I love this place, their Pad Thai is awesome! I've been there well over 150 times in the last 3 years, but Ive always ordered the same dish, mostly because it's always been fantastic. I've been with friends who have ordered curry items and some soup like items, and they really enjoyed those. It can get pretty busy at times, but they are usually pretty good at getting smaller groups of 1-3 in quickly. Better plan ahead if you have a larger group, or go at an off time. Oh yeah, definitely try the tofu on dishes, its delicious. read more

Zen Zero, you never fail to amaze me with your great Tai food and awesome service! I have been here probably ten times and I went here two days ago with my sister and grandparents. We all ordered Phad Tai, which is your classic Thai stir-fried noodles with eggs, bean sprouts, scallions, cilantro, and peanuts. We also got chicken added in with ours and I got mine without bean sprouts or scallions. The noodles are always good perfect, the sauce isn't too overbearing and thick, and I sometimes go as far as to add a little soy sauce to the mix. My sister always tells me I'm gross, but ya know it's just so great! : ) Then for the dessert my grandparents decided to share a coconut flan and my sister and I got some sort of ice cream (I don't remember what it's called). The flan was okay but it had a veryyy strong coffee taste to it so I'm not so sure what was going on there, but I can't complain because I'm not really a flan person to begin with. But the ice cream was a great! It was a tasty combination of vanilla bean and coconut taste, very mild and great! Oh.... AND BRIGHT PURPLE! Too cute! I would highly recommend this place to anyone. read more

I've had great food there through the years but I feel like it's starting to get really gross looking inside. The floors, the walls... everything just looks dirty. I think they need to shut down for a couple of days and do some major cleaning. Other than that, I love their drunken noodles. Also, seems like a lot of people have complained about the service, but i've never had bad service here. read more

Zen Zero is the rare restaurant that has amazing food, great service, excellent prices, and a trendy yet laid back atmosphere. Although I have tried at least 10 different dishes there I exclusively go to Zen Zero for the Phad Thai. It is easily the best Phad Thai I have ever had and the portions are huge. I don't think I have ever finished my whole meal at the restaurant, but I definately don't mind having leftovers from the best place in Lawrence read more

How can this place get anything less than 5 stars? I've had some dishes here that I absolutely cannot eat ("laab salad" was like chicken in a blender.) But all in all the it is great food for a great price! It is not gourmet or by any means anything above what you would expect for $7-8 but it is still really really good!! I've lived in Lawrence for years and always love me some Zen-Zero!! The drunken noodles are a must Don't order anything with shrimp because you get three and they are tail on. Be careful when you order anything "thai hot"...I have eaten at least at 30+ thai restraints and they take that shit serious here. I order thai hot everywhere I go except here. If you order thai hot here you might as well put your meal in a blender with battery acid and pump in your stomach at 4000 psi because that is how its coming out!! . read more

Great Asian fusion, but at the expense of some of the tastes being bland. Maybe they are catering to the Midwest market? For instance, I prefer the old school, original Tom Yum chicken... read more

This food is last meal good!!! I crave their yellow curry so much that I often find myself driving 40 minutes to Lawrence just to eat there! They have a great relaxed atmosphere. read more

So I am never one to complain about service, but I downloaded this app to explain how poorly Zen Zero handled customer service with me. I ordered a meal for takeout, and when I got home I opened it and saw that there was VERY little food in the box. I decided it was worth it to go ahead and drive back to see if we could work something out. I was very nice in explaining it but the owner (who had made my food) did not even try to help me out or simply give me a bit more food. I was a loyal customer to this restaurant and now I will not be returning. read more

The Pad Thai sauce did not seem very different from ketchup. Yes, it is cheap but I have had better Thai food from Trader Joe's. Yes, it is cheap but cheap can still be good. I don't think I will eat here again. read more

Great service. Big selection except for gluten free options. That is very limited. The prices are very reasonable. The food came out hot. I would have liked to request how spicy or not i wanted the item. Mine was too spicy for me. Gets a bit chilly when the door is opened/closed. read more

Zen Zero has possibly the best Thai food I've had in a very long time. It's not as expensive as most Thai places in KC. I had the Massaman curry that was just absolutely out of this world. Their appetizer sampler is just as delicious. Their $5.99 lunch specials are really good too! I definitely recommend going there if you're ever visiting Lawrence. read more

