i can not remember what they got. what i do remember is the serving sizes were generous and the prices were reasonable. Zola has added a cover charge, which is lower than anyone else’s cover charge at $3 and if it keeps the good music coming in, i am more than happy to pay! ROUGH CONGRESS is my favorite band that has played there- anyone who reads this should watch out for their next show! Thank you Zola for giving us a new exciting place to gather.

This place blows. Rude, bad, stupid staff. The owner is a total dick. Totally pretentious. My guess is that the place will be out of business within a year. It’s not that I do not like uniqueness, but it has its place, and this place is unique-like naming your kid Irie, or Gaia, or Truman, or some other new agey stupid stripper name(Madison, Raven,Dakota,etc). Anyhow, my review-do not waste your time here, unless you like crappy food,service and people

Well, after getting my armed grabbed roughly by the asshole bouncer at front because I couldn’t find my i.d. fast enough for him out of my purse, I just walked off and went to blow my money at a different restaurant. Based on the jerk they have working in front, I will never go in Zola!

Zola reminded me of a cruise ship lounge, I know that’s strange, but that is what I thought. That is not a put-down, btw, there are some really great cruise ship lounges. But that was the atmosphere.

Zola could be a great place but there were several problems that we had with our visit.

#1 The men’s restroom is small and impersonal, one of the worst bathrooms I have been in, and the showerhead that is used for the faucet was just silly.

#2 Service was incredibly slow, we were there listening to live music and in 2 hours we were visited by the server a grand total of 2 times. I guess they don’t want to sell drinks.

#3 Why have a band with live music but not have food service, when we tried to order some food we were told the kitchen was closed.

#4 Why list a phone number that is only a answering machine, that gives you no information (address, hours, who’s performing, etc.)

While we were there we saw several parties walk out due to lack of service, the people sitting next to us left because they were hungry. We too left to get a bite to eat somewhere else.

So the place has potential, but it is very rough around the edges.

Our group of Women (mid to late 30’s, professional) tipped out our waiter before he left his shift. He had been asked to leave early due to the lack of customers, even with a live band. When our bill arrived, it had the added 18% Gratuity for a group of 6 or more. We asked the manager if she could please remove this added tip, since we did already pay him. She RUDELY informed us that she could not, and to PAY UP “AND YOU CAN JUST LEAVE!” Terrible management for a business that already had to send staff home. Will NEVER return.

If pretentiousness is what you seek on your night out, this is the spot for you. I too, thought it had great potential when it first opened, but after waiting for them to finally come around and discover the secret of making customers happy with good service & good drinks, I’ve come to the conclusion that they are only too happy to bank on their hip-factor, leaving the rest of us longing for a place where you can not only hear live music in a great venue, but at the same time get good service from people that know how to mix good drinks. Is it really that hard to provide all of them in one location in this town?

And yes, at least one of the door guys is the worst I’ve ever encountered. And yes, the hummus platter (and the other food I’ve tried) is good – just not good enough to make up for the rest of it. Call me crazy, but I’m still holding out hope.

Now, our experience here has been pretty much relegated to happy hour, but we have had consistently good service, good food, and a decent selection of beers. We especially like the sliders, fries, tuna, and mac n cheese for food, and they have some interesting cocktails to boot.

While some might think the atmosphere is “trying too hard,” we, as pretentious hipsters who try way too hard ourselves, feel right at home. ;) But seriously, we really like the use of reused and salvaged materials, in a fun and funky way. We have hung out there with friends from both in and out of town and everyone (so far) has had a great time every time.

I first went to Zola a couple of days after its grand opening. I was ridiculously enamored, as most are, with the interior and its quirky, unique style throughout, giving the place a big city feel. I remember thinking to myself, “wow… a place like this in Spokane? It can’t be!” I only had drinks the first time around and was not happy with the service or lack thereof (even though we were only 2 of about 5 customers in the place).

The second time around I went in during happy hour for a taste of their food. Between my friend and I, we were able to try the hommous plate, mac & cheese, and blue fries. I was actually quite impressed with the taste of everything and for the price it felt like a steal.

The few times I returned to Zola I felt that the service again lacked. The servers and bar staff didn’t seem to know what they were doing and I wondered if the owners were enforcing positive discrimination upon hiring them.

For the most part I like Zola because of the atmosphere and food; however I recommend going there during non-peak times and sitting at the bar to ensure that the staff notices you. This or you might be waiting a very long time.