On my various travels through northern Minnesota I have historically tried to avoid ending up in Grand Rapids for the night. Nothing against the town, but I had never really found any place to eat that I really enjoyed. Restaurant options in Grand Rapids always seemed to be predominantly fast food chains. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with hitting up a Subway for lunch as you're making your way across the North Woods, but I personally enjoy finding some local flavor once I'm done working for the day, and Grand Rapids never quite did it for me. However, I've recently started to change my mind on this town, because the last several times I've been in Grand Rapids I've made the trip out of town to Zorbaz.
It took me a while to find this place the first time. It was a month or so back, and I had spent the better part of a rainy late afternoon wet and miserable. I was staying in Grand Rapids that night and would be meeting up with a client the next morning. I was coming into town from the west on US 2 and happened to see a billboard advertising Zorbas - I'll admit it caught my eye due to the bottle of Grain Belt, which sounded real good at that point in the day. I didn't catch all the details as I blew past, but I was determined to go there for dinner that night. After checking into my hotel, I drove back up to US 2 and drove back and forth through town with no luck. Finally I drove back to the billboard and saw that Zorbaz was a few miles south of town on Pokegama Lake. That explains why I had never happened upon the place before. Once I knew where I was going, it was certainly easy enough to find.
On my inaugural visit I made my way in through the light rain, and helpfully there's a large sign on the door explaining the ordering process. Basically, you can sit at the bar or at any of the tables, and you place your order at the bar. I found a barstool at the end of one side of the bar and sat down. The tap selection is quite large, and I was happy to see New Belgium Fat Tire on tap (just recently introduced to WI). I received a curiously-folded menu and perused my options. Zorbaz is, interestingly enough, a pizza and Mexican joint. Having always gone solo I have never gone with the pizza, just the Mexican options. The menu, as with everything associated with this place, replaces all "S's" with "Z's" - salsa becomes zalza, and this leads to just a bit of reading comprehension issues. The bartender helped me out with a recommendation for the Colorado Connection burrito, which was a large chicken burrito with an excellent verde salsa topping. On subsequent visits I've tried the enchiladas and the taco dinner, in keeping with the standard burrito-taco-enchilada triptych of the Tex-Mex restaurant.
The bartenders have always been quick and attentive, placing my orders and refilling my glass right on time. The place is well-lit, and there's a number of TVs above the bar, always tuned to various baseball games on my visits (sadly not the Cubs, usually the Twins and other assorted ESPN national games). According to the menu there are multiple Zorbaz throughout northern Minnesota, all along lakes. Coming across the river I did see piers for boats to tie up below Zorbaz, and I bet that would make for an excellent stop after a day on the lake. The food has always been decent. The burritos and enchiladas are fairly heavy, and while the verde on the Colorado burrito was interesting, I thought the spicing of the chicken in the enchiladas was a bit off. There isn't much for lighter options aside from quesadillas off the appetizer menu. There are a series of proprietary hot sauces that are served with the meals, and I found these to accompany the enchiladas well. The Triple-Z hot sauce was surprisingly well balanced, with nice flavor and a real kick. Prices are probably on the high side compared with a standard Mexican restaurant, but the prices for New Belgium were not too high at all, balancing it all out in the end. I definitely enjoy stopping here when I'm in Grand Rapids, and I can see this as being a really fun place to spend a night. read more