Absolutely the best phad thai I've ever had!!! I have tried thai places all over and none compare to Zen Zero. It has such great flavor and the prices are fair and service is great. I would hands down recommend this place to anyone who enjoys phad thai. You won't be disappointed! read more

I haven't tried much on their menu except a few things (I am not a fan of curries with coconut milk...I like my food salty, not sweet). But, I can say this with confidence, I loooove their Singapore Noodles with pork. Mmm, yellow curry. You have to order it hot and make sure you have napkins because if you don't wipe your mouth after every bite, you'll look like you are jaundiced due to the staining qualities of curry. I do also love the Thai Glass Noodle soup and the pork Momos are scrumdiddlyumptious (I love the tomato chutney they serve with it). read more

TERRIBLE SERVICE. The food that I tried was not good, either. Ate here on a Tuesday night after receiving several recommendations. We were seated immediately, and our waitress was the person who seated us and took our drink and appetizer orders right then and there. About ten minutes later, she returned to take our entree orders and brought the basket of "shrimp chips," which are the same consistency as pop chips, but they really do not have much flavor. I am not sure what is in them, but they seem very "manufactured." We had ordered coffee and that was brought out at some point later, and it was very good. Fast forward to 45 minutes after we were seated. We have empty cups of coffee and a mostly empty basket of shrimp chips that were not even good enough for us to have eaten that much- but we had no other food whatsoever. Waitress has not been seen since bringing the coffees. We start getting agitated. 10 more minutes pass and our appetizers are brought by. The waitress sets them down, says "sorry about that," and leaves. Coffee cups still empty, no offer to take drink orders or anything like that. Both appetizers are COLD. It is apparent that they have been sitting out, waiting to be delivered to the table for at least 15 minutes. My boyfriend ordered the ribs and he said that they were not only cold, they did not taste fresh, as though they had not been cooked recently either- just reheated and then left to get cold again. The eggplant and mushroom satay was like biting into a chunk of styrofoam- they were listed as being marinated, but there was no flavor that I could discern, and they too did not seem fresh. The peanut sauce was probably the worst I have had, including bottled kinds. There was a little relish of onions and peppers, and that was pretty good but it was not meant to be eaten like a salad. We asked to speak with the manager, and after observing the manager watch us from the kitchen for a full 10 minutes and then asking again to speak with him, he came over, shrugged and said "Well, we got backed up there...." Needless to say, we left. I will not be back. read more

I ate there early on after they opened and was not impressed. Not authentic and I got sicker than a dog.

This is a small, intimate thai restaurant that has the absolute best pad thai I have ever had. Anyone new to town I always recommend to try this place. My husband and I dine here on a weekly basis and the staff is always very friendly and hospitable! Best Thai cuisine! read more

So good. I love this place every time I go. Curry, bubble tea, Pad Thai, and plenty of more adventurous choices. You can make it as spicy as you want, to the point of being unbearable if you want. read more

I read good reviews of Zen Zero and decided to give it a try. My husband and mother-in law got some dish with rice and veggies and I got Thai soup. It took a while to get our food and once it came we all enjoyed the food. It's definitely nothing like Asian (Nepali) though. But right after I walked out of the restaurant, my tummy felt weird and felt like throwing up. Later that night and for past two days I was in and out of the rest room a lot. I got food poisoning from the food. I am not sure if I will go there again but if I ever decide to I will try something else. :) read more

Everything on the menu is delicious. Perfect for people who may not be adventurous eaters, and plenty of options for those with a more refined palate. My go to is massaman curry with tofu. I live in Chicago now and make a point to come back here every time I'm in Lawrence, I miss it dearly. read more

For around here, I think this place is as good as it gets. I'm not ultra hard to please but I've gone here 3 times and its always really good and you get good sized portions. The best thing I ate here was on my Birthday and I got the special it was something with lobster, the lobster was used sparingly which is okay (I do try to eat vegetarian a bit) considering how extremely good it was. I really like the chips with the spicy red sauce you get as well. I really love their sauces its always so delicious. read more

I have to admit I expected Zen Zero to be a little more modern and hipster given their storefront and catchy name. The interior was unexpected: it's a bit loud and smells of steam and oil. Ultimately it was fine, just less ambient and a lot more casual than expected. The food was similarly mediocre, the Panang curry is a bit one-note (very creamy with the usual onions/peppers), the "Drunken Noodles" had a decent, chewy texture but relied heavily on oyster sauce for flavor. Portions are huge so you definitely get your money's worth ($7-9 for most entrees). One thing I did like was that they will customize the spiciness of your order - mild, medium, spicy, or Thai spicy (a medium is plenty hot) - probably the most authentic aspect of the restaurant. Service was speedy, and our waiter was very personable and attentive, so maybe that has improved since other less-satisfied Yelpers have reviewed it. Overall an okay place if you want standard Thai food at standard prices, but I found nothing to drool over. read more

So on Friday i ventured out to Lawrence to see a show and my sister and i were walking up and down Mass street to find a place to eat. We settled on this place, because we are huge curry fans and they have many types. She got the yellow curry and i got the panang curry. We got the chicken satay as an appetizer. I will say that i was first shocked at the prices. Here in Kansas city, the meal that we had would have cost about ten dollars more, and been the same amount of food. I love the satay, they were very tasty and the sauces they came with were also amazing. Then we got down to our business, curry. We ate our whole plates. It was soo tasty. I will say that mine had a bit of a kick, but i loved it. The spice wasn't overwhelming like i have tasted in some other places. Also, my sister's, the yellow curry, was very sweet and also very delish. We also loved our waitress, she was really nice and helpful explaining the different curries on the menu, and she didn't make us feel rushed at all, even though there was a wait. When our friend met us, he said we lucked out by picking one of the best restaurants in town, and i feel like a local recommendation is the best one. We are planning a trip back there this weekend. An hours drive is nothing for a good meal. read more

One awesome meal one awful and three nasty kids meals! Had a weird dinner tonight in Lawrence. We tried a place we had never been. The place was Zen Zero. It's seemed like one of our favorite places in Olathe called Pei Wei. The number 20, Phad Kee Mao (Drunken Noodles) was fabulous. The kids thought it tasted like Pizza It's made with spicy flat noodles, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, scallions, oyster sauce & Thai basil. We added chicken to it. My wife and I fought over whom got the last of this wonderful dish. One out of four meals was impressive. Phad Sae Eaw 7.29 Flat rice noodles wok stirred with sweet soy sauce, eggs, Gai Lan & broccoli was ok. It tasted heavy of fish oil. There was a bone in the chicken of this one. The kids meals are booring just plain noodles or plain rice. What a disgusting meal for kids. The only way the kids made them edible was by dumping sweet and sour sauce on them. We had three kids meals, everyone of them was disgusting. DJ refused to eat the plain rice noodles so we sent it back for more garbage of plain noodles. These people could learn how to do a kids meal from Pei Wei. The had no teriyaki sauce. No honey sauce. I wouldn't feed plain noodles to my dog. We were charged for the meal we sent back. I would come back for the meal we loved as it was excellent, but the kids meals are gross. We also got Chicken Satays. If it wasn't for that the kids would have starved. read more

I'd give 0 stars if I could. My basil tofu came with a crawling bug in it. I know the difference between crawling and flying bugs. When I returned the food (and asked for a complementary drink) the staff both claimed that the bug had flown into my food and "cut me off", although I was not drinking before that time. Totally disgusted by both food and service and never eating here again. read more

I have been going to Zen zero since 2004. It was always great until recently that the food is just less than consistent. We always get the tom yum soup extra hot, gapao with chicken, drunken noodles, pad see eww. They have not been consistent with the flavors nor the amount of sauce. A few times they tasted burnt from the wok. It is ok most of the time when it is busy but when it is so inconsistent every time it makes it hard for us to go there as often as we used to. read more

We ordered chicken phad thai to eat at the restaurant and an order of shrimp phad thai to go. When we got home to Olathe, there was only 2 shrimp in the order. We were charged an extra 3.50 for it as well. My daughter was very bummed that was all the shrimp she got. When I called to talk about this, I was accused of not actually ordering the shrimp to go since I paid cash for it and there was no record for it. We paid for the chicken phad thai with a credit card, (since it was a separate order), so I told him he could look that up. After much debate with the manager, he begrudgingly said he would add 3.50 back to the credit card that paid for the chicken. We always stop at zen zero when we are in Lawrence, but won't be anymore. I was told the manager's name is Bret. I will not give Bret my business again. There are lots of other great places to eat in Lawrence. Very disappointed. The waitress was at least nice. read more

Haven't been here in about 6 years, came here last week. Great Pad Thai, as always. And HOW do they make those little shrimp crackers??? I feel like this is the most consistent restaurant in Lawrence, even after 6 years this place still has great service, prices, and quality food. read more

Ordered takeout Thai Style Spring Rolls and Chicken Pad Thai and it was great. Definitely will order the pad Thai spicier next time as well. Servings are large and will be using it as lunch tomorrow! read more

I've eaten here several times. I'm NEVER disappointed. Last evening (12/27/12) had dinner with my daughter. Our server Jake S was amazing. He was pleasant, timely, and was very attentive to all of his tables around us. He deserves a pat on the back from management. Had the Khao Soi. TRY THIS DISH!! It's amazing. Everything here is consistently good. I'll be back. For some odd reason this review was deleted. Not sure why so here it is again. read more

Outstanding customer service. I called in a carry out order while the restaurant was very busy. Shortly after, I realized that I had forgotten to ask for no peanuts and I have a peanut allergy. The mistake was 100% my fault. I called back to ask if it had already been made, hoping to catch them before it was garnished. The entire dish was ready, but when I explained why I was calling, the manager offered to make a new dish, at no extra cost to me. He understood that it was completely my fault, but he offered to make it right at their expense. The new order was ready in just a few minutes. The food was delicious as always! read more

I stopped here on the way to Denver from Virginia. The service was quick for a Friday night. I had the Phad Phak Ruam Mitr which was really good. I'd stop there again if I'm ever passing through. read more

Great drunken noodles and I love the fish chips they have! Customer service is always great.

Zen Zero is the perfect place for veg heads and carnivores alike. The food is Thai, the atmosphere is fun, the service is great, and the price is a great value. If you like your food spicy, ask for Thai hot and then be prepared with lots of water. My favorite dish is the Basil Tofu and they carry a great Gerwerztraminer. If you're a vegan, put this place on your list of must-eat-ats. read more

The food is great! Service is good and the atmosphere is nice, however often crowded. The complementary shrimp chips are amazing and you can't get them hardly anywhere else. Every dish I have eaten there was extremely good. read more

I asked the waitor for the spiciest thing on the menu, told him I wanted something really spicy. I got this bowl of bland mush that was not spicy at all. I had never tried Thai food before and thanks to Zen Zero it will be a long time before I try it again. My waiter rolled his eyes at me when he asked how everything was and I told him I didn't like it. Maybe I just don't like Thai food? read more

Their chicken satays, spring rolls, (both with their amazing peanut sauce) and green tea ice cream are to die for. This place is amazing...except for their pad thai, made me very ill. read more

food wasnt bad for the price. could use a freshinning up a bi tho

Been coming here for years. Food is always consistent, delicious and cheap! Very unique place. My favorite dishes... Spring roll salad, Singapore noodles, Thai curry noodles and whatever the special appetizer is. read more

This is the favorite "girls lunch" location for a good friend and I. The service and ambiance is great (the open kitchen can get a tad loud, but it adds a touch of authenticity for me). I sometimes get a bit of a weird look if I ask for a refill on the shrimp chips after my entree has been served, but I'll take that as surprise that someone enjoys little puffs that barely taste like shrimp so much (best thing ever to scoop up sauce-soaked rice with, definitely ask for then with takeout!!!). Personally, I find the yellow curry to be the best I've had anywhere as far as flavour, but I always request extra sauce as I find most of their dishes to be stingy on sauce otherwise. I've found their Pad Thai to be very boring, but still perfectly edible. Out of 3 popular Lawrence Thai restaurants I've tried, Zen Zero is the only one with good Thai iced tea, so I can easily forgive boring Pad Thai. The Massaman curry deserves an honorable mention. Will return again and again. read more

I just love their pad Thai, and the price is right. The kitchen is fast, and the dishes, while creative, feel traditional also. The special taro tea is excellent. On one occasion, we were waiting for a while, so one of the chefs sent us a special dumpling appetizer. So delicious. I do not like the free appetizer chips as much as the entrees, but the menu is large, and there are plenty of good entrees. I would recommend this place to anyone looking for a quick lunch or a nice dinner without overspending. The flavors can't be beat! read more